Asheville Regional Airport

Jones Meadow parking area (mile marker 297.3) to Spivey Gap / US 19W (#333.1).
Three Day Mileage: 35.8

I’m combining the last 3 days in one post as they were shorter in duration due to torrential rain and thunderstorms that occurred over the Memorial Day weekend. Used the Super 8 in Erwin TN as a home base each night and slack packed (only carried a 10-12 lb pack) during each day with shuttle rides to and from the trail as entry & exit points to the trail were close by.

The trail was full of wet and weary hikers and the temp dropped quite a bit (down to 50 during the day), making for less than ideal trekking conditions. I didn’t take any pics or film any videos based on the rain and fog.

We stopped hiking around 1:00 each day getting in @ 10-12 miles per, which allowed a decent amount of exploration time in the town of Erwin itself.

Most of my time was spent at: Food City getting groceries, Steel Rails Coffee House (a wonderful local cafe), The Union Street Tap House (great selection of beers), McDonalds (best milkshakes in the U.S., enough said!), and the Erwin Outdoor Supply Co. (an outfitting place catering to hikers and their needs). The Main Street down the center of the historic town was small but quaint with an interesting leather saddle shop and a
couple of antique shops. The store owners and their stories were just as much fun as what they were selling!

On the 0.75 mile walk back to my hotel through the back streets, I found a curious managed feral cat colony that is kept up daily by the Appalachian Feral Cat Allies group. About 10 small “homes” for cats next to the train tracks that cut the town in two. They were hanging out laying in the grass outside of their feline condos when I walked by. (See pics).

This morning (Wed May 31st) Nate (trail name Zach Galifianakis) picked me up
for my 1 hr trip to the Asheville NC airport. Nate is awesome and is the driver of choice in these parts! You may recall he shuttled me from the trail into Gatlinburg 2 weeks ago for my off day there. A genuinely nice person with a world of experience having thru hiked the Triple Crown (the AT, CDT & PCT). I will see him next April when I come back down to resume my section hike from Erwin TN going north to Damascus VA and beyond.

A sad day leaving for sure, but lots of wonderful memories over the past month and I look forward to more AT hiking up north this summer and fall!!Read more