Continued....

Continued...

The morning following the ice storm was calm and cool. I took my time packing my gear and headed down the trail.

A few hours later I met Hawaii as she hiked southbound (again???) I spoke with her for a couple minutes, she told me about some cool people camping down at the road ahead.

As I approached the campers I heard Noodles yell out " Hey Stupid! Whats goin on?!"

The day had warmed considerably and it was a sunny view at the site where he camped. Along with Noodles was Mountain Man, Nomad, and Piper.  Apparently Hawaii spent the night in pipers tent, he was smiling and whistling as he packed his gear.

I sat by their fire and had a smoke while we chatted about the previous days storm.  After a while I bade them goodbye and headed on. I met up with G-man and Knutt at the next shelter so I sat and talked with them before we all continued on to wesser bald shelter. The weather was so nice that no one stayed in the shelter. We all pitched tents and then stood around the fire until late.

The next morning I was the last to leave camp for the 5 mile or so hike into the N.O.C.  I soon passed G-man and Knutt, then I sprained my ankle on a root so they passed me again. I met up with someone who saw me lumping so they gave me a percocet. In ten minutes I was feeling no pain  and floated down the hillside to the NOC.

The NOC smelled like a carnival as I hiked down to it. There was a Hiker event going on with vendors, activities and a free dinner. I heard about the restaurant there that served great burgers so that was at the top of my list, as well as finding a place to stay, getting backcountry permits for the smokeys mountains,  and having some fun. As I checked out the scene, I saw a bridge crossing the river. No sooner did I start to cross than I heard " Hey Stupid!"

A group of hikers were waving me over so I went and chatted with them about how surrealistic it was to find this place on the trail. There was a store, an outfitter, a restaurant, and a bar.  It was awesome to say the least. I learned that there was free camping near the railroad tracks so I headed that way when I heard "Hey Stupid! Over here, we saved you a seat!"

It was G-man at the restaurant. So I went there first, ordered a burger and a few beers. After the percocet I had taken earlier, those beers had me lit. I joked to my friends that I needed trekking poles just to walk. So I stumbled off to set up my tent. I then hung around the store drinking beer and hard cider while meeting new hikers and familiar faces as well. I got permits for Morris and I at the outfitters, then picked up a 12 pack of yuengling and sat outside the bar waiting for dinner to start. I gave most of the beer away but drank enough myself to keep my buzz going.

When dinner was served, we put all the tables outside together. The atmosphere was festive as we gorged on hot dogs and chili. The band played well and we all sat there by the river having a great time.

Later we walked back to the campsite "tent city" and sat around the fire drinking, smoking, and telling stories about things we've seen on the trail.

Some time in the night I stumbled back to my tent and fell asleep with my legs hanging out and my boots on. I woke up at 3am and searched for my lost cell phone, then finding it, returned to my  tent.

The next morning I felt surprisingly good for having been so drunk the night before.

A former thru hiker ( and retired army ranger ) named onisimus was out to do some trail magic with his dog Spence.  He offered me an orange and we commiserated about the government and agreed that this life in the open was great. He gave me an orange and a banana for breakfast. I gave him a pall mall menthol.

Then I finished packing up and headed for Stecoah Gap to meet morris.