Month: April 2019

Our day 57 (Sunday) started off with an Angel-made breakfast at The Station at 19E. Eggs with peppers, kielbasa, and spices. Everyone but me had a great feast, but Angel didn’t know that I don’t eat eggs. It was all okay. We got a shuttle to the trailhead around 9:00, which was a might embarrassing because it was only 0.4-0.5 miles, but the ride was offered so we took it. We really enjoyed our 2-night stay there. It is a place, like Standing Bear Hostel, which I would like to visit again.

The three highlights of the trail today were two waterfalls and a cemetery. Isaac’s cemetery has many old grave sites that were interesting to look at and there was at least one recently dug grave. I am always fascinated by walking through old cemeteries, thinking about the people who are buried there and what their lives might have been like. I am also curious when I come across the grave of an infant and often wonder about what caused the passing and how the family dealt with the grief of losing a child.

Jones Falls was one of the largest falls we have encountered on the trail. We estimated that it was over 100’ tall, and it was gorgeous. The funniest part of that trip was the warning sign that said, “Waterfalls are Dangerous!” Well, duh… And I imagine that the water was pretty dang cold as well. I wasn’t about to get out and climb around on the rocks. The second waterfall is right at our campsite, Mountaineer Falls. In fact, our water supply for the shelter is at one of the creeks that supplies the falls.

On our trip today we also passed the 400-mile mark. This was a little disappointing, though, because we had to skip an eight-mile section of the trail because of the way we came off the balds from Overmountain Shelter Friday morning. I am thankful that that section is quite close to home so perhaps we can come out and do it as a day trip as a family when we complete the remainder of our trip. I just have to be sure not to miss any miles on up the trail that wouldn’t be easy to come back to to make up.

We arrived at the Mountaineer Shelter around 2:45 this afternoon. It is quite encouraging to know that we hiked almost nine miles at a pretty good pace, and that the trail even included some uphill sections. We are definitely getting stronger as hikers, and it is evident that we are ready to hike longer miles as long as the terrain isn’t too difficult. We are planning to hike almost ten miles to Moreland Shelter tomorrow. The trip will be fairly flat, with only about 1,000’ difference in elevation from start to finish.

We have done our “chores” around the shelter: getting water, eating supper, hanging bear bags, and drying clothing as best as we can. We even had a small campfire because it is a bit cooler than it has been. It is hard to believe that at only 7:02 in the evening, almost all of us are in our sleeping bags readying for bed. When we wake up tomorrow, it will be Gavin’s 14th birthday, and I have to say that he is really looking forward to that. Unfortunately, because we’re in the woods, we don’t have presents, cake, or ice cream. Hopefully he isn’t too disappointed, but we did tell him that we’re planning to celebrate a bit more when we get to town on Tuesday for the evening.

On Monday we each took our turns wishing Gavin a happy birthday. Angel went up first, then Bullfrog, and finally, I played the Beatles Birthday. Our trip today was only a bit longer than yesterday at 9.8 miles. On the map, it was a fairly flat trip, but we all agreed that we felt like we worked harder today than yesterday. Along the trail we passed where Hippie, Drop Bear, and Respect were camping. They are friends of ours from way back at Standing Bear Hostel. Each of them remembered to wish Gavin well. I am amazed at the number of friends we have made along the trail so far.

There were few views on the trail today, but a few miles from our shelter we passed Hardcore Cascades, which was an unexpected treat. It was a huge rush of water that crossed over the trail. We took a few minutes there to resupply our water and to talk with a hiker friend of Bullfrog’s and Angel’s who was planning to do a 30-mile day. Needless to say, we likely won’t see him again.

We made it to Moreland Gap Shelter and the Standing Bear crew I mentioned above were here resting. They didn’t stay long, but Gavin enjoyed seeing Haywood, Hippie’s Pit Bull. We’ve been hiking around them quite a bit lately, and hopefully we’ll see them again tomorrow. We have a slightly shorter day planned for tomorrow into Hampton, TN. We are also hoping to meet up with a good friend from home along the way. I am thankful that we got here early because there are quite a number of folks that came in behind us and set up tents. There are a few folks here that we stayed with at Overmountain Shelter, and it has been great to reconnect with them. At this point in the game, we have had our supper and have hung our bags, and it won’t be long before we turn in for the night.

Tuesday was a great day! We left Moreland Gap Shelter around 8:00 heading for a 9ish mile day into Hampton, TN by way of a side trail off US 321. On Monday, I got a call from my good friend Paul asking where we’d be for the next several days so he could come out and see us. We agreed on meeting Tuesday about 6 miles into the day at Dennis Cove Rd. The only interesting sight early in the day was a falling-in barn just before the road crossing. As we came within sight of the road, we could see Paul’s truck, canopy, and tables set up. We knew we were in for a treat. As we drew closer, we saw the “Happy Birthday, Hawkeye” banner stretched across the front of his tarp. He had cold drinks, hot soup (which was incredible,) and cupcakes for the hikers passing by that day. He also had set up a giant birthday card for folks to sign. It was a real treat.

Knowing that our next two days were going to be tough ones at more than 14 miles each, I had a brainstorm coming down the trail toward Dennis Cove. There are several different places to get off near Hampton, one of which was far enough along to get us over the one giant climb that stood between us and Damascus. I propositioned the group with asking Paul to take our packs from Dennis Cove Rd. onward to Boots Off Hostel on the far side of town. Paul was gracious enough to agree to our plan, so after filling ourselves with goodies, all of us except Gavin headed on down the trail carrying no weight. The first part of the trail carried us down to Laurel Falls. It was without a doubt the best waterfall we have seen. We had rock-hopping on the way down to the falls, and then the trail took us on an inches-wide rock ledge along the side of the roaring river. It was phenomenal.

The beauty was short-lived, though. Immediately after leaving the river, we had to climb Pond Flats. It was straight up, even with switchbacks, and the trail was littered with rocks of all sizes. We all agreed that if we had waited until Wednesday to do that section with packs on, there is no way we would have even come close to making our mileage goal for the day. The climb was just about 2,000 feet over 2.5 miles, and it was arduous. Once we got to the top, we were able to fly again. We added ten miles to our day doing the slack pack experience, and we set a record pace: we covered ten miles in exactly four hours. Needless to say, we were excited and exhausted.

At Boots Off Hostel, we we were greeted by a warm welcome and smoked brisket. Added to a Gatorade and a cold coke, it was marvelous. The five of us in our trail family found solace in the bunkhouse. This bunk house was one of the most comfortable and efficiently laid out ones we have encountered. Each of the bunks was a little compartment with a curtain and its own light and power outlet. They provided the linens and we slept quite comfortably. It was hands-down the most adventure-filled days we’ve had so far. Unfortunately, now Gavin has two sections that we’ll have to go back and finish when our trip is over. At least they’re not too far from home.

Wednesday kicked us all in the teeth. One of us (me) had looked ahead at the map and somehow failed to notice the nearly 1,500’ continual climb out of Shook Gap at Watauga Lake. Along the nearly 10-mile way, there were steep climbs and not so steep climbs, but downhill and level was definitely not a part of the trail today.

The one really good thing about the day, though, was the views of Watauga lake off to the east for most of our trip. It was interesting that every mile or so there was a new marina to look down on. We even saw a sailboat around midday.

Our destination for Wednesday was the Vandeventeer Shelter. We were a bit nervous because we had been passed by younger, faster hikers off and on all day. We were pleased when we got there that everyone else had hiked on through, leaving the shelter all to us. Right behind the shelter was a large rock outcropping that had incredible views overlooking the lake. At one point, we even thought we saw a bald eagle flying around. It was quite the place to spend the evening. As we were getting settled, a few other folks came in, but they all tented. Even though we arose early, all but one of them were up and gone before we were up.

Thursday was a really long day at 14.5 miles, but it was over terrain that was far more flat than any we’ve traversed so far. For the most part, we all hiked quickly and without much exertion. There were little ups and downs along the way, but we were very happy to have a fairly easy trail on such a long day.

At the top of Iron Mountain we passed a memorial to Nick Grindstaff who apparently was a resident of the area. His epitaph said, “Lived alone, suffered alone, died alone.” It was the oddest thing I’ve ever seen on a tombstone before. One of the books I have read did a bit of digging to find out more about Mr. Grindstaff, but unfortunately I have forgotten what he found out.

At the 10-mile mark, or thereabouts, we crossed TN-91. This is the trailhead for a section that Gavin, Griffin, Beth, and I did with some church friends Cory and Emily a few years ago. The first 0.9 mile part of the trail passed the road crossing is the only handicap accessible part of the Appalachian Trail. When we did this section a few summers ago, each of us marveled at how difficult we thought it was, even though Beth and our friends were distance runners. We only covered the first three miles of that trip today, but with 450 or so miles on my legs, it didn’t seem difficult at all.

Friday was a fairly easy day. We covered 8.3 miles from Double Springs Shelter to Abindon Gap Shelter. When we crossed US 321, we were treated with trail magic. A group of 2014 hikers reunite every year to treat hikers at that location. They had eggs and homemade sausage, hamburgers, hot dogs, chili (which was excellent), fruit and cold drinks for hikers of all ages. It was truly marvelous. There were no significant views to be had today, but even if there had been, we wouldn’t have seen them. It started raining overnight, and it has only now let up.

At present, we’re hunkered down in the shelter with all our rain gear and wet clothing hanging on a clothesline out front. It would be nice if there was one more shelter or good campsite a little closer to Damascus because I feel a little guilty stopping my hike at 1:00. Instead, I’m getting ready to crawl into my sleeping bag and get warm. It would also be great if there were enough cell service so I could download the next installment of World War II in Color on Netflix, but I guess I’ll have to wait until we get to Woodchucks Hostel tomorrow.

Saturday was a great day of hiking. Bullfrog was hoping to get his hair cut, and knowing that most small-town barbers close early on Saturday, he and Angel headed out around7:00 to make it on into town. Snow Cream left out next around 7:30 or so, and oddly enough, Gavin and I were ready to go by 8:00. It is right at 10 miles from the Abingdon Shelter into Damascus and we set a goal to arrive by noon. This was to be our first 10 by 12 day. That is a trail guideline for making larger miles: try to get the first ten miles done by noon. Doing so affords hikers the option of taking it a bit easier in the afternoon: longer lunches, naps on balds, or simply hiking slower. For us, it meant that we would be indoors for the rest of the day. The trail was very cooperative for us Saturday, and I am pleased to report that we reached our goal.

One advantage to getting into town early is the luxury of being able to have a sit-down lunch. We opted for a Chinese Buffet in Abingdon, which our host was willing to drive us to. We came back by Bristol so Angel could take her recently deceased phone to T-Mobile. Back in town, our trail family walked the couple of blocks up the street to Adventure Damascus and Mount Rogers Outfitters to pick up a few supplies. Unfortunately, I completely struck out. I was looking for a new pair of pants since I’ve lost almost 40 pounds. Apparently ExOfficio has stopped making the Amphi pant with zip-off legs. I was also in the market for a short sleeved merino wool shirt, hoping it would hold odor less than my current polyester shirt. Nope. Dang it. I guess I’ll have to get online to REI.com and hope they can ship to the next town.

Woodchuck Hostel has changed a bit since we have stayed here a couple of years ago. It has been sold to a new owner, and it definitely has a more feminine touch now. We stayed in the front room which, when we were here before, was a den area with trail memorabilia and antiques. Now it has six twin beds with matching bedspreads and pillow shams. The dining room area once held a long table for many hikers to gather around for breakfast. Now it has four beds, similarly adorned. I’m not sure what became of the upstairs. Previously, there were more beds in the other front room and upstairs, but that area is no longer accessible to guests. Even though it is decidedly different, we still slept warmly and well.

Last night in the front room, one could have witnessed Snorefest 2019. Snow Cream started the festivities early on. He was joined, and perhaps outdone by Gettin’ There a bit later. Bullfrog needs to get his game on- he hardly made a contribution to the overall noise. I don’t know what my contributions were, but I’m sure they were quite significant. At this stage of the game, though, most hikers have learned to either don earplugs or just tune out the noise of snoring, so hopefully the other folks staying here weren’t terrifically annoyed.

One of the perks of staying at this hostel is free breakfast at a local restaurant. Previously, Woodchuck would have made pancakes and waffles, and had a variety of different cereals to choose from. That has changed as well, but the Damascus Diner breakfast was pretty good. Now we’re back at the hostel planning out the rest of our day. We need to resupply, and I need to go back to the outfitter to get Gavin a new food bag (mice got in his). We are also expecting a crowd from church to show up after lunch, and I think some of the scouts are coming up today as well. It should be a great afternoon.

I’m going to sign off here, leaving you at the start of day 64. We are hopeful that in the coming weeks we will be able to more consistently up our daily mileage. We’ve heard that the mountains flatten out a bit in Virginia and that our walking will be easier. I have also heard that the promise of easier terrain is a myth. I’ll let you know what we find out in a later post. I do know that our next exciting section of trail is going to be through the Grayson Highlands State Park. Gavin and I have hiked there twice before and it is absolutely beautiful. We will most certainly see tons of wild ponies who live in the park. Most hikers recall this section of the AT as one of the best, and we certainly think so. Please subscribe by entering your email address in the space provided so you can receive email updates. Thanks for joining us, and remember to just keep taking the Next Step.

I probably mentioned in my last post that the Laurel Hostel wasn’t the nicest place to stay, but we were warm, dry, and indoors, so we were good. This post begins where the trail crosses Rector Laurel Rd., only a hundred yards or so from the hostel, so we were back on trail quickly. Most of the day was uphill, but it wasn’t a bad day of hiking.

Since this was a short day of hiking, we arrived at the shelter fairly early in the day. Gavin put his entrepreneurial talents to work and set about making dice from sticks found in the campsite. He was able to sell a couple of them to Kyle (now Rat Tail) and Brooks who had stopped there for lunch. Before supper was over, he had made $9 from his efforts. We really expected to have the place mostly to ourselves that evening, but as the afternoon wore on, more and more people stopped by. The shelter filled, and there were soon 8-10 tents set up behind the shelter. The only issue with the shelter was that the water was about 0.25 miles down a blue-blazed trail, and I mean down.

Several groups of younger hikers came and went as the afternoon wore on. Around suppertime, two hikers, Angel and Bullfrog, came in. It was quite evident that Angel had had a tough day of hiking. After she “let go” for a few moments, Gavin said, “Do you need a hug?” She accepted and detailed how her trail family had misrepresented itself when discussing daily mileage, and that she wasn’t up to doing 16-20 mile days yet. We told her that if she wanted to move a little slower for a while that she should join us, because we were regularly doing 10-12 mile days with a few 13s and 14s thrown in. And thus, a new trail family was born. We are a multi-generational group with Gavin at 13, Angel, 23, Bullfrog, 38, me, 52, and another gentleman who hiked in later that night, Snow Cream, at 65. We quickly gelled as a group, and we’ve been hiking together ever since.

We got a pretty early start on Wednesday. Gavin was tremendously excited about hiking with a new trail family. Most of our hike was uphill, including one particularly steep section to the top of Big Bald, but it was well worth it. The views from the top were absolutely incredible! I was particularly impressed by the pace Gavin kept hiking today. Bullfrog and Angel were out front setting the pace and Gavin stayed right in step. It was difficult for me to keep up on the uphills, but I was proud that I was able to. Our hike today was 10.1 miles ending at Bald Mtn. Shelter.

Thursday was another 10+ mile day to No Business Knob Shelter. I was thankful that Angel and Bullfrog helped get Gavin rousted. Our view of the day was at High Rocks. The top is off the AT about 100 yards up so we dropped our packs before climbing. It was incredible how light I felt going up with just my trekking poles. The views from the top were awesome. No Business Knob Shelter lived up to its name: there was no water nearby, no privy, and no bear cables. There were quite a few people there that night so I decided to tent. We got a little bit of rain overnight, but it wasn’t enough to worry about. I stayed plenty dry and slept well.

On Friday, we had an easy day almost all downhill into the town of Erwin. The plan starting the day was for Beth and Griffin to pick us up at Uncle Johnny’s Hostel and then pick Travis (remember him?) up from a road crossing a little farther up the trail. We got to Uncle Johnny’s around 11:30 so it was going to be a long wait. We ate our trail lunches out of our bags supplemented by some cold drinks from the soda machine and before long decided to see if we could get a shuttle on into Johnson City where we had a house rented for the weekend. It was pricy, but Gavin and I left Angel, Bullfrog, and Snow Cream at the hostel for the night and headed out to Hughes Gap to pick up Travis. We got to our house about an hour before Beth and Griffin.

This was my first experience with a Air B&B. The key was under the mat as it should have been so we unlocked and went on in. We explored the sleeping situation so that the adults could have their own rooms. It was really odd to be in a house that had someone else’s clothes and other belongings in it, and for a while, I wondered if we had the wrong place. We’ve previously stayed only in VRBOs which are generally 100% rental homes. I have to say, it was a bit freaky at first.

Beth and Griff got there around 6:30. The five of us headed out to find food: Outback- steak and ribs combo for me. The trip over was quite an adventure because the GPS route wasn’t quite to the front door. Consequently, we had to go around the block once to make a second pass at the restaurant. We were successful and supper was wonderful!

Saturday morning Beth and I headed back to Erwin to pick up the rest of our crowd. I know she was a bit stressed to have three additional strangers settling in with us for the night, but once she met them, they were all instant friends. We spent the day lounging around and eventually headed to WalMart for resupply. For supper we walked to an authentic Italian pizza place across the street from ETSU. It was wonderful! Food is one of the things I miss most when I’m on the trail. Gavin and I have long since tired of instant potatoes, and to be truthful, we’re about to be full-up of rice/pasta sides as well. We’re going to have to start thinking about some new dinner options pretty soon. The trouble is finding something lightweight with plenty of calories and protein. I think we need to start adding chicken to our evening meals, but smaller packets of it are hard to find and the larger packs are heavy.

One of the additional perks of having Beth and Griffin come out to meet us on the trail is they bring some food from home and they can take extra items back with them. I swapped my sleeping bag back to the one I started with for a 1-pound weight savings. I also sent home my 14-oz sleeping bag liner and Gavin’s pots and stove since we have been sharing mine for a couple of weeks. I am still incredibly jealous of those folks on the trail that are hiking with sub-20 pound packs. I have racked my brain over and over trying to figure out what I can do to lighten my 35-lb pack, but aside from the things mentioned above, I’m coming up empty. Maybe when spring hits I can send a few more things home, but I don’t know what they’d be other than my wool long johns. For one other weight-saving measure, I swapped my iPad with a new iPad Mini which is nearly a pound lighter. I just haven’t convinced myself that I could blog on a screen the size of my phone.

On Sunday, Beth and I headed out with Travis back to Hughes Gap. It was really good to reconnect with an old friend whom we haven’t seen since our second day at Standing Bear Hostel. Unfortunately, we dropped him in horrid weather at the base of Roan Mountain. He texted me later that he had rain, sleet, snow, and 60 mph winds going up and over. I am really sorry he had such a miserable day of hiking, but I’m glad that he was willing to come off the trail to visit with us for the weekend.

When we got back to the house we began trying to figure out how we were going to get our family of four plus three additional hikers, a dog with a huge crate, five packs, and all of Beth’s and Griffin’s luggage to fit into the van. As luck would have it, the owner of the house drove up just as we were beginning to pack the van. She offered to take a few packs and bodies back to Erwin. Gav and Bullfrog rode with her and they had a lively chat about slingshots and paintballs. I am very afraid!

Back at Uncle Johnny’s, we said our goodbyes and headed back up the trail. We had only 4.3 miles to go to Curly Maple Gap Shelter. We left around 3:00 and were rained on for the first hour. Thankfully, the rain abated and we hiked the last hour in the dry. There was one other couple at the shelter, so it was nowhere near full. We all spread out inside to spend the night. The forecast was for much more rain, and about 8:00 it started. We all slept dry and fortunately, the rain had stopped before we set out hiking the next morning.

We set out fairly early in the day for our longest day of the week. We had a 12.8 mile trek to Cherry Gap Shelter. I was really excited about hiking this section of trail because it is a section I’ve hiked twice before when I was a teen. The highlights of the day were crossing Beauty Spot, a great bald with incredible views, and passing through the spruce forest atop Unaka Mtn. We quickly learned that temperatures on both these peaks were significantly lower the night before than what we had in the shelter, so they were covered in wind blown ice. The trees were absolutely gorgeous, shimmering in the sunshine. Between Beauty Spot and Unaka, the winds increased and the temperature decreased. Angel, a Florida native, absolutely did not enjoy that part of the hike. At one point, we all stopped, huddled around her for warmth, and shared clothing to block the wind. She is 5’1” and was wearing my XL rain pants to block the wind and Bullfrog’s down jacket for extra warmth. She looked like Randy from A Christmas Story in the scene when he was all dressed up for the bitter cold and couldn’t put his arms down.

Even though I had hiked this section before, I really didn’t remember the absolute beauty of Unaka. It was reminiscent of the spruce, moss, and fir forest that we passed on the way to Clingman’s Dome. I still marvel at the incredible beauty of the sights we’re seeing on the trail.

We stayed at Cherry Gap Shelter on Monday night. It was absolutely the most crowded shelter area I’ve seen. I believe the “bubble” of hikers is beginning to catch up with us. The shelter was full and there were tents everywhere. I pitched in what I thought was a flat spot right beside the shelter, but when I laid down in my tent, I found out that there was a definite slope to the ground underneath. I fought to stay on my sleeping pad all night. In retrospect, it was probably good that there wasn’t room for me in the shelter. It had a low overhang and I hit my head five times. I’d probably have had a concussion if I had stayed inside overnight.

On Tuesday morning we all woke with the crowd of people packing up and hiking out. Snow Cream is an extremely early riser and was already packed and eating breakfast when I came out of my tent. His plan was to hike ahead of us to Greasy Creek Friendly, a hostel several miles up the trail, to get a few food resupply items. We thought he would catch back up with us at the Clyde Smith Shelter later that day, but when we turned in, he still hadn’t shown up. We didn’t have service to text him, so we were a bit worried about his whereabouts.

Our first three miles of the day landed us at Iron Mountain Gap. We waited for quite a while on Gavin. Usually he is with us or only a few minutes behind. This time, though, it was 20-30 minutes. He came out of the woods very slowly and was obviously not himself. I sent Bullfrog and Angel on up the trail and told them that we’d catch up with them at the shelter, if not before. Gav was a bit weak and had an upset stomach which we attributed to his high carb, low protein diet, along with the Mio caffeinated drink mix. I got him moving forward slowly, and eventually he felt somewhat better. He was almost able to get back to his normal hiking pace an hour or so later on.

We caught back up to Angel and Bullfrog a bit later and hiked on. At one point, at the top of a particularly arduous climb, we stopped to wait on Gavin again. Once again, we waited for more than a few minutes. Again, I sent my companions on and continued to wait. After a great while, I decided to drop my pack and hike back down the trail looking for Gavin. I passed a hiker coming my way who saw his pack but not him. When I finally reached his pack and called out for him, I learned that he had gone off trail to do what a bear does in the woods. I guess his stomach was truly upset because it was a much longer trip than usual. Duty done, he packed back up and we headed back up the hill to where I left my pack. Bullfrog had gone only a few feet up the trail and waited on us so we hiked together for the next while. Gavin was obviously feeling much better. When we passed the side trail to Greasy Creek, Gavin stopped to get water and told us to go on ahead. It was two miles to the shelter which Bullfrog and I were able to do in about 40 minutes. To our surprise, Gavin came in only a few minutes later. Apparently he had fully recovered.

What was to happen later this night was beyond prediction. I had stepped out of the shelter, which was a bit off the trail, to call home. I was talking to Beth and I noticed someone walking in with a dog. As they got closer, I told Beth that the dog has the same pack that Joy has. Closer still, I remarked about the bungee leash the dog was tethered to, also like ours. A moment later I said, “That looks like Jill,” a good friend from home. Just then Beth started laughing and I realized that it was Jill and Joy. They had parked at Hughes Gap and hiked in for an overnight visit. In addition to the dog, she also brought my new shoes and some food and drinks for the rest of us. It was the best trail magic yet!

Overnight we learned that Joy is not a good shelter dog. I don’t think any of us got much sleep that night for Joy wandering back and forth through the shelter. Apparently the mice kept her awake, so she kept us up too. The next morning we got up to hike out with Jill and Joy. We made it to Hughes Gap in no time and stopped to have our lunch. We once again gave our thanks and bade Jill goodbye and started our climb up Roan Mtn.

We had more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain in just under five miles to reach the top of Roan. Surprisingly, the trail was incredibly well manicured and graded, so it was one of the easiest climbs we’ve experienced. The top of Roan was incredible and I was surprised that I’ve never been there before considering how close I live. We stopped at Ash Gap to resupply our water before making the final climb to Roan High Knob Shelter.

Roan High Knob is the highest shelter on the Appalachian Trail at 6,186’. It is a fully-enclosed cabin with room for 15 or more people. We were nowhere near capacity, but we did catch back up with Wednesday and Barefoot there. To our surprise, Snow Cream caught back up with us at the shelter that night. It was good to see him and have him in our group again. We each slept well that night and woke the next morning eagerly awaiting the many balds that were ahead of us.

Thursday was a great day for hiking. We had excellent cloudless weather as we ascended first Round Bald and then Jane Bald. We had incredible views from both. One thing that again impressed me was that I had never been there before. I promise that I’ll be back— it is less than two hours drive from home. Our hike Thursday was short, only 7.1 miles, and we ended at the Overmountain Shelter.

The Overmountain Shelter is the one place I wanted to be sure to stop. It is actually an old barn that is 0.1 off the trail. When we got there, we had our choice of sleeping locations in the upper loft. Wednesday had researched the storm that was coming in later in the evening and guided us to sleeping spots that wouldn’t be sprayed by water blowing in through the boards. Before long, the upstairs was filled to capacity and there were several tents pitched down below in the area where tractors used to pull through. Among the crowd were Hippie, Drop Bear, and Respect whom we had met at Standing Bear Hostel several weeks ago. It was good to see them again. Drop Bear in particular was impressed at how Gavin had matured on the trail in just the few weeks he’s known him. I concur.

The biggest surprise of the evening was meeting Blaze, a 2017 thru hiker who packed in trail magic from the road below. He had candy bars, drinks, and fruit for all who wished to have some. He and another hiker even went back down for another load. Trail magic is always an unexpected and welcome surprise!

For the first time in a while, the weather poured in over top of us during the night. Since mid-afternoon the winds had been gusting mightily, blowing in a storm. When we woke, our forecast was for 1-2” of rain. Thanks be to Wednesday who got on her phone and arranged a shuttle to pick up 12 of us about a mile down the road from the Overmountain Shelter. None of us wanted to hike across the remaining balds in the gusting winds with the possibility of electrical storms. We landed at Mountain Harbour Hostel, but the only sleeping space they had was on the floor of the dining room. I was able to get a call out to their competitor, The Station at 19 E, and they graciously came to pick us up and took us in. We each have a bunk to ourselves, many of our friends are here, and there is beer and live music downstairs. Needless to say, we’re happy to be here.

I apologize that it has taken me so long to update the blog. I’m hopeful that as the days get longer, I’ll be able to write a little bit each night in my tent so that when I get to a place with WiFi I’ll have something to upload. It should also make the posts more interesting because details of each day will be fresh on my mind. The same is true with the YouTube videos. It takes strong WiFi to upload them, and I definitely can’t do that over cell signal on the trail. I’ll have to start putting them together before we get to towns so I can just upload a bunch at one time when we’re in town.

Thanks once again for joining us on our trip. We are grateful to those of you who have commented on the posts or have prayed for us. We make it a point each day to pray for ourselves before setting out on our hike each day. We look forward to sharing our adventures with you in the coming week as we bear down on Virginia. Please subscribe to be notified by email when we post, and remember to just keep taking the Next Step.

Our last update was from Standing Bear Farm. We had planned to hike out on Sunday, but I fell victim to a bottomless coffee pot and Gavin settled in by a fireplace with a quilt and a cat. Added to the less than optimal weather, we decided to stay a second night. Standing Bear was a great place to meet people and visit, and the hospitality was incredible. It was great to be indoors, especially with really low temperatures predicted. Our cabin was equipped with a gas fireplace which was great, except that there was a fine line between low and hades. Since Gavin and I were in the loft, we benefited most from the heat. Actually, Gavin fell right to sleep, but I lay on the bed in my skivies until after midnight trying to figure out how to fall asleep in the sweltering heat. Eventually, I had to get up and go outside to the privy, and a few minutes after, one of our cabin-mates did as well. I asked when she returned if we could please turn off the heat. I guess I could have just done it, but I didn’t want the other two folks to think I was trying to freeze them out. At any rate, we did turn the heater off and it started to cool down almost immediately. The cabin was built over the creek that runs through the hostel, and I noticed the next morning that there were places where you could see daylight between the floorboards. Around 4:30, I woke up again, this time wrapped up in my quilt trying to decide whether to risk climbing down the ladder and making noise trying to turn the heater back on. Again, fate was on my side because Jazz Hands got up and turned it on just before I was going to trek down. She was able to set the temperature to low instead of hades, and we slept well the rest of the night.

Now to get back to the week in question. On Monday we hiked out of Standing Bear about 11:00. Though we had planned a shorter day of 6.9 miles to Groundhog Creek Shelter, what we didn’t plan on was climbing 3,000 feet to the top of Snowbird Mountain in the first five miles. It was a really hard start to getting started again. We were able to have a nice lunch at the top of the mountain and we were both grateful that the rest of the day’s journey was downhill.

Part of the way up Snowbird, we met up with Wednesday, a hiker friend we’ve crossed paths with several times since our second week on the trail. She and Gavin hiked together most of the way up Snowbird, but she left ahead of us from our lunch break. We caught back up with her just before we arrived at the shelter. There we met two section hikers who had pitched their tent in the shelter. At least they were gracious enough to point out several tent sites nearby. Gavin was a bit disappointed because he prefers to stay in the shelters, but he made the best of the situation. I found a flat spot and set up my tent. A little later on, Wednesday and I were talking, and we decided that if it was us in their position, we’d like to be told that it is a major breech of shelter etiquette to put your tent inside. She broke the news, and they were glad to have learned. They pulled the tent out and set it up nearby and Gavin immediately moved in. Not much later, a couple from Germany, now known as Hansel and Gretel, came to the shelter to claim a spot for the night. I hope we didn’t offend the section hikers, but it is kind of crazy to fill up an entire 6-person shelter with a 2-person tent.

I would like to say we were up and out early the next morning, but that never happens. We had planned our first long day that week so that we could get on in to Hot Springs. It seems that no matter where we start, we wind up walking uphill for the first part of our day. It was no different on Tuesday. We climbed steadily to the peak of Max Patch, the first large bald on our trip. The weather was much the same as it was when we climbed Clingman’s Dome- not quite socked in, but cloudy nonetheless. We also experienced some blowing snow on the trip up, and the summit was windy and cold. We did take the time just off the peak to have lunch and talk with a few day hikers. We thought that the rest of the day would be downhill, but that would only have been the case if we were stopping at Roaring Fork Shelter. We did drop by for a rest, but we continued on to Walnut Mountain Shelter to finish a 13.1-mile day. Beth told me on the phone that night that I now qualify for a half-marathon sticker.

The water source at Walnut Mtn. Shelter was quite a distance away, so we were thankful to have enough left from our hike to make our supper. After a long day, I was glad to retire to the solitude of my tent. It was a good decision, because I learned the next morning that there was a huge snorer in the shelter. While Gavin was waking, I headed down to the water source and was able to harvest just enough to make my coffee. Fortunately, Gavin had enough water left to start our hike for the day and make it to a nearby stream on the trail so we set out. Once again, after a brief descent, we had quite a climb to make that morning. We were blessed that after clearing Bluff Mountain, the rest of our day was over fairly benign terrain past Deer Park Mountain Shelter to downtown Hot Springs. We settled into a hotel room at the Alpine Lodge to end a second 13.1-mile day. It is nice to be off our feet.

We have been quite comfortable in our room, though it was only after I had paid for the lodging that I learned that there is no WiFi here. I was able to edit some videos last night, and the library a few blocks down the street has great service. I’m sure I was able to get two, and maybe three, uploaded to be released over the next few days. We spent a bit of time today exploring the downtown area which, honestly, didn’t take too long. We have eaten well, and we have relaxed in the room. I spent a bit of time this afternoon planning our days for the coming week or so. We are hoping to be able to make it to Erwin, TN by Friday. I am proud to say that we don’t have any 13-mile days coming up in the next week!

On Friday, it was time to head back out on the trail, but we were moving slowly. We got out of the hotel around 10:00 to go back up to the restaurant for breakfast. Again, it was quite a treat. We saw several hikers there, many of whom were just getting into town. After returning to the hotel, we got our bags organized and set off down the street at noon. We took a brief break at the Visitor’s Center to take advantage of the WiFi and order some shoes, and we were on our way.

The trail out of town crosses the French Broad River and then cuts upstream, paralleling the river for a ways. Then it zig-zags up the mountain face, providing better and better views of the town and the river the higher we climbed.

On our way out along the river, we met Elvis, who had decided to start hiking from Hot Springs. He was sitting by his pack snacking and asked if he could join us. We said sure, and watched him “pack up.” It was immediately evident that he was a complete newbie. The first clue was the huge Stanley thermos stuck in his pack. The second clue was that he didn’t securely fasten his hip belt. For those who don’t hike, the hip belt is the most important part of the pack: it should cinch down above your iliac crest (hip bones) and should carry the majority of the weight. The shoulder straps are only there to stabilize the load and keep it from pulling you backward. We helped him make a few adjustments to his pack and we were off.

We hiked a little over eight miles to a campsite that was near a fire tower. I hiked well ahead of Gavin and Elvis, and eventually, Gavin passed him by. We arrived at the campsite before 6:00 and began setting up our tents. We were there with Seth and Brooks and Seth’s dog Zaffer. Though we had seen them at Standing Bear, we hadn’t really met them or talked to them much, but they were good company.

As we were finishing our supper, Elvis staggered into the campsite. He set about pitching his tent and immediately ran into an issue: he had never put his tent up before, so he didn’t know how. Brooks and I tried to help him get his ground sheet attached and left him to finish. Before long, it was apparent that the rain fly he had was nothing more than a 4’ x 6’ square tarp, which was not the correct fly for his tent. Knowing that there was a chance of rain that night, I helped him rig the tarp between two trees and his trekking poles to keep him from drowning if it came a downpour. Thankfully it didn’t rain and he survived the night.

We set out the next morning with our sights on Little Laurel Shelter, 11.3 miles ahead. Seth and Brooks went ahead of us, and Gavin, Elvis, and I left together. As is usual, I hiked on ahead of Gavin. I’m not sure if Gavin was self-conscious of passing Elvis, or if he thought Elvis needed a friend, but the two of them hiked together for a while. Eventually we came to a road crossing where I waited a few minutes on them. The other two guys had crossed the road and were resting and snacking on the other side, so we all pulled up for a few minutes. Seth and Brooks were looking for hostel options and Elvis decided he would check out opportunities for work-for-stay. Apparently he was able to find something, because we all made it to Little Laurel without him that evening.

Our original plan for Sunday was to stop at Jerry Cabin Shelter, a little over 7 miles away. Unfortunately, that would leave us a 10-mile trip on Monday to Laurel Hostel and it was supposed to be raining. After looking at the elevation profile of the trail we (I) decided that we should push on to Flint Mountain Shelter, 14.1 miles ahead, so that we didn’t have to hike so much in the rain Monday.

The trail Sunday wasn’t too tough for most of the day, but we did have some great views. We passed a section hiker fairly early on who advised us to take the “bad weather trail” around Big Firescald Knob. We opted for the white-blazed trail and even though some of the rock scrambles were tough, the views were among the best we’ve seen. Near the summit was Howard’s Rock, a precipice large enough to spread out and eat lunch on, and the view from there was phenomenal. Gavin and I both agreed that unless the weather is a full-on lightening storm, taking the side trail around Firescald Knob would be a huge mistake!

From Firescald to Jerry Cabin was mostly downhill and we crossed a big milestone: 300 miles! We stopped there briefly to rest and then continued on up the trail. We had a small climb to Big Butt Mountain, which also involved some rock scrambling. Once, I had to pass my trekking poles down to Gavin so I could use my hands to climb down one particularly tricky section. Though the views weren’t quite as exquisite as the ones from Firescald, we were again glad we didn’t take the “bad weather trail” around this peak.

With Big Butt Mtn. behind us, the rest of the trip in the afternoon was a gradual downhill until just at the end. Then it turned into a knee-straining downhill. It was one of the most strenuous descents we have had since the 4-mile section just before the NOC. Just after that, we had a slight uphill section of less than a mile to the shelter. After bragging all afternoon how great the trail was and how wonderful the weather had been, about 0.2 miles from the shelter it started drizzling. We made it there quickly and began unpacking our stuff to set up for the night. Seth, Brooks, Zaffer, and the two of us had the shelter to ourselves that night and it was very peaceful. The shelter opened to the east and a sunrise viewing was briefly mentioned, but we all decided quickly that that was highly unlikely.

One highlight of the Flint Mountain Shelter was a bit of trail magic we encountered there. A man and his wife who are trail volunteers with the Carolina Mountain Club came by to check out the trail and see if the privy needed attention. His wife brought with her some individual bags of chips and a box of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. Needless to say, they didn’t last long with hungry hikers nearby.

This morning we got up and out more quickly than usual and hiked the three miles down to Rector Laurel Rd. where the Laurel hostel is. I can really tell that Gavin and I are getting faster, especially on level trail or gradual downhill sections. We covered the distance in just over an hour. We were blessed that the rain that was forecast held off until about an hour after we arrived at the hostel.

The Laurel Hostel is mentioned in AWOL’s guide, but there is little said in Guthook about the place. Upon arrival, I realize that once again, we may not have chosen the optimal place to stay for the night, but the shower was great and our laundry is done. The living quarters are not optimal, but it is no worse than staying in a shelter. Later this afternoon, we are going to get a shuttle into town to resupply (at $15/head). Live and learn, I suppose. I expect this will be a cash only deal, so I’ll have to remember to get some when I buy groceries. Tomorrow morning, we’re back on the trail, heading for Erwin by the weekend.

As always, we appreciate you for taking the time to read about our trip. We never cease to be amazed at the kindness of both our friends, and more surprisingly, the many folks whom we don’t know at all who are following along. We have received generous offers of Trail Magic all along the trail and we are most thankful for it. Again, thanks, and remember to just keep taking the Next Step!

Tuesday was a complete zero day in Gatlinburg. It was really nice to sleep in, knowing that we didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything other than get food. That turned in to an ordeal, but it was exciting. We left the hotel room around noon and walked through town seeing the sights as we went. I should add that it was a spring break weekend for many folks, so it was incredibly crowded. It was also the week of the Tennessee state FFA convention, so there were blue jackets and black slacks and skirts as far as the eye could see. As we walked through town, Gavin noticed several places he’d like to visit after our shopping trip.

The Ripley’s Aquarium is the hub of the trolley system in Gatlinburg. It was a mile or so from our hotel, but it beat walking 3 miles out to Food City on our own. We waited about 30 minutes, and for 50¢ each, we got a ride to the grocery store. We all decided that grocery shopping would be much easier if they’d put all the hiker food in one place: Knorr pasta sides, pepperoni, Slim Jims, spam, and such. They should just have a hiker aisle. We were hoping to get our shopping done before the trolley had turned around and come back by, but no such luck. We waited at the bus stop for another 30 minutes or so and talked with a couple of families who had chosen to park at the grocery store and trolley in to town. They were interested in our trip and couldn’t believe we had hiked over 200 miles already.

After our shopping trip and trolley ride back into the main part of town, Gavin and I dropped our groceries and went back out to see some sites. He wanted to do an escape room, but we decided on Ripley’s Haunted Adventure instead. It wasn’t too expensive, but it was somewhat of a bust. Lots of lights and sounds, and some fishing line hanging down with “fly sounds” playing, and a few jump scares. It would have been interesting to walk through with the lights on to see the “backstage” views. Just outside of the Haunted Adventure was Hollywood Cars. It was a little more expensive, but even though Gavin and I aren’t car nuts, it was fun to walk through. They had quite a few cars from the Fast and Furious series, but they had plenty of cars from my era as well. We saw one of Andy Griffith’s patrol cars, a General Lee, and the DeLorean from Back to the Future. After getting our tourist fix, Gavin and I headed back to the hotel. Travis and I went out for a great cheeseburger at a restaurant whose name I cannot remember, and we retired back to our room and devices for the evening.

Wednesday morning we were up around 9:00 or so and took our time packing our gear. By 11:00, we were heading across the street to the NOC Outfitter in search of a shuttle back to the trail. Unfortunately, the only shuttle listed in our guidebook wasn’t operating that day so we headed down to the road and stuck out our thumbs. We only had to wait 10-15 minutes or so before the Bunch girls, a mother-daughter team from SC who were vacationing in Gatlinburg, picked us up. The mom is planning to hike a portion of the trail this summer so she was quite interested in hearing tales from the trail. The trail was quite good to us in Gatlinburg!

Upon arrival back at Newfound Gap, we set out to go up the trail. There were tons of folks there, many of whom were also interested in talking to hikers. It was fascinating to see people’s faces when they heard “13-years-old” and “2,200 miles.” We spent at least 30 minutes talking to folks before we set out on the trail to Icewater Springs Shelter. Even along the way we ran into day-hikers who wanted to stop and talk to us about our trip. It turns out that Charlie’s Bunion is an 8-mile round-trip hike from Newfound Gap, so there were tons of folks out for the trip. Even after we got to the shelter, people would stop by, both going out and coming back, to see where hikers “lived” and to talk to us. My favorite folks were a couple of families with several young children who had bunches of questions for us. Realizing that I had packed out entirely too much food for the next few days’ journey, I shared my Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream cookies with the kids. One young boy was incredibly interested in following our hike, so I wrote down our website and YouTube info for him. I hope he subscribes and is inspired by our journey.

Late in the afternoon three older gentlemen from near Atlanta stopped into the shelter for the night. They have been doing an annual weekend hiking trip for over 30 years. It was great to meet them and hear the stories they shared. We also met up with four hikers whom we had stayed with a few nights before the Gatlinburg break. They didn’t have such a great time getting into Gatlinburg. They had arranged a shuttle at Clingman’s Dome, only to find out that the road up was closed. They wound up having to hike about 7 miles down the road and were charged a “waiting” fee by their shuttle driver. For the 7 miles they walked, they could have come straight into Newfound Gap and have had a much easier time getting a shuttle. I was almost ashamed to share with them our many strokes of luck getting into and out of town.

We slept well at Icewater Springs shelter and got up and out early for a big day of hiking. Only a mile in was Charlie’s Bunion, a huge rock outcropping with incredible views. Gavin, the adventurous one, climbed up on the rock to see what he could see. I stayed on terra firma taking pictures for other hikers. After 10-15 minutes, we were off down the trail. We had tons of views on Thursday which I will share on our YouTube channel.

We made our destination of Tri-Corner Knob shelter, which was the most convenient shelter site we have stayed at so far. The water source was only a few feet from the shelter, and the bear cables and privy were less than 100’ away. Here we met back up with Mike and Kathy, whom we met much earlier on our trip. Kathy kept remarking about how much weight I had lost, and how good we were hiking to have made it this far. I was just pleased to have done more than 6-8 miles in a day. I think we are at a point where we are strong enough to be upping our daily mileage. Even though it was a long day, neither of us were too tired and sore. Even my knee didn’t bother me too much on the trip.

In order to get ourselves out of the Smokies, Friday was set to be our longest day of hiking yet- 14.6 miles to Davenport Gap Shelter. One trail feature that was NOT in our guides was the ice on the trail. Though we had encountered some ice previously, it was nothing to compare to today’s hiking. Mostly, the trail had been slushy, but since we were out early on a cold day, the slush had turned to solid ice. We must have hiked for a mile or so hoping to get a foot on a rock or some snow to keep them from shooting out from under us. Thankfully we made the trip without a fall, but I had a couple of close calls. It was ironic because just before we had encountered the ice, I shot a video about my favorite piece of gear: my trekking poles. They have saved my fanny several times from falls. In fact, I’m only up to two falls so far, and both of them have been just after I was fiddling with my camera and didn’t have my poles in full operation after clipping my phone back onto my shoulder strap.

On our hike today we passed Cosby Knob shelter after about 7 miles. I almost lost Gavin there. We ran into Mike and Kathy there, and Gavin really wanted to stay and visit. He was convinced that he couldn’t hike 14.5 miles, but after some cajoling, we were off and on the trail again heading for Davenport Gap Shelter. After a small climb, the last 4 miles of our trip today were downhill. While it was nice to not be fighting gravity to get up the trail, it was actually fighting against my knees on the way down. They wanted to slow me down and keep me from barreling down the hill, while the trail wanted me to be down as quickly as possible. I am glad my knees won the battle, but it was at a cost. I am grateful that I brought a brace with me, and I certainly put it to use this day.

I was so proud of the way Gavin hiked on Friday. I got behind him a few times, and it was interesting to see how he has matured as a hiker. Where he was once stopping and stepping over water bars and rocks, he is now bounding right over and trusting his pace and trekking poles. We have finally gotten to a place where I believe we can make a 2mph pace, even when we have some uphills. Even though he had doubts about doing 14.5, he hiked the last two miles faster than I did.

Davenport Gap Shelter was not very big, and it was also not very crowded. There were only two of us on the bottom “floor” of the shelter, and Gavin may have been alone on the top. This shelter is the only one in the Smokies that still has fencing across the front to keep the bears out. I have heard that all the shelters in the park originally had such fencing, but much of it was removed because people would “lock” themselves inside and feed the bears through the fence, exacerbating the bear/human interaction problem. As yet, we have not seen any bears, but we did see one print in the snow that might have been a bear.

Our Saturday hike was an easy one, 3.8 miles back to “civilization” at Standing Bear Farm. Though we descended over 3,700 feet on Friday from Mt. Guyot to Davenport Gap Shelter, we continued on downhill to Davenport Gap proper where we exited the GSMNP. We enjoyed the park, but with the strict camping regulations, our daily mileage was either very long or very short. I feel like we’re ready to do 10+ miles each day, but doing 12-14 on a regular basis is not in our cards.

Standing Bear Farm is a quite interesting place to be. All of the buildings are made from reclaimed wood and there is an eclectic, artsy feel. When you check in, you get registered and are given a tour of the farm. They have laundry, showers, a privy, and a resupply store. They even have someone who cooks lunch and supper each day. The whole place is on the honor system. When you go into the resupply room, you pick up a piece of paper and keep track of everything you “buy.” The guy selling food also makes his mark on this paper, and when you check out, you tally up and close the tab.

We have met quite a number of really nice folks here. Gavin found a Risk board and was able to get a couple of folks to play with him. They must have been at it for 3-4 hours yesterday, and after that, they played Texas Hold ‘em for another hour. It has been very rewarding to me to see the older folks take Gavin in as one of their own. He has already seen and learned so much on this trip that he wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. I have also been honored by the many comments made to me about Gavin and what a fine young man he is and how great it is of me to have brought him with me on this trip. I have been proud of the job Gavin has done, and I am glad to have him as my hiking partner.

That brings us to today, Sunday. I got up for a few minutes around 8:00, but decided to lay back down. I finally got up for good around 10:o0. In the kitchen area I found a coffee pot and some friendly folks. The weather is colder today, and it started raining overnight. Travis got up and was gone before we awoke. I was faced with the decision of whether to hike or not today. The next shelter out is right at 7 miles uphill and the weather has been forecast to be in the low 20’s tonight. It didn’t take much convincing for us to stay here another day. Gavin spent the morning in the bunk house with a fire, a quilt, and a cat, and it was apparent to me it was going to be difficult to get him to move today. As I said above, once I found a coffee pot, it was game over for me. We heard from Travis that we made the right decision. He said the shelter ahead was not the best, and that he had dealt with both rain and snow on his hike today. I have been holed up in the kitchen all day working on videos and this blog entry and I must say I’m glad to be here. We are looking forward to spending another night in the cabin with Wednesday and Jazz Hands. We’ve been promised that the heater will be on, and that we’ll have a cat to keep any stray mice at bay. We will be hiking tomorrow!

Thanks for checking in with us this week. We hope to be in Hot Springs in three days. We’ll have to hike extra miles in the next two days to catch Travis, but I believe we can do it. Hopefully we will be able to upload some videos from there. We hope you have a good week, and remember to just keep taking the Next Step.