Appalachian Trail (day 18) - Erwin TN to Iron Mountain / mile 366

It was raining all night, it briefly stopped at 5 AM and I used that opportunity to pack up and leave the campsite as I knew it was coming back.

It didn't took long to get off trail but the walk to the shops was quite long. I've stopped at the Shell station, just before it started to rain again. Cars were coming in and out but no one was taking the fuel, which I though was a bit odd. People were buying food or drinks and driving off. 

I've bought a coffee and a sausage and bacon roll and I stood outside looking at the first daylight starting to come through. I saw a couple going into the station, they were not coming out for a long time. I went back in after half an hour to brush my teeth and use the toilet, they were still inside gambling on the two slot machines. I thought to myself,  who wakes up before dawn and goes to a gas station to gamble? What kind of sad existence is that. But also who puts slot machines at the gas station in the first place anyway? I left after fifteen minutes, it was still raining but I had to make a move.

I've arrived at the Price Less supermarket at 7:30 AM, topped up my food to last for about five days. Here's what it looked like after a bit of repackaging:

Once I've dealt with provisions, I've visited a nearby Dari Ace restaurant for breakfast, it was tiny but interestingly designed, there was one row of seating and a table going in a semicircle around the kitchen, so everyone was facing eachother which encouraged conversation. There was couple of locals inside already. I had few slices of bacon, scrambled eggs, four toasts and a coffee, it all costed just over 10$, I paid cash and left 3$ tip.

After that I've made my way back to trail, luck was on my side here, a local guy called Scott stopped and offered me a ride, it saved me good half an hour of walking. We've arrived at the other side of the river where the bridge used to be (it got destroyed by the hurricane Helene, most of people were going through the river by a raft provided by the ATC) just before 9 AM.

From here, I started long ascent out of town. First interesting encounter happened quite quickly I saw two bog turtles right on the trail and they didn't manage to escape the camera, although the second one was a bit shy.

Halfway through the climb I've met BT (or Brother Tom but preferred to be called BT) a Christian Catholic Missionary doing trail magic by the side of the road. He offered me an earl gray tea, banana cake and a chocolate brownie. We talked about Pope's death, state of religion and current American politics, which he wasn't too proud of. He was a very interesting and intelligent guy.

I carried on climbing and around 3 PM I've reached the detour around the part of trail that still had a lot of blow downs. It took three hours to complete, and it was a bit of a "ninja warrior" quest but eventually I stepped back on the trail. The unofficial campsite wasn't far. I've got joined here by Spuds, 3PO, James and two girls I've met yesterday Sparrow and Scraps. 

It turned out James was a master fire builder and we had a real great fire roaring in about half an hour which was amazing after a cold and rainy day. Sparrow was half-Polish, her mum was born in Lubin, Poland, emigrated to Boston and married an American. Sparrow could even talk some basic Polish. Spuds loved potatoes and 3PO walked like C3PO from Star Wars, it was the first big hike in their lives and they were loving it.

I stayed by the fire talking pass my usual bedtime, but eventually I said goodbye and went to sleep. I could hear their chatter and laughter in the distance way into the night.