Erwin Tennessee
Walked all over Erwin and met everyone.
Talked about the weather........what a tough, tough winter it has been..... how nice it is today.....how lucky we all are not to be in Minnesota.
And we all talked about our knees.......our torn cartilage.....our knee straps .....our knee bands.....our knee braces. And how soon surgical repair or replacement, will come. Everybody....... everywhere... in Erwin...... has bad knees. We noted that all of our bad knees predicted thunderstorms for this evening, and how lucky all of us hikers are that we will be down here tonight. Down here..... when the wind begins to blow.......... and the rain....... and the lightning come up there....
way above....up there. Lucky indeed.
The last thing......truly, the very last thing any hiker wants to do...... when he gets down....down off the most recent mountain, and into town......is to walk ....to walk anywhere at all. When up on top, a hiker is always anticipating town, just two more big climbs .... or two more days of climbs....or two more hours....... And then we start going down....and its down.....down...... into town.
A hiker will wait hours, hours..... for a shuttle pick up, rather than hoof it a mile into town. Hikers only walk the trail.....where it counts. They are not at all happy about wearing out their feet and knees, where it does not count....... in town.
Yet, when you do get into town, it seems as if every motel, every hostel.....every place for the penniless, or the hard core, to pitch a tent....and especially, every plush resort room and Tourist Cabin...... is up at the top of a hill. Yes. That is your room....the one way, way the hell up there....... at the top of the hill. They put them up there, I know it...... to give the tourists a feel for the mountains, a bit of down home mountain flavor.
Hikers look up to the cabin, they have just rented, and ask management if there is free shuttle service up to there? Or, if the town has taxi service? The proprietors laugh happily, at what they believe to be hiker humor. They have no notion that we are seriously seeking a way to get to that shower, that bed...... without walking up one more damn hill!
Erwin stinks as a thru hiker town. Every hiker journal ever wrtten says so. And every hiker stops there in spite of the warnings. Because we have to eat. Because we suppose we really should get a shower after six days....in case we get hit by a car, and have to go to the hospital. And because....well because all of our dirty, wet, socks stink so bad, that even we.... real hikers .... are hanging them on the outsides of our packs. Because they smell so bad.....so really, really bad.
Erwin stinks because you have to walk all over, to get anywhere. But at least Erwin is flat, flat easy miles with no pack.
First I met Tom, the shuttle driver, (I had to walk back up the darn hill, that I just hiked down, part way, to get phone service, so I could call him) who offered me a six pack of beer. I said no thanks, that I drank up my lifetime supply, a long time ago. He laughed and said "me too, a rider gave it to me this morning. Just trying to give it to someone." Then we talked about the weather, and his friend the dentist hiker, who used every sanitary technique possible, and then got clobbered by the virus. ( I won't meet my friend "Chin Music" myself, for awhile. ) I asked the cost of the ride.....resisted the urge to say, "Are you kidding me?" when the cost was about 1/3 of what I expected. Paid him for the ride, and for tomorrow's ride, and tipped him for both. I am beginning to learn a bit about the South......Southern Hospitality, Southern Honor, and how business is done here.
My friend, Tom, dropped me at the Post Office....... where I spent 10 minutes boxing up my cold weather clothes, and 40 minutes chatting with the two women clerks. One of them had the gift of gab (yes....yes, I knew you were gonna say that....I really did) and a great movie quality...... Southern drawl. She was great. I promised her, and the silent one, that I was headed straight to the motel, to shower and do laundry, that no one, in addition to themselves, would be subjected to my 6 days on the trail, in the same clothes, aroma.
"Why sweetheart........ You don't even smell at all! Sugar, it's those hikers in June and July.....Ohhh my! Sugar Pie, its those hikers in July, that really stink.....not you Darlin'......Honey..... Why, you don't even smell at all. Y'all enjoy yourself in Erwin now, Sunshine...... And take care of your knees."
My pack felt lighter. And my feet and knees were happier.
Then I started the trek toward the Super 8, where I had talked the manager into letting me occupy the room, a couple of hours early.
Stopped in a McDonalds. (I had hit McDonalds in Franklin,Ga. too.) I have not eaten fast food in years....years. But years don't matter to hikers....miles matter. Why walk by any place that has food, when it is right there....right on the way? So I ate a chicken sandwich, a fruit smoothie, and two giant Cokes. They have free refills at McDonalds. I called my motel friend and told him I would be a little late, as I was having a snack at McDonalds.
Showered, and headed back about a mile to do laundry. Met the woman at the food part of a gas station....talked to a trucker...and another hiker with her laundry. Spoke in depth with the mechanic at a different auto repair shop. His knee brace was on the outside of his pants. He said, over time, being a mechanic wears out your knees.. His doctor says he needs replacement. He is 61..... a youngster I told him.
Met the lady at the laundrimat; 60's, and watching a cable hunting show. They were huntin' gaters somewhere. I could not see the television screen, but I could see that she was into it.
Then I met the guy across the street, resting his knees in the sun, on his porch.
Met a guy and two women at Walgreens, where I bought 14 Snickers bars and 6 giant 4.25 ounce Hersheys Dark chocolate bars. And a bunch of snacks, for my room. Then I bought orange juice from my friend at the gas station. Then I stopped back at McDonalds, and ordered a double Mac and Cheese....... plus a Southern style chicken sandwich, to hold me over till I got my two bags of snacks back to my room
Then I met the motel proprietor's wife. And now I am resting my feet..... and hoping the rain my knees know is coming....comes tonight....before Tom gets here tomorrow, and I start to hike up that big hill.
Then I started the trek toward the Super 8, where I had talked the manager into letting me occupy the room, a couple of hours early.
Stopped in a McDonalds. (I had hit McDonalds in Franklin,Ga. too.) I have not eaten fast food in years....years. But years don't matter to hikers....miles matter. Why walk by any place that has food, when it is right there....right on the way? So I ate a chicken sandwich, a fruit smoothie, and two giant Cokes. They have free refills at McDonalds. I called my motel friend and told him I would be a little late, as I was having a snack at McDonalds.
Showered, and headed back about a mile to do laundry. Met the woman at the food part of a gas station....talked to a trucker...and another hiker with her laundry. Spoke in depth with the mechanic at a different auto repair shop. His knee brace was on the outside of his pants. He said, over time, being a mechanic wears out your knees.. His doctor says he needs replacement. He is 61..... a youngster I told him.
Met the lady at the laundrimat; 60's, and watching a cable hunting show. They were huntin' gaters somewhere. I could not see the television screen, but I could see that she was into it.
Then I met the guy across the street, resting his knees in the sun, on his porch.
Met a guy and two women at Walgreens, where I bought 14 Snickers bars and 6 giant 4.25 ounce Hersheys Dark chocolate bars. And a bunch of snacks, for my room. Then I bought orange juice from my friend at the gas station. Then I stopped back at McDonalds, and ordered a double Mac and Cheese....... plus a Southern style chicken sandwich, to hold me over till I got my two bags of snacks back to my room
Then I met the motel proprietor's wife. And now I am resting my feet..... and hoping the rain my knees know is coming....comes tonight....before Tom gets here tomorrow, and I start to hike up that big hill.
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