(3/10) Inertia

    We camped just outside of the Standing Bear hostel property right next to a river. Usually it’s not good practice to camp near water (flash floods, more animals) but we took the chance this time.  The temperature and the sound of rushing water made for perfect sleeping conditions. We woke up around 7 am and started packing up in a light rain.

     After eating breakfast and getting on trail, we felt like we were struggling to move as quickly as normal. Something about taking a smaller mile day makes it harder to start hiking the next morning. It’s almost like your body has inertia from hiking a longer distance the previous day.

    Today we hiked two mountains of note. First, we ascended back out of the gap where Standing Bear is located and hiked up Snowbird Mt. Despite the clouds we were able to see some of the mountain range around us. This section of North Carolina reminded Tyler and me of Georgia, with hardwood forests, steep climbs, and mountain ranges all around us. 

     While hiking today we ran into a married couple, who informed us that they had completed the Triple Crown of hiking and were now re-hiking the AT. The Triple Crown of hiking is an accomplishment where you successfully through hike the AT, the Continental Divide Trail (CDT, over 3000 miles through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana), and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT, over 2400 miles through California, Washington, and Oregon). I believe that there are still under a thousand people on the world to have accomplished this. Anyway, it was pretty cool to meet someone who has done that much hiking. 

     After summiting Snowbird, we descended down to a lower elevation for a couple hours. Then we proceeded to gain back all of the elevation we had lost, climbing up to Mack’s Patch, a peak that is maintained as a bald. Basically the peak is all grass and small brush, allowing for some rare animal habitats and unobstructed views of the Smokies behind us and the Blue Ridge Mountains ahead. The peak was beautiful, as all of the mountains around us were stuck with spotty sunlight where there were gaps in the clouds. Many of the mountains which we had already hiked were engulfed in clouds, almost as if they were taller than the sky.

     After Mack’s Patch the trail dropped back down to a lower elevation. We took a break at Roaring Fork Shelter and ran into Vermont (who now goes by Yogi) and Chili Head. We were planning on hiking another 7 miles to the next shelter, where Yogi was also planning on staying. However, 5 miles in we found a nice stealth site and decided that we would stay there instead.

     Tomorrow we will hike a 15 mile day into Hot Springs, where we will get some town food, resupply, and stay in a hotel for the night. It will be amazing to shower and do laundry for the first time since the NOC (about a week ago).

    After Hot Springs, we will try to average 17 miles a day to make it to our next zero in Banner Elk NC for the 18th. 

Goodnight.

Walker

Check out Tyler’s blog too- https://tylerat2020.blogspot.com/?m=1