Date: 2014-04-23
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm Hostel
Miles today: 10.7

Yesterday was our last day of hiking above 6,000 feet for awhile, but with the rain and fog it probably hid a lot of nice views. Today we have one climb to 5000 feet and then it is pretty much downhill to the hostel. We left camp about 7:45, I like to get a headstart on the younger hikers. It doesn't take them very long to catch up with me and they get to sleep a little later. I pretty much go to bed shortly after hiker midnight(9:00), even if I just stretch out and rest my legs. After things pretty much quiet down outside I can fall asleep. I toss and turn all night on these little air matress pads, I don't expect that to get any better. I am glad that I have a two man tent so that I can keep my things in the tent away from rodents, raccoons, and other nocturnal creatures. Food and toilet articles have to be hung out of the bears reach though. If you camp next to a shelter there are cables that make it easy to put the food up high. Sometimes when hanging a bag it is hard to find a tree with the right size limb, at the right height that you can throw a rope over and not get it tangled up in other limbs. It is going to be a nice, sunny day with easy hiking. We stopped at Davenport Gap Shelter because it is the last one in the Smokies. It was the only one with a chain link fence across the front to keep out the bears. When I stepped in front of it to snap a picture I almost stepped on a nice black morel, my first one so far this year. We stopped at the northern entrance to the Smokies at Davenport Gap to talk to a ridge runner and a park ranger, my first ranger. We also joked about there being Trail Magic at the road but nobody was there. When we walked across the road there was a tree with a small sign that said Trail Magic. There on the ground was a small bag filled with a wide assortment of hiking essentials. I told Kevin and Dustin to take all of the food they wanted, I had a food drop to pick up in a few miles. I did get some miniature Pecan Sandies, some Nature Valley Granola Squares, batteries, and hand sanitizer. Trail Magic is very unpredictable! I kept taking pictures as we crossed interstate 40 and then the Pigeon River. The trail is a little hard to follow this morning, a hiker was going in the wrong direction the other day and fell off of a hillside. He broke his ankle and luckily some other hikers found him. It would be very easy to fall out here and get hurt several times a day. We walked up a gravel road to Standing Bear Farm, an amazing place with bunkhouses, showers, kitchen area, and camp store. It is owned and ran by Maria and Curtis Owen with help from Rocket. You can also tent if you have not gotten tired of sleeping on the ground. I had a 3 meat pizza for lunch along with 2 Pepsi's, 2 Gatorades, and some cupcakes. For dinner I had a V-8, rib sandwich, and some oatmeal pies. I picked up my food drop, 3 days food to get me to Hot Springs. I don't have anything planned past the next town for food. It is time to get creative at the Dollar General's along the trail. The laundry is done with a washboard and a wringer mechanism to get the water out of your clothes. The dryer takes forever because the clothes don't get the benefit of a spin cycle. Too bad I didn't have a clothes line then the whole process would have been just like the old days and probably quicker. I hope to leave early tomorrow and get into Hot Springs (33 miles)early on the second day. Rain is on the way. I heard that a hiker in Virginia passed away hiking with his brother. Everyone said he was an old man but turns out he was younger than me, in his late 50's. I feel bad for his family. Too late for me to turn back now. Mailman