Day 13: April 16, 2021
1.5 miles past Rock Gap to Winding Stair Gap – 2.5 miles
Through my tent I could see the hue of morning marking the cold, windy night as finally over. Rustling nearby told me the boys were starting to wake up. I opened my tent to see an orange, pink, and purple painted sky. Stache was up and moving before anyone else; he had wrapped himself in his quilt to stay warm from the frigid air. Waddling around camp, smoking a cigarette, he moved tent to tent giving us a wakeup call. The plan for the day was to hike a nero to meet Mike, Pickles, and Freshly Baked in Franklin.
The three of us got a ride into Franklin, NC. The boys got dropped off at Outdoor 76, and I went to the motel Pickles, Mike, and Fresh stayed at the night before. They let me use their shower to get cleaned up before we all went out for coffee. I told them all about our night on the chilly mountain. Needless to say, they didn’t regret their choice to hike to town the previous evening.
During coffee, Pickles told me about a hostel in town she wanted to stay at called Chica and Sunsets. We called the host, and he came and picked us up from the motel. We got to share a room equipped with our own beds and a closet full of loaner clothes. We stripped off our gross hiking clothes and threw them in the wash. After sifting through the clothing options, I landed on a pair of warm, cozy pajama pants and a t-shirt. This was my first time wearing cotton in two weeks, it felt heavenly.
I got a ride to Outdoor 76 (there was also an Outdoor 76 in Cleyton, GA that I went to) a little while later. I found the guy who worked in footwear and put him to work. I told him all about the issues I had been having in my feet and knees, and he agreed my shoes were the problem. He zipped around the store grabbing a variety of shoes for me. I tried on a few different brands, not settling on anything. The man opened the last box and revealed a pair of neon pink trail runners. I was skeptical at first, but I slid them on and walked around the store. Immediately, I felt relief. The insole was the perfect blend of firm and comfortable while the outsole had thick cushion.
“Oh my god! These are perfect,” I sighed.
The man smiled, “awesome! Do you want me to put your other shoes in the hiker box?”
“Yes, please!”
I watched him walk away with the shoes I had hiked 110 miles in, and I felt great! I strutted over to the register wearing my new bright pink shoes and paid for them. I also bought a little cork ball that I would use to massage my muscles and feet.
My tramily messaged me and said they were at a brewery nearby. I mapped it out and started walking towards them. Walking through Franklin is one of my favorite memories from a trail town. I had a smile on my face, I wore loaner clothes, and the sun reflected off my shiny, new shoes. There were hikers all over the town, and somehow everybody knew me. Hikers greeted me as we passed on the sidewalk, some would yell “hey, Feisty” across the street. I felt famous.
I found my tramily standing outside of the brewery. When I walked up to them, Mike looked at my shoes and said, “woah! Looks like you traded in your shoebarus for Lamborfeeties!” I danced around making sure everyone could see my new shoes.
The owner of the brewery came out front at the same time we all walked up to the counter to order.
He asked us, “are y’all hikers?”
“Yeah,” we replied in unison.
“Awesome! First round’s on me for all hikers! Make sure to check out the banner in the back and sign it while you’re here.”
We all thanked him and placed our orders. While I waited, I walked around the brewery. Hanging up on the wall, was a huge banner for the AT class of 2021. I grabbed a pen and added my name to the others.
Sweet Water joined us a little while later.
“I got you a gift,” he said to me as he tossed a plastic bag from ACE Hardwear towards me.
“You did?” I opened the bag and dug around. I pulled out a small 1-inch PVC cap, just like Thimble was named after. I gasped in excitement when I saw it.
“You seemed to like Thimble’s so much that I thought I’d get you one,” he said with a smile.
For those that don’t recall, I named Thimble on Day 4 because he carried a small, one-inch PVC pipe cap that he used to push his trekking poles into the ground with. The PVC cap resembled a sewing thimble but instead of for a needle, it was for the tent stakes. You could use the PVC thimble to push your tent stakes into the ground without damaging your hand.
When I got back to the hostel, I got my things ready for the morning. I added the PVC cap to my tent stakes so it wouldn’t get lost in my pack. I also took advantage of having a table to write on. I caught up on my journal and filled in any blanks I remembered about the previous days. Here is a quote directly from my journal as I wrote about how I had been feeling on the trail.
“While I hike, I think of enchanting things often. A bee fly was leading me down the trail one day, so now I call them my little whisps (as in will-o’-the-wisp from the movie Brave). I’ll stop to let a butterfly cross the trail. I imagine that moss grows where fairies touch and you can tell where fairies live because there’s lots of moss. The trees creak in the wind and the leaves rustle. I’ve decided that the trees need the wind to talk to each other. I like how my mind wanders. I also imagine I’m making my own little fairytales that I’ll tell Jack’s (my brother) kids.”
Next time on Packing It In: The tramily hikes out of Franklin and continues on. I continue to feel a sense of magic surrounding the trail and I made friends with the critters along the way. I also overhear a funny phone call from one of my friends that we still joke about to this day.
Did you see a word you didn’t know? Check out my Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker Dictionary for a list of hiker terminology. If you don’t see the word on this list, comment below and I’ll add it!
Glad you were able to find a comfortable pair of shoes to continue on your adventure!