Walk With Sam!

I woke to the sound of people stirring in their bunks, but stubbornly stayed in bed as long as I could bear it. Sebastian left at about 7:30, but it took me much longer to pull my gear together and pay my tab. The hummus hadn’t settled well in my stomach, so I tossed the rest and had a breakfast of Triscuits. Finally, at about 9 am I was off.

There was a large climb at the beginning, but I hiked steadily and gradually picked up speed. Climbing actually felt pretty good. In contrast, as soon as I started going downhill again the pain and my feet and knees returned and I had to slow my pace.

I met Sebastian and Nepal at the first shelter, about 7 miles in. It was a pleasure to rest my feet there. It was such a pretty and peaceful spot that I might have stayed longer had I not started to hear thunder rumbling in the distance. When I dug around for my pack cover, I found that I’d misplaced it somewhere along the way. My pack would just have to get wet, but fortunately the inside was lined with a heavy duty trash bag. The guys got started, and I finished up my lunch and followed 15-20 minutes later.

I did get rained on, but after a bit the rain stopped and the sun came out again. At Brown Gap, I met two young women named Finch and Pony from Louisville, Kentucky. They were glad to meet another girl on the trail, and especially happy to meet me after I offered them an Oreo. Nepal arrived at the gap as well. He is constantly stretching, which inspired me to do the same. He told me that he and Sebastian planned to camp near Max Patch, but I thought I might go another 2 miles to the next shelter.

But it wasn’t long before the sky darkened and I started to hear thunder again. When the wind started to blow, it seemed like it was going to rain with a vengeance. So I was relieved when, about 2 miles from Max Patch, I saw Sebastian setting up camp on a flat area just off the trail. I was not eager to be crossing the bald in a lightning storm. Nepal arrived soon after and we all agreed it would be smart to stop for the night.

We rushed to get set up before it started to storm on us, ate dinner in a hurry, and sat around talking, ready to dive into our tents at the first droplet. But after all that... nothing. Or almost nothing. I did take shelter when I felt a bit of rain, but there were just a few brief, mild spurts throughout the evening.

I woke up before dawn as people started talking and packing, and as a result ended up getting a much earlier start than usual. It wasn’t long before I reached the northern boundary of the park, and I felt wistful as I walked on. I had enjoyed the Smokies thoroughly.

I came out at the first gap to find trail magic! There was a couple there who was distributing snacks out of the back of their SUV, and had set out several folding chairs for hikers to relax in. Utah, Big Foot, Aaron, Sebastian and I sat and appreciated our good fortune for a while. We learned that our trail angels were both planning thru-hikes, although they would not be able to go on the same year.

We said goodbye and continued on. The trail followed the road for a short time, which was a bit confusing, but we managed to spot white blazes on an underpass, the wall of a cliff, and other discrete locations. Finally we emerged at a dirt road we figured must lead to our destination, Standing Bear Hostel. 

We were greeted by a guy in overalls named Lumpy, who showed us to the bunk room and gave us the nickel tour. Standing Bear has most of the usual hostel amenities, but with a rustic twist. There was a kitchen with “all the modern inconveniences,” a carefully cluttered mail room, a resupply room based on the honor system, a shower shack, a privy and, most delightfully, a laundry room with a washboard and hand wringer. There was a gently trickling stream running through the center of the common area.

I saw Goldilocks on the porch of one of the private cabins, where she had enjoyed a visit with her husband and daughter. Highlighter had been through the area once before, and had fond memories of a nearby barbecue joint/gas station. One of the employees had agreed to shuttle a group there for lunch, and although the barbecue held no draw for me, I thought it would be fun to check out the area.

While waiting for the shuttle to leave, I did my first batch of laundry. I had to improvise with the washboard based on what I remembered from historical movies and TV shows. As a result, my clothes were cleaner, but certainly not clean. I had just enough time to lay them on some rocks to dry before it was time to pile in the van.

The barbecue joint/gas station was located at the I-40 intersection, which was also apparently a major rafting hub. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had two vegetarian sandwiches. After asking about the egg and cheese content, I chose the black bean burger. I realized too late it was probably one of the Morningstar black bean patties, which do contain egg. All the same, I enjoyed sitting outside and chatting with my fellow hikers.

Back at the hostel, I collected my sun-dried clothes and took my turn in the shower shack. The water temperature was perfect. I would have happily let the water run over me all day, but the sight of a camel cricket climbing up the wall made me less eager to linger.

After showering, I lounged around the fire pit for a while, but finally mustered up the motivation to do the remainder of my chores. I sorted the contents of my pack, did the rest of my laundry, and hung it to dry on a clothesline I improvised from my paracord.

The early part of the day had some climbing, but after that it was mostly downhill to Cosby Knob shelter. I stopped there for lunch and was able to call Anthony. Eventually Turtlehawk, Sebastian and Nepal showed up, plus a hiker I hadn’t met yet, Old School, from Pennsylvania. He was covering big miles and avoiding the crowds as much as possible, so I doubted I we see much of him from there on out, but he seemed pretty cool.

I had decided that my new strategy, rather than decided in advance how many miles I would do each day, would be to pick an easy goal and see how I felt when I got there. That day I completed over 7 miles before lunch, and felt good enough to try for the next shelter.

There was one last long uphill, followed by the final descent out of the Smokies. It was, quite frankly, miserable. My knees and feet were decimated, and I hobbled into the last shelter of the Smoky Mountains. But I had completed my longest day yet, 14.6 miles.

The first thing I noticed about the shelter was that the entrance was covered in chain link fence, with a sturdy latching gate. And it turned out this security was justified. Two women had just seen a whole family of bears while they were getting water.