Four More Days

This post encompasses April 1st through April 4th.

I caught a ride from Gatlinburg, where I had stayed at a surprisingly nice Motel 6 overlooking a river, back to the trailhead at Newtown Gap. I started hiking at around mid- morning, and the first few miles were packed with day hikers. The first four miles were all uphill and it took quite a while to get up to elevation. By the time I did it was quite cold and windy, so I hiked for the rest of the day with my hat, gloves and down jacket. Great Smoky Mountain National Park was absolutely beautiful; I just loved the pines and hemlocks everywhere.

Hence the name.

I stopped that night at a shelter about 10 miles in, at mile 217. This would be the shortest day so far. I met some interesting people there, including a Canadian, a German, and Bob from Texas who has hired two U-Haul trucks in the last two years to help his now out-of-college children move their things from his house to their apartments. We had a little chat about that!

Tree tunnel.

The next morning (Saturday, April 2nd) was cold and damp, so I again bundled up, packing my tent and sleeping bag while both were a little wet. The sun shone sporadically through the day, and I eventually shed the down jacket. Again, the scenery was stunning. I recall thinking that this was the most beautiful day on the trail yet. Backpackers are very disciplined, and rarely leave trash along the trail, so it was jarring to see a break from the natural world when the metal remains of a decades old plane crash could be seen strewn beside the trail, just under the peak of Mt Guyot. I suppose it's a memorial now.

I had intended to hike out of the park that day, but it would have been a 20+ mile hike. With all of the elevation gain and loss it would have been a chore. I decided to stop just within the northern boundary of the Park after completing 19 miles. I stopped at a shelter inhabited by three other guys: The Guy Who Talked Too Much, The Guy Who Barely Talked, and The Guy Who Didn't Talk At All because he was asleep the entire time I was there. I decided to sleep in the shelter and not my tent, and I didn't even tell them I snored. The next morning, neither Talks Too Much nor Barely Talks said a word about my snoring. Hmm......, maybe I'll try that again.

On Sunday the 3rd, I had a long down hill for a few miles before I exited the Park, then a lot of uphill for about five and a half miles. Later in the afternoon, at Brown Gap, I was surprised by some "trail magic" - that's when someone, or some group of people, hang out out at a road crossing and give food to hikers. It's a tradition on the AT. In this case, a guy from Texas had chairs, tables, hot dogs, chips, brownies, soda, etc., etc. It turns out that he, his wife, and his 5 children had all thru-hiked the AT last year and wanted to repay the random acts of kindness they had received. His trail name was Bumblebee and he's a chemical engineer and Texas A&M grad. You'd have to be an engineer to figure out the logistics of doing a thru-hike with a family of 7.  It took them over 6 months.

After Bumblebee's feast of sorts, I climbed up to "Max Patch," a treeless mountain top area (many acres of grass) that's quite a tourist attraction around these parts. You can park near the summit and walk a few hundred yards to get some spectacular views. Max is actually a homophone of Mack's. Mack ran some cattle up there back in the day.

Max Patch.

From what people tell me, much of what is wooded in the Appalachians used to be devoid of trees. Settlers cut them down for many reasons, including running a herds of cattle, apparently. You can still plainly see evidence of these mountains being used for thongs other than recreation and preservation. Remnants of old roads and fences are everywhere.

I hiked almost 24 miles on Sunday, into the evening, until I found a perfect tent spot near a small creek. I awoke Monday with only 13 miles to go before arriving at Hot Springs, NC, a small, but charming town. The AT runs down the sidewalk of it's main street. I'm staying at the Laughing Heart Lodge, located about 50 yards from the trail.

Oh yeah, I ran into The Guy Who Barely Talked a few times. He's OK, he didn't talk much at the shelter because The Guy Who Talked Too Much was driving him crazy. I can understand that, since The Guy Who Talked Too Much was a telemarketing trainer. That's one notch below (or maybe above?) car sales supervisor. Anyway, I got along fine with both of them. You can't be too choosy about who you randomly meet in the woods.

Forest floor, turning green.

The knee still acts up. I as passed today by a woman who appeared to be around 30, who said she thru-hiked the trail 10 years ago, but isn't as fast as she used to be because of a knee problem. She was certainly faster than me. The knee pain comes and goes; I have a feeling it will accompany me to Mt. Katahdin.