I hit mile 290 at Allen Gap, NC the other day and Sherry picked me up in the RV. We were in serious hillbilly country and there was no cell service so we just went down the road. As long as we were going east in North Carolina we felt we'd find our way eventually. Yeah, we did, but it was an adventure. It was like we went back in time a couple hundred years. We saw a place where they had cocks in pens, waiting for the cock fights. A couple miles down the road was a place that had dozens of dogs chained up outside. The roads were steep with sharp turns and we barely made it around a couple of them. A very interesting trip.We did this so we could visit Sherry's brother outside Greensboro and my daughter Twyla outside Baltimore. All told, I'll spend about a week off the trail before going back.
One of the things I haven't written about is the devastation we've seen from Helene. It has been an incredible sight to see. When we first arrived in the RV resort Sherry stayed at the first month in Newland we drove along the river and saw roads leading down to the river on both sides but with no bridge in between. We passed places where there were foundations and nothing on them. The river was full of debris and included a house wrapped around a tree. We talked to someone who told us how his parents house had been destroyed in a landslide that killed his father. Other people were in the house and a guy went in to rescue them. He died also.
On the trail I've seen so much destruction it's hard to describe. The volunteers and trail crews have done a great job clearing the blow downs in most areas, but it is still necessary to crawl over piles of fallen trees in some areas. When I hiked out of Hot Springs the trail took me through the town center near the river. The business district was nearly completely shut down while they rebuild. There were houses that used to be prime real estate along the river and you could see how they were completely under water during the flood. The worst is yet to come from what I've been told.
So, this weekend I'll return to the trail and continue. These people have to stay here and rebuild. The good news is the number of hikers passing through who are spending money and helping things out so they can rebuild.
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| How old is this tree? Waiting all that time for Helene to come through. |
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| Broken like a twig. Seems like the younger trees survived better due to be able to bend more. |
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| Great Smokey Mountains NP |
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| Blow downs on the trail. |
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| Another cold, rainy, foggy day of hiking. |
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