Driving a productive zero in Elizabethton

May 9, 2026

My fast pace during the week in the Smokies had unlocked an unplanned zero. That, of course, means a full day eating and working on my blog.

On the move

TOAs a reminder, I had skipped the Smokies in March. I continued walking along the Appalachian Trail, just north of the park, until I reached the Hurricane Helene bypass. Last week I reached the Carver’s Gap turnoff point and hiked another 30 miles along the trail north. Having finished the Smokies, there is only one 60-mile segment in northeast Tennessee that prevents me from connecting all my trail miles. Getting to that segment meant driving north to Elizabethton, Tennessee, near Johnson City.

Elizabethton

After leaving early and driving 90 minutes, I used my new resupply forecast to make sure I had exactly the amount of food I would need until May 24th. This would last me a full week beyond the next trail days event next weekend. This meant I wouldn’t need to restock in Damascus, which only has one big grocery store that I don’t think has sunflower seeds or powdered milk. Food for hikers in general may also be running low during the event. May 24 is also significant because it is the date of the Montreal Grand Prix. My itinerary, naturally, calls for a zero that day to watch the race live.

In addition to the food, I bought a cloth belt and 12 pairs of low-cut socks. I’ve been using an old leather belt with my hiking pants and found that it’s uncomfortable when I compress it with the hip belt on my backpack. It also has a bulky metal buckle and it no longer fits me as I have lost a bit of weight around my hips. I bought the socks because they will allow me to extend the time between visits to the laundry room. I’m running out of socks faster than boxers. This is because I had to walk around in wool socks, but I found them too warm for my taste. So, I started wearing my everyday socks and I just didn’t have enough of them.

Additional visit to English

My unexpected day off came with the bonus of another visit to my favorite Southern supermarket, Ingles. Everything looked great from the outside, however, at the deli counter, I saw that no hot food was served. There were seats in the cafeteria area and next to the Starbucks, but none of them had a single electrical outlet. I was left in disbelief, thinking that my carefully laid plans were in trouble. The nearest English was 20 minutes away in the opposite direction of where I needed to go. It also seemed to have the same setup as this store. I thought about going to the public library or even a laundromat and seeing if they had free Wi-Fi and a power outlet. But none of those places would probably allow me to bring a ton of food to eat throughout the day. I decided my best option was to stay in Ingles and use my car to recharge my laptop as needed.

I spent the next two hours working while having coffee and then walked to Greg’s pizza next to Ingles. They quickly made me a large bacon pizza, which I took to my truck to enjoy while my laptop recharged. I spent the rest of the day working on my blog posts between the van and the Inglés Café. By 9:00 pm I had all my new posts scheduled to go live based on my revised release schedule. I also made all the improvements in my previous posts in the month of April and in the last days of March. Once I finish all of these retroactive updates, the blogging process will be much faster and will allow me more downtime during my zeros.

The hunger of hikers has begun!

Sweet tooth

During the day, I quench my thirst with three cold soft drinks. I probably drink more than 100g of added sugar throughout the day. You’d think that would exclude me from more sugary snacks, but no, not even close. As I walked to the bathroom, I noticed that the bakery runs a massive sale on their sweets after 6:00 pm. Two items, which included donuts, donuts, and other small pastries, were two for a dollar. Spanish, you’ve done it again! It was a nice enough deal that I redeemed the tent for the lack of power outlets in the seating area. I devoured my treats in about 15 minutes. May my blood sugar levels forgive me.

The best food for hikers in the entire country.

The next port of call

From Elizabethton, it was a 25-minute drive to the Dennis Cove Road trailhead, which would be my port of call for the next two days. Given the relatively late hour, I was surprised to see the trailhead almost filled with vehicles. I backed up to a flat space that was available and climbed into the back of my truck. I noticed there were canopies and coolers at what was presumably a campground about 40 feet north of the trailhead. A group of campers were chatting by a campfire and seemed to be having a great time. I got out of my truck to brush my teeth and walk a bit along the trailhead. There was a sign indicating the magic trail with an arrow pointing towards their camp. I was intrigued, I hadn’t heard of trail angels staying overnight to do trail magic on consecutive days. I decided to investigate the next morning before my planned hike.

-See you tomorrow

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.