Unimaginable Hurricane Damage in Erwin, TN

Last night it started raining around 1am and continued all through the night. It was really coming down! And the wind was whipping pretty good too. I was so glad that we pushed out 36 miles yesterday to end here at the shelter. We were warm and dry inside. It was probably one of the warmest nights on trail in as long as I can remember.

I didn’t even bother setting an alarm and we wound up sleeping until after 7am. Because we were so close to town I didn’t even made coffee. Just got packed up and ready to go pretty quickly. Then around 8am we were off and heading to Uncle Johnny’s. The walk there was pretty cruisy. There were a few small climbs to do. And some of them were definitely steep! But they didn’t last long.

Last night we left North Carolina and entered into Tennessee again. And you could definitely notice a difference in the trail maintenance. Yesterday we were told that North Carolina has a much larger mountain club which maintains the trails. They have more sawyers and were able to completely clear the trail. But it seems like there will be some more blowdowns to navigate around as we move through Tennessee. Some massive sections of trees were entirely cleared. Then you would hit a few small trees and have to climb around and over them. It was easy enough though and didn’t slow us down much.

Walking along the Appalachian trail headed to Erwin.

The sun came out and it turned into a really nice day. I had to take my wind layers off because I was sweating like crazy. It’s unfortunate that the weather turns later on today. It’s supposed to rain all through the evening. Then the temperature drops below freezing and it’s supposed to snow throughout the early morning. It will be a good night not to be on trail. But that means wasting a nice afternoon of hiking before the weather rolls in.

Our first views of the river in Erwin. You could see the bridge which has washed up alongside the river bed.

Getting down to the road near Uncle Johnny’s was a pretty wild experience. Hurricane Helene did unimaginable damage to this community. The bridge which goes across the river by the hostel is completely washed out. You can see part of the bridge on the shore across the river. And the road which you have to walk along now as the alternate route even looks different. It’s so narrow because so much of the land was washed out. Whole forests of trees were knocked down. Homes were completely taken out. Uncle Johnny’s hostel was destroyed. But has since rebuilt a beautiful new building out front.

Some fluffy moss growing alongside the trail.

Their property isn’t entirely open yet, but they are taking hikers! There is at least one cabin available for rent. Maybe even two, I’m not completely sure. So hikers can stay there! I believe they have resupply available to some extent was well. I’ll get a bit more information when we go back there tomorrow. But they are hoping to have the rest of the property finished and ready by mid March, when most of the bubble will begin coming through. Once again Uncle Johnny’s will be a great stop along everyone’s Appalachian trail thru hike!

This was the bridge which the AT crossed over to get to the over side. It was completely washed away in hurricane Helene.

The nice lady who works at Uncle Johnny’s offered to drive us into town. And we met a sobo hiker at the hostel named Jack who is coming back down after his yo-yo. He’s been on trail for over 400 days!

When we drove into Erwin we got to see even more of the damage from the hurricane. It was mind blowing to bear witness too. I don’t think I fully comprehended until now just how much damage was done. Many people lost their lives as they tried to evacuate. Water rose up and over the highway and washed out trees and buildings along the way. Some properties managed to survive. Others are entirely gone. It was just unbelievable to see.

We got dropped off at the Super 8 and were able to get a cheap from the night. They even let us check in early before 11am which was fantastic. We dropped off our stuff and then headed down the road to eat and resupply. Before hitting the grocery store we went to Bojangles. That way we weren’t starving when we resupplied. I got a crispy chicken sandwich, Cole slaw, and French fries. I hadn’t eaten anything yet for the day so I downed that.

Breakfast at Bojangles!

Then we went to the grocery store. Our hope is just to walk right through to Damascus over the next 4 days. There will be potential places to stop off in between in case we want or need anything. But I figured I’d bring enough food to get all the way there. That way we can just do some big days and get through it. We might stop off at Boots off Hostel for one of the nights though. The mileage lines up pretty well to stay there and still get a big day in as well. We’ll just have to see!

After resupplying I wound up talking to my dad on the phone and walking back to the motel. Then went through my resupply a bit and began getting work done. I didn’t have much service the last couple days and we hiked a lot. So I needed to get caught up on some video work as well as writing. Plus Wednesdays are always my long video editing days. So I had to cut the clips together, add voiceovers, and stuff like that.

I got alot of work done and then took a shower and got stuff together to laundry. We’re both carrying so much change that we have enough to wash and dry. Which is hilarious. Apparently I was also carrying $.90 in pennies, nickles, and dimes. That sure isn’t ultra lite.

The sign for Erwin, TN.

For the rest of the day I just relaxed while also going alot of writing and editing. I bought a half gallon of chocolate milk at the store so I worked on that. This brand was local and was so delicious! I also got a giant aloe Vera drink, which tastes delicious and is also amazingly unhealthy. People love to drink those and I think are under the impression that they might be good for you. But most of them are loaded with sugar, calories, and fat. So it makes for a great thru hiker beverage! One big serving is over 300 calories. And it goes down like water. I had also gotten a sweet potato pie at Bojangles so I ate that. It was very delicious. I was too curious not to order it!

This chocolate milk was ridiculously good.

Over the next few hours we did our chores and relaxed. I cleaned my cook pot, charged electronics, and sorted some stuff. While intermittently doing video and writing work. Later on we went down the road to Pal’s. That’s such a classic stop in Erwin! You have to walk through the drive thru which is amazing. And they have great burgers and hot dogs. I got a chocolate shake too, even with my half gallon of milk waiting for me at the room. You just can’t get enough calories in these days! I’m doing whatever I can.

Walking through the drive thru at Pal’s.

I wound up staying up way too late doing work here and there. And otherwise just stretching, watching tv, and having as relaxing a night as possible. The weather outside seemed brutal and I was so glad we were here in town. Tomorrow morning it looks like it’s going to be cold and snow a bit more. Then the rest of the day should clear up and be pretty nice!

This is what a CYTC bed side table looks like.

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