4/19/01
Another cold night settled in but I was warmer than two nights ago. I didn't sleep well, but I was thinking that the end of the deep freeze was in sight so I popped out of the sleeping bag and got an early start this morning. By 9 a.m. I was at the top of Big Bald Mountain, a huge expanse of grassy bald with a 360 degree view. To the east, Mt. Mitchell could be viewed in the distance. Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississipppi River; I had the entire mountain top to myself and it was absolutely outstanding. Though covered in snow and exposed, the wind was minimal and the warm sunshine was already taking the chill off the mountain. I made two phone calls home since there was a great signal from the top. (I'm not sure I actually like this cell phone thing...it's taking away the wilderness). After spending time there, it was time to move on and the day was shaping up to be a perfect hiking day. By mid-afternoon I reached the No Business Knob shelter which was the originally planned destination for the day. The day was simply too beautiful to quit hiking so it was a quick decision to keep on hiking all the way in to Erwin, TN. I arrived at the hiker hostel "Uncle Johnny's" by 5 p.m. After checking in, two year 2000 thru-hikers, Murphy and Dead Man, shuttled a large group of us to a total hole in the wall Mexican/Cuban grocery/restaurant. It really wasn't a restaurant, just one guy and his wife running the place. La Hacienda turned out to be one of the best Mexican meals I've eaten anywhere, period! Before I leave Erwin, I will eat there again! ! ! Our hungry thru-hiker group that shared this unique dining experience included Serge, Pop Pop, Kay, Cliff, Buck, Samurai, Hip, and Popcorn. We were then shuttled back to the hostel. The bunk house had a TV and VCR and several movies to choose from. Uncle Johnny has a money jar located above the TV and the cost for watching a movie is 35 cents (to be used for maintenance and upkeep and for future movie expansion). Several of us spent two hours watching "Unforgiven", a great Clint Eastwood flick. The movie crowd included Cliff, Buck, Samurai, The Bavarian Marmot, and Brian from New Jersey. Once the movie was over, it was "lights out" on a beautiful hiking day with a fun social evening to top it off. Heres the stats: low 24 degrees (ridiculous), high 60 (now that's more like it). Sunny all day. Today's mileage: 20.7; cumulative mileage; 338.7
