AT ‘23 Post 4 - Day 25 (388.7 KM) - Things They Didn’t Tell You

The smoky Smokies

A heartfelt “how ya doing?” from Standing Bear Hostel Farm, TN. I’ve made it through the Great Smoky Mountains, my first major milestone complete. The storms and tornado winds made it challenging, but the rewards were definitely worth the effort. The next major milestone will be Damascus. My knees hurt and my rashes are red, but I’m feeling plenty of rejuvenation on my these rare days off.

This week I’m adding a mini section to supplement my logs:

Things They Didn't Tell You About Thru Hiking

1. Everyone gets some sort of heat rash on their back from sweating and their pack chaffing. And most get chub rub. Fun. Body glide and hydrocortisone are your friend.

2. You’re going to spend way more your first month than anticipated. Like way more.

3. You get so dirty that no amount of soap or shampoo will rid you of your stank. It becomes omnipresent. I even tried shampooing my armpits to no avail. Maybe after three continuous washes your clothes will smell better. You yourself never will.

4. There is always a muddy section into and out of camp. No matter what. After a dry day of hiking, you get your feet nice and soaked before shelter. Or your feet are finally dry after camping, only to get wet once more as you hike on out the next day.

5. You become like a zoo exhibit to day and section hikers. A dirty, smelly, hungry, rag tag zoo exhibit.

6. You start feeling like a rockstar when people recognize you as a thru hiker. The further you get the bigger the smiles and winces get. But the love and respect is constant.

Now onto the normal scheduled programming.

Su Apr 2/23 - Day 21 - Newfound Gap (334.4 KM)

Woke up early and packed up fast. Tech’s group was out by 7 and me by 7:30. Getting some town food today!

I rushed through the 9 KM to Newfound Gap in about 2 hrs. Getting into town is always motivating. The terrain was pretty cruisy too, except for the occasional blown down trees. And of course, it’s still slippery with the rain yesterday. At the gap I met up with Rockstar and Bsilver, and we shared Mike’s shuttle into town. We also ran into Melodius, Hoot, and Sass! They were delayed for a day from the gap being closed due to the tornado winds.

Gatlinburg is like Time Square! Or the Vegas Strip. It’s one giant tourist trap, including every possible big chain you could thing of. Usually small trail towns roll up on Sundays. Here it’s packed with people at all times!

Gatlinburg on a Sunday night

We ate some food at the Mellow Mushroom and then went into Tennessee Moonshine for some booze, where I had the most American experience yet. A full bluegrass band complete with lightning fast banjo, and a round of moonshine tasting with the boys. Oh say can you see, by the dawns early moonshine.

Getting drunk on moonshine with Rockstar and Bsilver!

After some booze we checked into our respective lodgings. There’s no laundry anywhere near me, so I’m just going to keep wearing dirty clothes. Tomorrow will be a week straight without cleaning. Yum.

Took a glorious shower, a glorious bath, and caught up on some blog work. Around 6 I headed out to meet Bsilver for dinner.

Bsilver is an interesting guy. A family man from the Phillie area, he told me he was into two things: “cars and currency”. He’s a mechanic running his own shop, and has a business on the side buying and selling historic currency. Apparently in his youth he got into a lot of trouble with the police due to his love of street racing. He said he’s a 0-100 guy, which he could hit in 3s with his fastest car. Acceleration that fast makes your eyes go blurry!

Dinner with Bsilver

Even on Sunday night, Gatlinburg was filled with people. We waited 30 mins to get a seat at the BBQ. When I ordered a sampler platter, the lady asked how we’d like to split it. I gravely told her it was all for me, and we got a big laugh.

Overall a good nero day. An expensive but fun and needed day in town. Tomorrow I begin the second half of the Smokies. Let’s see if I can finally have a dry and warm day.

Mo Apr 3/23 - Day 22 - Peck’s Corner Shelter

Got up for an early bath, packed up, and met Bsilver at a pancake house. Mike picked us up after some flapjacks, and we hit the trail around 10 AM. Bsilver gave a mason jar of moonshine to Mike as an extra tip. Generous guy!

Today was windy and rainy on and off all day. The climb out of Newfound Gap sucked bad, but I managed it after a couple of hours. The evergreens and moss in the humid weather made a beautiful pungent sweet sappy smell. After the climb out of Newfound, the day was pretty cruisy, except for the exposed ridgelines where the wind and rain were a bit of a struggle.

The misty Smokies

I rolled into camp around 3:30, and on my way to the shelter I ran into Squirrel collecting wood. He gave me a care package of tinder and kindling to take down to the shelter, and I diligently obliged.

At the shelter I met Remington, Stairmaster’s cousin. I also met some Canadian section hikers! The first Canadians I’ve met on trail. All from around the Golden Horseshoe. No Canadian thru hikers in my bubble yet, though.

I got the fire started with the wood Squirrel and Remington had collected as Stairmaster and Samurai rolled into camp. Then I got to making dinner and drinking some of the bourbon I packed out from the moonshine shop.

I ended up drinking way too much bourbon as the night went on. It felt like a big hiker party in the shelter! We laughed and chatted into the night. By the time I got to my pad, I was so drunk I couldn’t see straight! Looks like my notes are getting written tomorrow.

I’m going to try to make it another 18 KM to Crosby Shelter tomorrow. I can feel my legs need a break soon. After the Smokies. Let’s see if we can get a warm, dry, calm day.

Tu Apr 4/23 - Day 23 - Cosby Knob Shelter (371.9 KM)

Got through the normal routine slowly this morning and rolled out of camp around 9.

There was 3 small ascents today, but otherwise it was mainly downhill. There was a lot of loose rocks of all sizes on the trail, making the experience extra slippy and trippy.

At lunch I caught up with Samurai at a shelter on the way. We chatted about our motivation to hike, both being office bound workers glued to a computer screen most of the time.

A green tree uprooted in the storm

Today was finally warm and calm. I think I’ve only had one or two days in the Smokies without high winds or rain. The challenge has been rewarding for sure, though. We saw a lot of devastation after the storms. Lots of freshly downed and newly uprooted trees. Technical getting over wet piles of lumber!

The stormy devastation

Made it into camp around 5 PM. This place is empty! Only two section hikers when I arrived, and by the end of the night there would only be four thru hikers in total. I almost had the shelter to myself, but Toady rolled in around 7 PM and burst my bubble. Militant Buddhist, a former airforce officer turned Buddhist, joined us for some food, and we chatted about spirituality.

With any luck, tomorrow I’ll be out of the Smokies and staying at Standing Bear Farm Hostel. 17 KM and a warm day predicted.

We Apr 5/23 - Day 24 - Standing Bear Farm Hostel (388.7 KM)

Fairly normal morning, making it onto the trail by 8:30. Today was warm and sunny, blessedly. After two minor ascents, I took my last shots of the Smokies and began the huge descent into Standing Bear.

It was four hours racing downhill. I ran into almost no other hikers, except at the end when I met a group going for a day hike. They asked me where I was headed for, and I replied strongly “Maine!”. That made a few people in their group wince in pain. Made me proud.

Around 1 PM, I came to the end of the Smoky mountains. My first major milestone complete! Despite hiking the highest point on the AT through a tornado, and having to push through storms and rain, it was well worth the effort. A challenging but rewarding experience. Around 1:30 I came to a road walk, and a sign that said “hiker spaghetti”. I followed it down to a parking lot with some trail magic. I had a bowl of hiker spaghetti and a coke with YukonRasputin and Zigzag, two former AT thru hikers. I hung out for a bit chatting about Trail Days in Damascus, a giant festival for AT hikers of all kinds. Thanks for the support guys!

Me, Zigzag, and YukonRasputin

After the trail magic I headed up to Standing Bear Farm Hostel, one of the most popular hostels on trail. I got a bunk, ran into Frostbite and Baggins, and made a beeline for the showers. After a glorious shower I went down to the laundry room. Hand wash complete with an old fashion washboard, and a drying machine. 9 days of no laundry made it take some effort to get my clothes fully clean. The first couple of rinses, the water came out pure opaque brown. After about 15 rinse cycles, the water came out only slightly brown. Eh, take what you can get. As long as the socks aren’t crusty I'm happy.

9 days of dirty makes for chocolate milk water

As the dryer ran I sat by the campfire and met Robin, Pink, Camel, Jared, and Beans. Pink and Beans are thru hikers staying at the hostel on a work for stay basis. They plan to keep hiking on soon, but were enchanted by Standing Bear.

Dinner at the hostel was Mexican; tortilla sopa with tacos, refried beans, and quite a few other delicious sides. I scarfed down the huge servings relatively quickly, but I did feel truly full at the end. They feed you good here.

After dinner I ran into Fuckit and Mantis! They had caught up with their new hiking pod, calling themselves the Peacocks. The other Peacocks are PinkFlop, Waldo, and PunkBob. They all make disgusting Peacock caws together. It’s nice and disgusting. Someone found a guitar, and all of a sudden we were singing punk rock together karaoke style. I trail named PunkBob when she sang a whole Lincoln Park song from memory with her bangs over here eyes. Everyone laughed and started following suit. Another new trail name! Although I should note, PunkBob already has about 5 other trail names she goes by. Hopefully mine stays in the rotation.

The Peacocks graciously offered me some of their beer, and I drank and sang with them into the night. We had a pretty saucy Bohemian rhapsody cover, and a few other bangers like Zombie. Around 11 PM I tapped out as the others stayed up to burn even more midnight oil than I possessed.

I think I’ll zero here for a day or three, depending on how the rain goes. It’s supposed to rain all day Friday and Saturday. My body needs a break after pushing through the Smokies with no zeroes. Everyone is super cool here as it is, so I can see why some hikers get trapped at Standing Bear for longer than anticipated.

Th Apr 6/23 - Day 25 - Standing Bear Farm Hostel (388.7 KM)

Woke up around 7:30 and got up from my sleeping bunk. Made my way down to the fire and said hi to Pink and Camel. Always a fun time with those two.

Standing Bear Farm Hostel

Breakfast was announced with the ringing of a cow bell, just as dinner was. Pink describes it as “if you hear the sound of a cow having a seizure, it’s probably time for chow”. Accurate statement. Breakfast was ham and eggs with Hawaiian bread cheese sammies. Filling and tasty.

After breakfast I caught a lucky ride to the local gas station. I picked up some beers, a couple of chocolate bars, and some fried chicken and wedges. I was recommended gas station chicken by Tent Peg, and finally got to try some. In Canada gas station food is gross. Here the gas station tendies and wedges were great. Another American secret.

Back at the hostel I took some introvert time to catch up on my notes. I sat in a chair by the creek running through their property and plucked away. Bliss.

The rain was supposed to come today, but it ended up being mostly dry. Whatever. I needed a break. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain too. A double zero for me, at least.

I schmoozed around and met the other hikers. Organizer and Bobcat were very friendly and funny. Homemade was another injured hiker, stranded at Standing Bear for a week already.

Around 2 PM, Peroni and Firefly rolled in! So good to catch up with them. Peroni’s family has an AirBnB rented for their hiking group in Hot Springs, so they need to make it there by Saturday. After a short delay Iceman, Radish, and Pirate arrived too. I haven’t seen these guys since Peroni’s birthday in Franklin!

I ate more candy and drank a beer with Peroni’s group. I tried to convince them to take a load off and stay the night, like an evil little devil on their shoulder. At first I ran into resistance, but after a couple of hours off their feet and relaxing, I was able to peer pressure them into staying the night. Or at least the potential for beer, a cooked dinner, and a bonfire helped.

Just before dinner, Rob rolled into the hostel! He’s making good pace. I showed him around the place and bit and explained the “seizure cow” noise for food.

Shortly after, the dinner “seizure cow” bell was rang, and we had a gigantic serving of casserole with salad. After I finished mine off, I helped another hiker with their leftovers. Hiker hunger is definitely here to stay.

After dinner I hung around with Peroni’s group, watching the fire and playing cards together. I won a game of Bullshit, but otherwise Radish card sharked us. Around 9:30 I felt my exhaustion catch up with me, I bid the group goodnight, and headed off for bed.

A great zero today. Great to catch up with some old companions. My legs desperately needed it. Tomorrow I’ll zero here again through the rain, and see how the weather fares on Saturday. My first double zero on trail.