4-12-15 Uncle Johnny's Hostel

When I woke up this morning I felt much better, I was able to eat some oatmeal and rehydrate. I was stiff from the hard sleeping surface but my stomach was not so queasy. I made a fire and did some stretching to relieve the pain and stiffness in my back and knees. I soaked my feet and applied some blister patches to my heels where my boots are starting to rub and got ready for the 18 mile push to Erwin Tenn. The maps told me there was a couple more miles of uphill and then it was mostly downhill to Erwin. The winds were around 30-40 mph and it was about 55 deg. until noon . as I went down in elevation and the wind died down it turned out to be a nice day, about 70 deg. and sunny. I passed over a few brooks and rivers and then as I started seeing Erwin in the distance there were several switchbacks heading down the last mile or so. When I got to the hostel I rented a private cabin and bought a folding sleeping mat (I wasn't taking any chances on an air mattress). The owner offers a shuttle for guests in to town and a few of us went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we all sat at the same table and told trail stories and had a great time. After dinner I went to Wal-mart and bought a plastic tub and some epsom salts to soak my feet and some food. Back at the hostel I watched a movie from the archaic VHS collection and slept in a real bed for the first time in weeks, what a luxury!