Appalachian Trail

TALES FROM THE TRAIL

Unicoi Gap to Helen  (North Georgia - 9 miles)

Helen was to be my first town stop as I needed to buy groceries and fuel for my stove.  This was to be just a quick half day trip into town.  On arriving at Unicoi Gap I met three other hikers.  Two were trying to hitch a lift and the third had called a taxi which was on it's way from Helen.  I moved down the road about 200 yards so I was away from these hikers and put my thumb out.  After 15 minutes they all came past in a taxi.  The taxi driver stopped and enquired if I wanted to get in with them.......the charge was a mere $20 per person!  You've got to be kidding!  I didn't have a problem paying for a ride but there was no way I was going to help a greedy taxi driver get $80 for taking four people 9 miles.  I declined the offer.

Three minutes later a beat up old Nissan 180B pulls up, the paint was faded, the panels dented and the interior roof lining was hanging off.  The driver's name was Ken and he was a very nice man.  He was 78 years young and I got his life story in nine miles.  Ken was an orphan who had to leave school at a very early age and believed himself to be a 'dud'.  After leaving school he taught himself wallpapering and worked in this business until he was inducted into the army during World War 2.  When the war was over he entered College on a returned GI's educational grant and was surprised to discover that he topped his class in math's.  After graduating he took on teaching math's at a high school which he loved and continued to do until retiring at age 65.  Since then he has returned to working as a paperhanger again.  What a guy!  Ken declined my offer to contribute for his gas expense.  Thanks Ken.

Helen to Unicoi Gap

It was pouring with rain and I was on the side of the road for over an hour and a quarter.  Eventually a young guy pulled up and offered to give me a ride if I could pay for the gas.  He was unemployed and looking for work.  I gladly gave him $10

Winding Stair Gap to Franklin (North Carolina - 19 miles)

I had been on the trail for about ten days and needed to stock up on groceries, have a shower and get some R&R.  I'd only had my thumb out for a few minutes when a car stopped - another bomb but whose complaining?  The passenger, who I would  later learn was named Nancy, seemed really nervous about picking me up.  Well I was dirty and smelly and looked a little weird in all my hiking finery!  The couple were aged in their late twenties and they were taking Nancy to the hospital in Greenville, North Carolina.  Nancy was getting radiation treatment for cancer that had recurred.  She had previously been treated for cancer and had spent six years in remission.  For them it was a 240 mile round trip twice a week.  

I really felt for this couple as they clearly didn't have much money and now they had this worry with Nancy's health.  I managed to convince Bob to accept $10 to put towards his gas.

Franklin to Winding Stair Gap

I was to get confirmation that receiving a lift out of town is always more difficult than getting a lift into town.  It was early Saturday morning and after leaving Franklin I walked down to the highway and found a spot that I thought looked good and cars might readily stop.  I was nearing despair and was seriously considering walking back to town (about 2 miles) and getting a taxi.......when a driver of a Chevy pickup crossing a side road on the other side of the highway spotted me and came over.  His name was Mike and he was about 35 years old.

Mike wasn't actually going my way but generously offered to drive me back to Winding Stair Gap.  The back of Mike's truck was full of carpentry equipment and he was self employed as a cabinet fitter (fitting kitchens in new and remodeled homes) and he had just finished a job.  He himself was a hiker and said he often picked up AT hikers and gave them a lift back to the trail.  Mike declined my offer of gas money.  Thanks Mike.

Fontana Dam to Fontana Dam Township

The trail dropped out at Fontana Dam about 2 miles from the township and I needed to go into town to restock.  There were a few houseboats there which made me homesick as I own one myself.  Fontana is unusual in that it is a resort town.  For those of you who don't know - this means that all of the homes in the town have no permanent residents and are owned by the resort.  As it was out of season the town was almost deserted.  

Besides walking, the only transport here is a shuttle van driven by Eric.  Eric is about 60 years of age and at one time was in the logistics business.  Now semi-retired, Eric manages a trout fishing farm in the high season and drives the hiker shuttle van the remainder of the time.  For the mere fee of $1 Eric transports the hikers in and out of town.  During the ride Eric told me his story and how he lived in a new home with a holiday cabin alongside it that he built for friends, etc, to stay in when they visited.  He generously offered me free use of the cabin if I wanted to stay there now or later on.  Unfortunately I needed to keep moving as the Smokey Mountains were calling.

Newfound Gap to Gatlinburg (Tennessee)

It was a Sunday and I had hiked 8 miles of the trail through 4 inches of snow to get to Newfound Gap which is about 20 miles from Gatlinburg.  It was absolutely freezing at this stage of my hike.  Newfound Gap is a place where lots of people come to see the view and as it had been snowing there were plenty of people around enjoying the sights.

I approached a couple who had a 4 wheel drive and asked if they were going near Gatlinburg,.  lucky for me they were.  They were Jane and Jim of Knoxville, Tennessee.  Jim is a director of the University Of Tennessee's Business College and he was on his way to Pigeon Forge to speak at a conference his college was conducting.

Jim and Jane took me into Gatlinburg even though it was out of their way, and dropped me at the Happy Hiker (the local outfitter's store) so I could get the right advice on local accommodation.  Whilst I was riding with them Jane kept plying me with food from a huge bag of snacks that she just happened to have.....in fact she tried to get me to take the whole bag!  There must have been at least twenty packs of chips and biscuits in it.

Gatlinburg to Newfound Gap

After laying up in Gatlinburg for six days waiting for my leg injury to improve, I again confirmed that it is far more difficult to get a lift out of town and back to the trail.  Half an hour passed before a van with two people came along and stopped for me, one of them being another hiker.  The owner, it seems, was a young guy who had just last week moved into the area from Chicago and was trying to get work locally.  In the meantime he was earning a few bucks shuttling hikers to and from the trail.  He fee was a reasonable $6 and I was more than happy to pay.

US19E to Elk Park ( 2 miles )

It had been raining solid for 48 hours and both my boots had developed splits in them.  I needed to get off the trail and dry out.  I opted to go to Elk Park and get a comfy motel room for the night.  I had only been standing on the roadside for five minutes when a 4 wheel drive came from the opposite direction and did a U turn to pick me up.  It turned out to be a young woman (name forgotten - sorry) about 35 with her two young sons aged 7 and 4. They were on their way home to Banner Elk and had passed me a few minutes earlier when they decided to take heart and come back for me.

It's ironic, as when she discovered I was Australian she mentions that she was a nurse.  Some years ago before her current marriage, she was all set to go and work in Perth, Australia.  However her mother took ill just as she was due to depart and she never got there.  She figured she should have been well and truly married to an Aussie by now.

Elk Park to US19E

The Motel owner's grandson kindly gave four of us hikers a lift back to the trail.  It was 7.30am and 35 degrees F (brrr), but I was dried out and ready to go.

Damascus to Abingdon (Virginia - 22 miles)

When I decided it was time for me to leave the trail I needed a lift from Damascus to Abingdon so I could catch the Greyhound bus to Nashville.  After waiting on the road outside town for over 30 minutes and no sign of getting a lift (that out of town thing again), I decided to go back to town and get a taxi.  The hiker store rang the taxi but it would be an hour and a half wait before it could arrive!  To help expedite my journey the guys in the store wrote me a cardboard sign with Abingdon written on it with the advice that it always works.  (Why didn't someone tell me this before?)

I crossed the road from the store and had barely lifted my handy, new, sure thing sign when a sport utility vehicle stopped to pick me up.  It turns out that this was a semi-retired couple with their dog and a chook on board.  Now I felt right at home as my daughters have an abundance of animals including chooks.

This couple had recently retired after driving transport rigs all over the USA.  They now lived on a small farm that concentrated on producing naturally raised and organic foods.  Recently they had lost some chickens and were now taking this sick one to the vet to see if perhaps they had a disease running through the flock.  And I thought my daughter was mad when she did exactly the same thing last year.........