Boots Off Hostel & Campground 1765.9 to Moreland Gap Shelter 1780.6 (14.7 miles, 1780.6 total miles)
It was a fitful night of sleep, as I found what the pharmacist had told me to be true when I picked up my medication. Prednisone did indeed give me a large quantity of energy, and I’d taken my evening dose rather late upon getting back to the hostel with dinner.
When my alarm went off at 6:30, the last thing I wanted to do was leave the warmth of my quilt and venture out into the 34 degree air, but I talked myself into it just before 7AM, motivated by the thought of a warm common room and getting early dibs on breakfast. The lingering cold and dark had removed any remnants of me being a morning person on this trip.
My breathing was doing well, with a couple draws off the inhaler here and there in the morning and evening. Breakfast was glazed and sugared donuts, a variety of cereal options, fruit, and the strongest coffee I’d had on trail. Once again, Podcast and Dunk were the only two in the common room with me at first, while we had a leisurely breakfast, talking about our days and plans ahead.
Dunk said he was going 15 miles to the first shelter, which I thought would be a good plan for me as well. It included two very large climbs, one long descent, and about 4700 feet of elevation gain. The next shelter after that was 10 miles further and, though my original plan was to hike further today and less to 19E tomorrow, the terrain favored the opposite.
Around 8:00, I gathered my things to shower, and went into the unheated but still very nice outdoor shower house, with a large metal bucket as the shower head. The hostel page on Far Out boasts “seemingly endless hot water”, and I was certainly putting it to the test with a shower much longer than planned, in heaven under the almost scalding heat. When I turned off the shower, the bucket still emptied for a minute or so, an unexpected bonus.
When I was done getting dressed and braiding my hair, I saw it was already 9:00. I hurried to break down my tent and pack my bag, then went into the common room to sort a few more things out and get some work done. Finally, after second breakfast, and feeling very jittery after consuming nothing but sugar, strong coffee, and another dose of prednisone all morning, I was ready to hike out at 20 minutes after 10.
Because I’d gotten picked up on the road the trail follows the evening before, I diligently made sure I walked the extra tenth of a mile or so back to that spot. I then turned around to go south again, waving at the woman driving the US Mail labeled Wrangler twice as we crossed paths going in separate directions each time.
The trail reentered the woods across from the hostel driveway, and made its way up the very beginning of the first large climb a short way to a small cemetery overlooking the lake. I was taken by it, and walked a short distance off trail to admire the scene, thinking it must be nice for the loved ones of those buried to have such a beautiful place to visit and memorialize.
A bit further up, I removed my fleece as I was on a 3 mile climb and the day was warming up quite quickly. The climb was nice, as I’d had a feeling it would be, with switchbacks and gentle grading all the way up. The trees seemed to have more leaves than yesterday, whether from being further south, on the right side of the ridge, or just different types trees.
I caught glimpses of the lake for a while, until I rounded to the other side of the mountain and saw a valley below through the trees. I reached the top of the climb at 11:50, a tiny bit faster than intended, so I sat to take a break at a tent site up top.
I finished the last two chocolate chip cookies I’d made the other day, then had some peanut butter crackers while I sat in the partial sunshine. The regular applications of sunblock had kept me protected from burns yesterday, and I was determined to keep it up again today.
A little after 12PM, I was on the move, over a very nice flat top on the mountain, several more campsites scattered around as I crunched over the leaves. I had a 3 mile descent next, so I put a podcast on instead of the music that had gotten me up the mountain, my goal to be down to the bottom by 1:00.
The descent was also gentle with plenty of switchbacks, which protected my knees but made it feel rather protracted. I made it down just after 1PM, however, and started passing people set up at campsites down by Laurel Fork, a beautiful creek the trail followed and crossed a few times for the next 1.4 miles.
I’d thought it was strange I hadn’t seen any day hikers, being a Friday, but began to cross paths with many soon after, and a few section hikers. I stopped at the Fork, contemplating lunch, but wanting to go to the waterfall ahead instead, thinking I’d get there by 1:40.
However, the scenes I was passing were so spectacular that it took me a good twenty minutes extra to make it to the falls. It was a mostly flat area, with a couple tiny climbs, but the trail kept crossing over and around two beautiful water sources and gorgeous rocky areas. I had no idea this was here, and kept stopping to admire the scenery and take photos.
I passed by Dunk, who was eating his lunch in a sunny spot on a rocky ridge. I’d left a while after him, and he joked with me that he was worried I’d gotten sucked into another zero with the group at Boots Off who was staying there today. I laughed, but didn’t admit the thought had just barely crossed my mind while I was getting ready to leave.
When I got to Laurel Fork Falls, I met a hiker named Bear, a young woman who’d also flipped from Harpers Ferry this year. I chatted with her for a few minutes before she left, taking her place on a couple rocks to admire the lovely view while I made and ate a tuna fish grinder with barbecue chips, then drank some electrolytes and caffeine.
After collecting water, I saw a family of section hikers climb back down from where they’d gone the wrong way up trail, and deeply sympathized with them after my mishap of the day before. I climbed up from the falls, over a short but steep section of stone steps. I thought hiking to the falls NOBO would be the way to go, as I kept looking at it over my shoulder as I moved away. Coming south it popped up from around a bend with no preamble.
That was the first of my remaining four climbs of the day, and I was rewarded with a very flat mile through rhododendrons, where I stopped for yet more water, thinking the medication was making me quite dehydrated.
I crossed Dennis Cove Road and went back into the woods before stopping for a couple minutes, vacillating between going to Kincora or not. Kincora is a hostel owned by a very famous trail maintainer, that I’ve heard about since 2015. I’d been hoping to stop and meet him, but it was 3PM and I still had a lot of climbing to do, anxious about getting to camp before dark.
The hostel was .2 down the road, and it wasn’t guaranteed that he would be there when I arrived, as I’d heard he sometimes was there in the late afternoon. I didn’t want to kill my momentum, or push myself to hike too fast to make up for the extra time it would take as I was still recovering. So I went with my gut and pushed on, questioning my decision but knowing that’s what I needed to listen to.
I was starting the second remaining climb of the four, this one being a 1.5 mile ascent of 1,000 feet. The first part of the climb was really bothering me for some reason. Gone was the earlier beauty and abundant water sources of the beginning of the day, replaced by oppressive forest that tripped me up with hidden rocks and roots under the leaves, feeling like I was climbing to nowhere.
I was sweating quite a bit, so made the decision to change out of my leggings into shorts. It meant applying more sunscreen, but I was very uncomfortable with the temperature now reaching low 60s. In shorts now, with music on, and finally reaching the part of the climb that began switchbacking the ridge, I felt better as I kept ascending, now appreciating the mild weather I’d been gifted.
At the top of this climb, I stopped for a few minutes before 4PM to catch my breath and rest a spell. I felt good, but also tired, trying to keep in mind that I was still recovering and this was more elevation gain than I’d hiked in a while.
I had another nice mile of flat hiking as a break before I began the following climb of 500 feet over .7. It wasn’t bad, and the view up top took my breath away – this time in a good way.
Autumn leaves shone over several mountains across the ridge, making me feel small and awestruck. It was the best view in Tennessee so far for me, even though it was only a small opening through the trees.
I stood there and thought about how mountains turn the ground three dimensional, how ancient the Appalachians are that used to resemble the Himalayas, and how our perception of time prevents humans from seeing how the continents had violently collided and impacted to create these enormous ridges.
I could have stood there the rest of the day soaking in that view, but knew I must move on. I descended a couple miles before beginning my last climb of the day. I skipped my final sunblock application, as it was 5:30 and the sun was very low in the sky and I didn’t want to spend the time.
The last climb was only a 2.3 mile span up and over, but it seemed to take a very long hour to accomplish. I was tired, but knew I was almost done, more than ready to be in camp, and glad I hadn’t stopped at Kincora after all because of how late it was.
I arrived at the shelter just after 6PM to find Dunk there with his tent set up, getting ready to make dinner. Bear had gone a bit further, to a tent site down the ridge. I spent 10 minutes going down and up a blue blaze to collect water before starting my dinner and setting up my tent next to the shelter for warmth and privacy. Though I knew staying in the shelter itself was faster, I had missed sleeping in my tent.
Another hiker I hadn’t met, Mountain Goat, arrived after dark. He decided to stay in the shelter, though we both saw a mouse running around the picnic table, another reason I was glad I was staying in my tent.
Discussions ensued throughout the day about who was going to The Station at 19E or Mountain Harbor the following evening, both hostels 18.4 up trail. I was going to The Station, on a recommendation from Einstein in the 100 Mile, plus their very cool virtual trail magic website that a friend and former coworker had been kind enough to contribute to for me.
It was a hostel and bar, and tomorrow there would be live music as it would be Saturday. I was really excited to go, hearing great things and almost felt like I was gearing up to attend a party. It sounded like a lot of hikers and locals would be there, and even better the terrain to hike to 19E would be much less strenuous as well.
Several times it had hit me lately that I was really, truly almost finished with this hike. I could hardly imagine anything more bittersweet. I am putting to rest a dream of 8 years, will truly be able to call myself a thru hiker, will have 3,000 miles on the AT cumulatively accomplished since 2015, and will have one third of a Triple Crown complete.
It felt like I’d been on trail for years since this May, as time seems to bend and warp out here in the most wonderful of ways. I often imagine it the fountain of youth, getting so much more experience than time given.
I’d been reflecting on the journey heavily. Though I knew I still had plenty of miles to go, I had started to feel deeply that I was in the home stretch. What did this mean to me? How had I changed? Who I would be when I returned home? All these questions swirled in my head, but most of all a sense of love and happiness permeated all. I felt found again.