Log Cabin Drive to Flint Mountain Shelter

Hmmmm. It was a relatively uneventful day! Great weather. We camped by the Shelter. Still have only slept in one shelter and no plans to do so unless I have too. Love my tent. It feels a little redundant to keep posting these scenic photos, but it's what we spend the days looking at! I feel really lucky. 

Recent trail names of people that I've met: Caveman, Prom Queen and Trail Wife( two kids who took a year off between high school and college to do this), JRex, Cloud Walker, And Owl Bear.

Mike has 'sort of' accepted his trail name of Honey Bear. He has one of those bears full of honey and he's trying to get rid of it so puts it on literally everything he eats, but it seems to be bottomless. Ever had a salami, cheese and honey sandwich.  Al, on the other hand is a little harder sell on the trail names. A few I've suggested: Lovey(reference Gilligans Island and yes, there is a story there) or Cheeto. Time will tell.

One other great thing!! When I stopped to peel off a layer, turned on my phone for a minute and I got to chat with a few of my running buddies :)

Hot Springs to log Cabin Drive

Loved loved Hot Springs but hit the trail again late morning. The weather was absolutely perfect and we saw some wildlife today. 

Our first (and hopefully only) snake. Ha. Al didn't realize he'd stepped right on it until I screamed. 

As I was going along I started smelling burning leaves and as I went on, the air started to get a little thicker, you could see lots of smoke down in the valley and there were several helicopters. A little freaky since we didn't know what was going on. Came to a road crossing and saw this

About that time a forest service guy drove by and said it was a prescribed burn so all was good. Hiked until nearly dark and set up camp in a quiet spot, ate some dinner and crashed.

ZERO!!!!

I had a great day in Hot Springs. Tiny, quirky little place where everything is within a five minute walk. Ate a big breakfast at the diner, went to the library to use wifi, and spent the rest of the sunny, beautiful day on a porch swing reading. 

Here are a few photos of the Sunnybank Inn. Really cool place.

Every Thursday night the town hosts a pot luck dinner for all the hikers. Lots of good home cooked food and all the locals here are so welcoming.

Ended the day, sitting on the outdoor patio right by the river at a bar with Al and Mike and had a few beers (common theme whenever we are in a town) 

Pack up in the morning and get back out there! Looks like we have a few dry weather days ahead. Yay!

Lemon Gap to Hot Springs

It rained overnight so I packed up my wet tent to get on the trail. It's a lot heavier when it's wet! It's great though. Even when I am packing up a wet tent on a chilly drizzly morning, I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be, doing just what I am supposed to be doing. It's hard to describe this whole trail culture. You develop friendships quickly because you spend a lot of time together in really bare basic situations. Sometimes you hike for hours in silence and sometimes you have great conversations and sometimes you just laugh. You laugh a lot. 

Below is Mike coming through the mist early this morning.

Someone described this hike as 'walking with spring' because you are out in the forest every day all day, so you can see the smallest changes. Below is a pic of the trail later in the day. A lot more green than a few weeks ago!

I got down in to Hot Springs at about 2:30. The trail goes right down the Main Street. Staying at a really cool , hiker friendly (that means they don't mind dirt and stink) B and B.

Did laundry, and then went to a bar for a burger and a beer with some others. I ended up sitting at the bar beside a local guy with the absolute scariest bad teeth you've ever seen. I don't think there were any uppers. Normally not someone I would get in to conversation with. He was very nice and tried to ask a few questions but was struggling. Turns out he was a former marine and had a stroke several years ago and it was hard for him to communicate. He knew what he wanted to say, it just wouldn't come out. I just sat patiently (not my forte') until he worked through it and we had a nice little conversation. Big lesson for me. I know you shouldn't judge on appearance but sometimes you just do it without realizing it.

ANYWAY, had a great dinner at our B and B (Elmer's Sunnybank Inn) where the owner is a former restaurant owner and he cooked a three course, organic vegetarian dinner. It's in the oldest house in Hot Springs.

After dinner, hit the Hot Springs for a little muscle rehab. Another fabulous day!

Bear Mountain Farm to just past Roaring Fork shelter

Good day for hiking. Cool and a little overcast.  Went a few miles further than planned again so that we could get in to Hot Springs tomorrow. It's nice not to be in the Smokies because there are a lot less rules. We found a nice, quiet little spot and set up camp, ate some dinner and went to bed early(as usual). 

Newfound Gap to Tri Corner Knob Shelter

We ate a big breakfast in Gatlinburg and then spent several hours at the Salt and pepper Shaker Museum. Just kiddin'. Ate a big breakfast and then Got back on the trail about noon. A lot if the trail in the smokies is along the ridge of the mountains. Very cool because you have amazing views on both sides. Planned on doing about 10 miles with the late start, but rain was forecast for tomorrow so we went an extra 5 to make tomorrow a short day. Got in to the Shelter about 8. Set up camp and the rain began. Rained hard all night long. My tent stayed relatively dry except for the major puddle beneath My air mattress. 

Tri corner knob to Bear Mountain Hostel

Soooo, remember the ridge comment I made about the Smokies yesterday? Well, ridges on a rainy, windy day are a whole different ball game. You can hear the gust coming across the valley, so you dig your poles in and lean in to it to keep it from blowing over. Crazy! After all the rain last night, the trail was basically a stream. We'd planned on going about 15 miles today , but discovered if we went a few miles more we could be OUT of the Smokey Mountains and into a hostel where we could dry out our wet gear and bodies.

Standing Bear Farm is where we ended up. Very interesting place! If I'd heard banjos, I would have been out if there!! Spent the night in a bunk room with about 20 others, but we were out of the wind so I was happy. Actually it was pretty cool in a freaky sort of way. All the buildings were made from recycled materials and they had beer, so can't complain. PBR of course!!

The office

The beer shack

The bunkhouse

Al, Mike and me with the owner of the farm and Rocket(the caretaker/beer man)

Places like this are a big part of what make this journey so memorable. Staying places and meeting people outside your normal life. Good stuff.