Hot Springs
I'm writing this post on my new 4 oz Bluetooth keyboard! Supa fancy.
Weather: Sunny and windy
Miles travelled: 10.5 (+ .5 to shelter)
Total miles on AT: 217.7
I woke up and walked to Walgreens for a couple things. I had to wait until 9 to get a shuttle back up to the trail. At 9, the shuttle arrived and it was clear there was no room for me and I would have to wait for it to come back to get me. At the last second, they decided there was room for one more so I crammed myself in for the half hour trip up the mountain.
We got up to the trailhead and I realized I forgot my hiking poles but the shuttle driver was going back to pick up more people so I waited for her to come back with them. The trailhead was kind of the "Gateway to the Smokies" so there was a huge parking lot and lots of tourists. I felt weird because they were all looking at me like I was a beggar, they wouldn't make eye contact. I swear I don't want anything!
The shuttle driver came back after an hour and she had found my hiking poles! She also brought Bruce and Seth, the father and son that I had dinner with the night before. I ended up hiking with them the whole day. I wanted to hike 13 or 14 miles but by the time I reached 10, I was out of energy and decided to stop, and Bruce and Seth decided to stop as well. The hike was nice. It was sunny and warm, but I got tired quickly.
It was a half mile extra to the shelter, where we were lucky to find space because we arrived so early. As the night went on, the shellter filled up completely and there were probably 20 tents set up. You're not allowed to tent away from shelters in the Smokies so everyone crowds up around them.
There was a fireplace in the shelter and a thru hiker was stoking it religiously, and built a huge smoky fire so that smoke was spilling out into the shelter. I had trouble sleeping because I kept imagining getting asphyxiated.
Day 23: April 13, 2015
Weather: cloudy with spots of sun
Miles travelled: 20 (+.5 back to the trail from shelter)
Total miles on AT: 237.7
I left a little before Bruce and Seth and had a really nice hike. I like hiking with people sometimes, but it's also good to be alone and stop to take pictures or snack or listen to audiobooks at my leisure. I felt a lot better than I had the night before (I always feel completely exhausted at the end of a day of hiking) and was hoping to put in the biggest day of hiking I'd ever had. Much of it was downhill, so I thought it would be a good test of my feet and my limits.
Seth and Bruce passed me after a few miles, as we were going up a hill. Soon, I started to descend on my way out of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The weather was good, the trail was nicely graded for horses, and it wasn't muddy or slippery. I discovered then that I could fly. I realized that it hurt less to go quickly on downhills than it did to hold myself back, so I stopped holding back and let myself run and jump and skip all the way down. I passed Seth and Bruce easily and was full of adrenaline, grinning all the way. We kept leapfrogging each other as we went up and down and I stopped for snack breaks (they eat while walking-- what?). If I stop eating, I run out of energy pretty quickly and start getting slow and sad and tired so I've started to make a habit of eating a lot when I stop.
I got to the shelter before Bruce and Seth, which was a really strange shelter because it was basically a stone lean-to with chicken wiring over the front and a chicken wire door to get in. Maybe for bears? This was where I met Breakless, a friendly guy from germany who has a huge American flag on his backpack. Breakless, Seth, and I played hearts with another guy in the shelter until it was dark, at which point we retired to the shelter to listen to mice and snoring while trying to sleep for the rest of the night.
Day 24: April 14, 2015
Weather: overcast with intermittent rain
Miles travelled: 18.7
Total miles on AT: 256.4
I woke up to the sound of rain and lay there for an hour or so hoping it would stop. Eventually, people started rustling arround and I decided to get up and brave the rain too. It was only a sprinkle, after all. The rest of the walk into the valley and out of the Smokies was beautiful. Spring was in full bloom and colors and water were everywhere.
In spite of how beautiful everything was, I was feeling really drained. We made it to a crossroads where there was a hostel not too far to the left and the trail went to the right, and I decided to stop for a pick-me-up: a cherry coke and some peanut butter crackers. The hostel was very unique. It's called Standing Bear Farm, and the laundry facility is a hand-crank washer. The "store" is a pantry, and after you've chosen your things you have to run around the grounds trying to find the guy who runs the place in order to pay.
After my snack, I felt incredible. I got back on the trail with renewed vigor, and passed many people quickly. It took me about half an hour to get my snack, and when I got back to the trail, within an hour I passed all the people who had kept hiking before I stopped. I also saw a huge black snake on the side of the trail. I actually caught Seth and Bruce at the top of the hill, weird because I'm usually so much slower than them uphill. They weren't having such a great day though (aches and pains).
This was the day we summited Max Patch, a grassy bald at 4629 feet. It was originally cleared for cattle and is maintained as a bald. It was awesome.
The shelter was full when we got there, so we all tented. Breakless had been there for hours and was already set up and bored. We played cards till dark again before going to sleep. I spent a littlle while talking to this guy, Mammoth, too. He's from Norway and decided to walk from New York to San Francisco. He ended up finishing that, then thru-hiking the PCT, then walking across to Florida to thru-hike the AT. His goal is to walk through all 49 continental US states, and he said along every route he took, he never skipped a mile. He doesn't have a blog or Facebook or anything though.
Maybe it was being in a tent, or it's just about that time in my voyage, but I had a hard time falling asleep that night and felt really lonely. I ended up watching a movie and reading a book until I could sleep.
Day 25: April 15, 2015
Weather: super rainy aaaalllll day
Miles travelled: 18
Total miles on AT: 274.4
I woke up to rain. It was the first day of nonstop rain and it was terrible. I had camped the previous night so my tent was wet and it was hard to motivate myself to get up and out. As soon as I'd packed, everything was wet and I was wet and not looking forward to the 18 miles I had to hike to get into town. I didn't take many pictures because it was so rainy, and I stored my phone in my shirt because that was the only place to keep it semi-dry. Even everything in my pack got wet, maybe because they got wet packing up or because water got inside.
Either way, all 18 miles were wet and slippery and awful and I was really slow. I hardly stopped because stopping was worse than walking.
After what seemed like forever, but was really eight hours, I made it in to town and stopped at the first building, a hostel. I didn't want to take another muddy step anywhere. I took all my wet things off and bought myself a bunk for the night before showering and going into town to wash clothes with Bruce and Seth and eat dinner. I felt a lot better by the end of the day.
Day 27: April 17, 2015
Weather: partly cloudy, scattered showers
Miles travelled: 0
Total miles on AT: 274.4
I decided to take a zero day (zero meaning zero miles, a day off) with Bruce and Seth and Breakless to dry my things and rest my feet and legs. I woke up feeling like I could walk like a normal person again. Seth's mom came to bring his dog back (she wasn't allowed in the Smokies) and I spent a lot of time with them all day. We went to the outfitter and post office, then to the hot springs (dinky and more like a hot tub than hot springs, but nice nonetheless).
I hung out in the afternoon with Breakless and Seth (I'm trying to name him Twinkle Toes because he sort of dances when he hikes, no trekking poles), and then we went to dinner with Seth's parents and listened to live Blues and Bluegrass. Seth still isn't sure if he's going to go on tomorrow because his leg is hurting him, and Breakless is definitely going to stay because he wants to see the Trail Fest this weekend, which is kind of like a hiker festival with lots of music and food and people.
Anyway, whatever happens, tomorrow's the day for me! I'll be movin on out of this cute little town and getting just a little closer to Katahdin.
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