Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 100 – The famous Miss Janet
3rd November 2023
Clyde Smith Shelter (1827.9) - Erwin (1854)
Daily miles: 26.1
Total miles: 1842.9
It was pretty cold last night. I had my tent fly over the top of my sleeping bag in case it got windy and it actually added a good layer of warmth. The only thing that wouldn’t warm up was my toes. They were like ice cubes all night long. But the rest of me was toasty.
People at the shelter last night
Me
Toe
May Queen
Cal
Lemon Hope
Safety
Sidequest
Jet
Hendrix
Rabbit Foot
Thigh High
Robin Hood
Tinker
Late Start
Neptune
Plus 4 section hikers
It wasn’t that bad a temperature in the morning - warmer than we were expecting it to be – it was still difficult to get out of the sleeping bag though.
Early mornings at the shelter
I left the shelter with May Queen at 8am. The first task for today was to get 6 miles down the trail to Iron Mountain Gap where we were meeting Miss Janet (a very well known trail angel) and she had offered to slack pack us 20 miles into Erwin and she said she would host us all tonight. And there are a lot of us. 15.
I made it to the road 5 minutes off a 3mph pace, Robin Hood and Neptune overtook me at points where there were a couple of steep uphills that were a bit of a leg burner, but I was pretty happy with that. When we got there a lady called Emoji had some trail magic set up. The boot of her car was full of stuff, and expert set up. We stayed for about half an hour. Miss Janet was very keen for us to get moving because we still had 20 miles to go.
The morning light shining through the trees
Naked trees
Expert level trail magic set up
Hikers love a chair
It’s Miss Janet!
We set off and I hiked with Toe and May Queen for a while. It is so nice to hike without all my stuff on my back. We still had our back packs but all I had in mine was my puffy, rain jacket and water. In my fanny pack I had my snacks for the day. I also had my gloves in my Fanny pack and I remember thinking it wasn’t the best place for them and they might fall out. Well they did fall out and by the time I noticed I didn’t want to go back and look for them. I just hoped that some one behind me might pick them up.
Soon we got separated by the need to pee and delayer. It started cold but the day actually turned out pretty nice. I somehow got ahead even though we had an ascent, but the trail was so nicely graded that it was easy walking, and of course I didn’t have a full pack!
The trail went up into the forest and it was really nice at the top of Unaka mountain. Wooded and clear ground, but pretty chilly up there. The others had spotted a road walk so we discussed doing that.
I moved on with Toe, May Queen and Jet and we hiked downhill until we came to the water which was a short side trail but the water was flowing well out of a pipe. Love all these piped springs!
We sat for a while and ate some snacks and filled up water. Tinker arrived and she had picked up my gloves!
Uphills
The top of the mountain
Fast, cold and clear! Gotta love a piped spring
Water filter party
Have you ever seen someone enjoying the sun more than Jet?
Then we did a little road walk which parallels the trail, jumped back on to see Beauty Spot and then joined the road for a little bit more.
Dirt road walk over trail walking
What you can’t see is their tiny packs
The view from Beauty Spot
Back on the trail Safety, Sidequest and Cal were out in front, I was walking with May Queen, and Jet and Toe were behind. I walked with May Queen for a few miles and I was keeping up with her easily. The trail was really pretty today but fairly challenging as it was thick with leaves and they were hiding all the trip hazards. But the trail was well graded.
The trail curved around the sides of the mountains today, and every time the sun was on us it was too hot and every time we went into the shade it was too cold. The variance in temperature was extreme.
Back on the trail
A rare day when I can easily keep up with May Queen
We stopped to pee and I got in front and after looking and seeing there was only 4.8 miles left something came over me and I started moving really fast. May Queen said I was running uphill but I didn’t feel like I was. I was flying down the trail though and as it went downhill I was going even quicker. I wasn’t even tripping I was just going perfectly down the trail. I got Cal in my sights who was at the back of the hiker train and I got right up behind him and shouted hello and scared him; the leaves are so loud you can’t hear people coming. Earlier in the day I had a whole conversation with Toe and couldn’t hear a word of what she was saying. I made it a mile down the trail in 12 minutes!
Hiker train with the speedsters
We hiked along together until we got to the bridge at around 6:15pm which was great because it was way before it got dark and I had been worrying about getting there after dark. We contacted Miss Janet and waited on the side of the road for her to come and get us. It was a while before she came and it started to get really cold so I was glad to get all of my layers on. My outfit is looking particularly ridiculous.
I take 3 steps to every 1 of Safety Inspectors
Looking ridiculous
But feeling great
A quick resupply
Then came the frustrating part about it today. Miss Janet has offered to slack us again tomorrow. Drive us 25 miles south so we hike north back to Erwin and then we can stay with her again tomorrow night. My only reservation about this was that I wanted to continue doing SOBO miles. But was I really THAT bothered about it? The difference in the trail is the time of year and that difference would still be there regardless of going north or south. Plus if I go south there is 7500ft of ascent and 5000ft of descent and if I go north there is much less climbing which is the bit I’m not good at.
When you have 14 other people there are a lot of different opinions flying around. It was one of the worst nights, and I had a big part to play in that because I couldn’t make a decision. Am I worried what other people think? Probably. Should I be worried about what other people think? Of course not. Is it really that important? No.
I hid in the bathroom for a bit looking at the map and trying to make a decision. Some people said they were just going to hike out and camp. I looked at hiking out and staying in a hostel 25 miles away. It’s still going to be very cold tomorrow night. The conversations went round and round and over and under and back and forth.
I don’t know why I was having such a tough time making a decision. It was Safety who said why wouldn’t you slack pack and go north with the more favourable elevation and have a free place to stay indoors? Very true…
Howard (who is taking a few days to recover from an injury) had made a huge curry too and we ate that and there was still a load left over. We could come back and eat curry.
Curry made by Howard
Sandwiched between Howard and Cal (the old lady gets a bed)
Anyway. It’s now nearly 11pm and I need to sleep!
My feet are cracked on the outside. Thought it was a blister but turns out it’s a deep crack.
I’m constipated again. Difficult to be in the bathroom for any length of time when there are so many people and one toilet! Hopefully the curry will do its job.
