At the end of my last blog post, I was dropped off at Dicks Creek Gap and camped about a mile up the trail. That night was quite lonely as it was the first time I wasn’t sharing a shelter/tent with people, but it was uneventful.
The next morning I got up and headed north as usual, but this day I crossed into a new state! I had lunch at the big gnarled tree at Bly Gap and enjoyed having finished a state. I then walked to the Muskrat Creek shelter, where I again spent the night alone. I saw another rattlesnake on the trail, which deepened my caution toward them.
One less state!
The next day was fairly uneventful. It was foggy most of the day, so there weren’t many views, and it was raining when I set up camp at Betty Creek. Luckily it stopped raining before dark and didn’t rain overnight, so my tent wasn’t too wet when I packed it up in the morning.
Wednesday was an auspicious day for two reasons: First, I had logged mile 100 on the trail!! And second, I would be staying in a hostel for the first time.
I arrived at Albert Mountain (dump truck*: 9:30) in the sun and spread my tent out to dry. Some lovely hikers even took my photo with the 100 mile marker!
100 miles
*Dump Truck Challenge: Travel the last 0.3 km (very steep and with many steps) to Albert Mountain as quickly as possible.
After enjoying the sun and views of Albert, I walked to Rock Gap to meet my host/shuttle driver. I stayed at Lightning’s Hikers Haven based on the good FarOut reviews and the fact that the hostel price covered bed, laundry, dinner and breakfast, transportation to resupply, and transportation to and from the trail. Lightning was great – she made a massive dinner and breakfast, which I unfortunately couldn’t finish. Hiker hunger hasn’t completely hit me yet! The shelter is in a basement separate from their house, a little outside of Franklin. If you’re looking to be able to walk around Franklin, you won’t be able to do much if you stay here, but it was nice, quiet, and comfortable.
The next morning, Lightning dropped me off at Rock Gap and I headed to Wayah Bald. On the way to Siler Bald, I met a group of teenage backpackers who looked like explorers. There were two girls with them, one of whom complimented my tattoos. I remembered when I used to go backpacking with my brother’s boy scout troop, and I was so proud of them! I hope they continue with this.
Siler Bald was beautiful, well worth the warm, steep blue blaze to the top. I had lunch there and met up with the section of hikers I had seen in Albert. After enjoying the views and resting, I headed down the mountain towards Wayah Gap.
View from Siler Calvo
The trail down to Wayah Gap is steep and I definitely stumbled somewhere, always regaining my balance with a quick lunge or trekking pole. But it was going down and the weather was good. I didn’t know a disaster had occurred. I came to a spot that looked like a dry creek and reached into the back pocket of my shorts to check FarOut to see if it was the first water source coming down the trail. Unfortunately, my pocket was empty: my phone was no longer with me.
I tried not to panic. «Don’t worry, you probably forgot to pick it up when you went to pee after lunch,» I told myself. «If you just go back to that spot, it will probably be there. And as you go back, you can look at the trail in case you missed it somewhere else.» I returned and found the exact location of my makeshift toilet, but there was no telephone, neither there nor on the road. I retreated further, until I reached the summit of Siler Bald, where I used it for the last time. I asked the hikers who had come from the north if they had seen a telephone. No luck.
I kept trying not to panic. At that point I realized I needed to get into Franklin because I had no maps and few ways to contact anyone (I still had my Garmin). From what I remember of the map, Wayah Gap was closer than Winding Stair from the top of Siler, and I would be going the right way. I wouldn’t back up (nor did I) and I could look above the ground for my phone once more on the way down. So I continued north. I had no luck finding my phone on the second pass.
I arrived at Wayah Gap, determined to hitchhike to Franklin and get a new phone at least temporarily. I wasn’t quite sure of all the steps I would need to take to replace my lost phone, but I figured they would require calling my cell phone provider, connecting to the Internet, or both, things I currently had no way to do. Luckily, a nice couple quickly picked me up and gave me a bottle of water and took me to Walmart in Franklin where I was able to purchase a burner phone. They also gave me directions on how to walk from Walmart to downtown, where I could find hiker-friendly businesses.
I grabbed my burner phone and started walking towards the center of town, heading to the only business I could remember: Lazy Hiker Brewery. I thought I could get some food and maybe a drink there and use their wifi to set up my phone. Everything went as planned except setting up my phone – a call I tried to make didn’t go through. But I thought I just needed more time. On the way to the brewery, I stopped by Outdoor 76, which I knew helped hikers with things based on my experience in Clayton. It was getting close to closing time, so I thought I’d walk over there and see what information they could give me about the shelters.
I arrived at Outdoor 76 and explained my situation. They said, «The shelter you want to stay at is the Grove. Here’s the number to text to see if they have space.» So I texted the number, trying to request a room last minute in the most polite, non-begging way possible. They also suggested I call the Forest Service, in case someone found my phone. I tried to call, but it couldn’t be done. So I sat down to troubleshoot my phone. Apparently my phone was set up, but I hadn’t paid for a month of service. No big deal, I would just enter my card information or bank information. No luck, couldn’t get through, any of the several times I tried to enter. At that point I assumed that my text messages to the Grove had also not been sent and that Outdoor 76 was closing. I apologized profusely to the staff and took a photo of the guidebook pages listing shelters, transportation services, and the map of Franklin. While I was doing this, I noticed that the entrance to The Grove said «by reservation only.» So my plan B of walking to The Grove and asking nicely (begging) for a room seemed increasingly unlikely to be successful. But I needed to get out of the store so they could close.
All this time, the staff at Outdoor 76 had been checking on me periodically to see if they could help me. At that point I told them my service payment was not going through, so I had a phone but no service and my text message to Grove had probably not been sent. I tried to put on a brave face and say I would just walk there, but having seen “by reservation only” I was trying to mentally prepare myself for sleeping on the roof of the local Dominos. And then figuring out what the heck to do without any cell service to continue walking or doing anything. Or figuring out how to get AT&T to accept my debit card or checking account information, without being able to call them. So my brave face ended up repeating «I’m so sorry» while crying and trying to calm myself down enough to explain that it would be okay, that I could figure it out.
Fortunately, the staff at Outdoor 76 were very supportive (and I suspect they had dealt with this before). They themselves texted the people at Grove asking if there was room for me and offered to take me there. It had already been almost half an hour since the store had closed, so I said I would just walk. They assured me that everything would be fine, that I was in good hands with Willow and Bluebs. I started walking towards where Grove was on the map, and as I crossed a street, someone in a car flagged me down. It was Bluebs and he had come to take me to the Grove.
As we drove back he told me that he had been in a very similar situation; She had broken her phone on her second walk and Willow had said she could keep her since she lived nearby. So he stayed almost 10 days waiting for a new phone, and that led them to buy the hostel together. He showed me the hostel and then let me settle in. There was another couple staying in the private room, but I was the only one in the bunk beds. I talked to them for a while, explained what happened, and Willow came and introduced herself. Everyone was very friendly and I was able to take a real bath, with Epsom salts. On top of that, my payment finally went through, so I now had a working phone (even if it wasn’t mine and I only had contacts whose numbers I had memorized). One of my friends in Memphis helped me get into my password manager (2FA being what it is) and I was back in business. Back on FarOut, back connected to my Garmin, back able to text, call, and email people.
I went to bed, exhausted after my long day (over 12 miles on the trail and then some in Franklin!) and determined to figure out what I would do in the morning. In the morning I got off to a slow start, I even called my cell phone provider and considered buying a new phone. In the end I decided to keep the prepaid for two reasons. First, he still had a small hope that the one he lost would appear. I didn’t want to buy a new one if they returned the old one. Secondly, I felt like I couldn’t even think about all the considerations of a new phone while I was on the road. If I needed to buy a new phone, I wanted to do it while I was in Memphis, without trying to walk. So I just set up the basics on my new phone: FarOut, Garmin, signal to communicate with my friends joining me in the Smokies, and enough books and music to entertain me for hopefully a week (5 books and 3 albums). I also called the Forest Service permanent Indian camp and left several comments on FarOut with a description of my phone in case someone found it.
Then I walked back to the main street to have lunch and buy a canister of fuel at Outdoor 76. Part of me could use the fuel and part of me wanted to thank them for their help. They were happy to know that everything was working and I was happy to express my gratitude. After that, Bluebs drove me to Wayah Gap, where I had gotten off to hitchhike in Franklin, and I was back on the road! So far, this hike has been a non-stop adventure: not all good and not all bad, but undeniably adventurous.
