Hampton, TN: Worth Unscrewing Your NJ Licence Plate For.

“She’s the tenth generation to own this store…”

Once again we were on the road, driving through the huge rolling mountains to Tennessee. We arrived in Hampton, TN and stopped at a produce store for some fresh fruit. I made small talk with the clerk and asked about the safety of the AT, he told me a few years ago they had some problems with people’s cars getting broken into, but that we should be fine now. Then we made a stop at the general store. There was a small selection of items and a 10-year-old girl behind the counter. We overheard she was the tenth generation to own the store… oh boy.

“It’s a WOLF!”

We continued our trek up the mountain to catch the AT on Dennis Cove Rd. It was beautiful. I stopped the car and got out to take pictures, then we continued up. As we were driving up we saw a dog in the middle of the road. There weren’t any houses around so I stopped the car and started to get out to rescue it. But then I saw another animal, and Heather was like, “Wait. Is that a wolf?” Completely stunned, I was like, “Oh my god a wolf!! Get my camera!” And I started to snap a bunch of pictures of it, soon to discover our “wolf” was just a German Shepherd. Haha it was so exciting in the moment.

“Don’t stop too long, or else they might come out with a gun!” 

We kept going up the mountain and started passing trailer homes, shacks and log cabins. Obviously the people living on this mountain didn’t have much. It was around 7:00 pm and we found a campground up the street from the trail. We set up tent and instantly our neighbors offered us their wood and food. It was an older man and his father and they were so incredibly nice.

Stream behind our tent

I laid down for a nap and Heather told him we were planning on hiking the AT. He told her to be careful and to back my car in to a parking spot. Because if people saw that we were from out of town, they might break into my car. We ended up talking to him some more before bed and I found out he was from the area, recently retired from Walmart and was taking his dad out for their fishing and camping trip, they do every other weekend. He told us that most people up on the mountain collected welfare and just drove around in their trucks. I asked about how the kids get to school and he told us that their parents had to drive them to school and insinuated that they don’t go at all.  

Our campsite was right next to a stream, as we laid down to go to sleep all you could hear was the stream water rushing past, it was so relaxing. However, I was pretty tense from what our neighbor had told us. I felt as though if people were to steal from us here, they’d probably needed my things more than me. I just hoped we would be lucky. I do enjoy having my macbook, clothes and a tent. But what it all boils down to once again is material objects, and how much we really NEED or what we think we NEED. I don’t NEED a macbook to survive in the wilderness, if anything it would be the first of the extra weight I would get rid of.

Photo credit: Heather

We woke up they next morning and made some strawberry granola, it was good but eating meals out of a bag was getting annoying, just not the same nutrition as a home cooked one. We packed up and saw swarms of butterflies. They were all hatching from cocoons and drying their wings together on the ground. They just flew around so energetically, just like they were so happy to have wings and be soaring through the air. Heather got some kick ass pictures of them.

We parked at the head of the trail then realized we had no service and had to drive around the mountain to send a mass of text messages to our parents to inform them of our new location. As we drove around I took a good look at the run down homes and trailer homes and thought once again, “I hope my car/stuff is going to be okay…” Personally, I haven’t had the best luck with cars being towed/broken into.

I backed into a parking spot and unscrewed my front license plate. I took EVERYTHING out of my car and put it in the trunk. When I say EVERYTHING I mean EVERY coin, wrapper, snippet of trash and nick-nack in my car was put in the trunk. Each piece of junk says something to a person looking into your car it’s best if there is nothing because when they look in they won’t know what to expect.

“You’ll be fine as long as you have a knife.”

Extremely nervous, I asked the people who parked next to us about the safety of the trail. She told me it was safe to camp there, as long as I had a knife.  Oh great. Good thing I did, I guess… Heather and I went one of the most beautiful hikes I have even been on in my life. It started out like we were in a jungle; the trail was rich with rhododendrons and ferns. Yet we were walking through what seemed like a crack in the mountain.

Man-made bridge

Small Waterfall

We crossed a small man made footbridge over a river, it was so awesome and beautiful. There were parts in the trees that made for the perfect photo ops. Then we realized the white blazes (white paint marks that mark the AT from Georgia to Maine) turned blue. Meaning we were off the AT and on a different side trail. We continued on and found the shelter, which brought us back on the AT. The shelter was about a mile in. Behind it was a little waterfall; we had thought we found the waterfall we were looking for. It was cool, but I was surprised how little it was. Heather and I didn’t like how close the shelter was from where we parked our car and the next shelter was 10 miles away. So we decided to try to find the other waterfall and figure out where to camp later. We had all day to figure it out.

Shelter that was a mile in.

Not knowing where or when we were going to sleep this trip began to entertain me. I used to be so adamant about going to sleep in my own bed because that is what I was most comfortable with. However not knowing at all is so much more entertaining, this really broke me of being “responsible” and being so organized. 

White blaze that marks the whole AT

We climbed along rocks to find the waterfall. It was huge and completely amazing, I wish I had words to describe it. The mist cooled out hot sweaty skin that had been in and out of direct sunlight the whole hike. It was so relaxing. Soon 2 other guys our age joined us. We started talking to them and I traded my train silly band for his then realized his silly band was a cross, which a bible lecture was soon to follow. 

He told me he wasn’t religious, but the bible changed his life. It just made me think about religion on a different level. He offered to take us up to the top of the waterfall but told us it was steep and that we would probably have to hide our packs in order to climb it. After the bible preach I kind of just wanted to go, so we left for the car. I hope he knows his silly band is coming to Mexico and Cali with me and that I am hoping to trade it... no hard feelings. 

We arrived back at the car, (with my integra still in one piece) with intentions to find another place along the trail to camp. However, we decided it would be a better idea to get a head start on Trail Days it was Thursday and Trail Days began Friday, hikers had to be there already. Off to Virgina!