Trail life so far
Today marks ONE MONTH on the road! What a month it has been! We’ve been living our best life here on the trail! To say our enthusiasm and fervor for the trail hasn’t diminished one bit is an understatement!
Do our ankles hurt? Absolutely. 100% of the time. Do our muscles hurt? Yes, new ones every day. Muscles I didn’t even know could hurt. We’ve been sunburned and frozen. We have argued. I still curse under my breath as I climb steep slopes.
But the cold days make us appreciate the beautiful ones. The tough climbs make the summit seem more victorious. Muscle pain is a reminder that our body is getting stronger. My ankles hurt… well, actually I could pass it. But the tribulations are what make the triumphs of the path so wonderful to experience. Every day we encourage each other, even when there has been a disagreement. The trail is a special place that It can only be understood by experiencing it.
Trail names
A month of tracking also seems like a good time to introduce our trail names to people who follow the blog. So, The Norris Trio (Alex, Cody and Turkenna) have officially accepted the trail names Captain, Avalanche and Speed Bump. The Captain (Cody) earned his name for his leadership and planning skills. I got Avalanche for being fast on the downhills (although I’m a little slow on the uphills). And Turk has Speed Bump as his trail name because he has a habit of walking down the trail in front of us and stopping to sniff something. And then not moving when we have to go around her.
Day 30 and counting
On the morning of our 30th day on the trail, we woke up bright and early at Spivey Gap Campground. We commented on how nice it was that the morning wasn’t as cold as the morning before as we worked to quickly pack up camp. This day we were walking 11 miles into the city. We had all made reservations at Uncle Johnny’s Nolichucky Lodge for the night. On days we are going to be in the city, we like to walk early, even if we are going more than a few miles.
Laundry and clothing loan
We left the woods at the end of Erwin, Tennessee. Uncle Johnny’s was the first building that welcomed us. We arrived around noon, checked in, and quickly started doing laundry and showering. 
One of the nice things about staying in a hiking hostel is that they almost always have clothes to borrow. Cody went to the bathroom to change into borrowed clothes he could wear while we washed our own clothes. He came out wearing a pair of tight jean shorts and a bright red t-shirt that said «Thing 1.» We both laughed a lot at how silly it looked and joked about trying to find the most ridiculous outfits at every hostel we stayed at.
New store Who is it?
Afterwards was very relaxing. We shopped at the clothing store located right there at the hostel. And we finally decided to pull the trigger on a purchase we had been thinking about making from Neel Gap. We upgraded our tent from the Big Agnes Tigerwall UL 2 to the Tigerwall UL 3. The two-person tent served us well for many hikes, but now that the three of us live in it full time, the tent was starting to feel quite small. It was time to get a little more space. And as an added bonus, we were able to give our UL 2 to a friend who had been hiking with a tent that was too heavy. We were looking forward to getting back on the road to try out our new store!
Cycling to the city
Billy Goat, Apollo, Cody and I were discussing our plans to go into town that afternoon. Uncle Johnny’s offered a free shuttle service at 4 with pickup at 6:00. 
But we started talking about going earlier and maybe staying out later. Go out to dinner, shop to restock on food, maybe visit some places in town. Then Cody suggested we borrow Uncle Johnny’s free bike rental to bike into town. The staff member who checked our bikes warned us that we were responsible for recovering ourselves (and the bikes) if we took them. And he strongly implied that they wouldn’t send a van to transport us back if we got to town and decided we didn’t want to sell back. 
We accept these terms with the misplaced confidence of four naïve hikers. We each made our selection of bikes. Cody volunteered to ride a tricycle that was equipped with a basket we could use for shopping. And off we went, selling bicycles on the road as if we were a group of children.
Bicycle problems
The drive to the taco restaurant alone was just over 5 miles with lots of hills. And no, the bikes didn’t have gears. Hungry, hot and emaciated, we headed to Taco and Grill. Each of us tried not to confess that perhaps we should have led the staff member’s words of warning. But just then, my bike felt a sudden jolt followed by significant resistance while pedaling. It felt like the brakes were locked. I managed to get it to the restaurant where we diagnosed that the bike had a rear tire that was so misaligned that the side of the tire was pushed against the frame of the bike. Cody reminded us that there was no backup/rescue option. This was a problem after dinner.
Longest 5 mile bike ride
Dinner was excellent. It’s hard to imagine how much food can be stored by hungry hikers who skipped lunch after walking 11 miles and biking another 5. Three huge cakes and three main courses were served to our table of four. 
As soon as we finished eating, we knew it would be useless to try to travel anywhere other than back to Uncle Johnny’s house. Apollo, Billy Goat, and Cody took turns returning to my broken bike. The resistance was so tough that everyone had to sell by force, even in the hills. They resorted to simply walking their bikes on all the hills. We stopped for water at a gas station and lamented the life choices that led us to our current situation. It’s also worth mentioning that the trike we thought we’d be so smart ended up being hard to pedal and even harder to ride. 
We each also took turns putting it together. When we reached the last stretch with the lodge in place, we could also see the entire bridge that had previously crossed the Nolichucky River lying on the river bank. It is difficult to understand how far the flood waters must have reached during Hurricane Helene to wash away an entire concrete bridge.
Was it worth it?
In the end the victory was ours! We’re back! In the end, the free bus had also arrived in town and was due to arrive right after us. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Days like this create the best stories. And we have laughed many times at our debacle in the days since. We would still need to resupply the next morning, which would delay the journey. But that was a problem for the next day. That night we went out to play cards with a full stomach.
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