Date: 2003-03-22
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap/Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: light rain

Day 23: Leaving the SmokiesElevation Gain: 1920'Hiking Time: 7:00-12:00, 2:00-3:00Dad has never been so happy to see his car. I tell him that in a few days, he will be glad that we did this together. He just looks at me, all exhausted like. After Dad left for the comforts of a hotel in Knoxville, I hitched a ride into Mountain Mama's from a group of very nice day-hikers, ate a larger than life burger, drank three sodas, and sort of sat around, staring at things. I got my first care package, from Chuck and Carmen Ward and was very grateful for all the goodies contained therein. There were no less than 3 vehicles in the parking lot of Mountain Mama's that bore large "Jesus is Savior" and "Jesus is Coming" and such signs. I had a long conversation with a fellow named Snapper, who was hanging around the store, lending a hand as needed. He was real nice and told me all about his family. We agreed that his son, who smokes dope and cigarettes, and drinks alcohol, should drop at least one of those habits in the interest of conserving money. Snapper's wife had recently died from lung cancer (she smoked upwards of 6 packs a day), and he showed me a few pictures of her. I must admit I shed a tear or two at how much he loved her. On a lighter note, there was a woman wandering about the store who kept picking up doodads and asking me how much they cost and if they were in good shape - said her eyes weren't good enough to see the price tags or the detail. I'm not sure why you would buy a doodad if you can't see the detail, but I figured that was her business. Later on, her daughter was purchasing a carton of Bronco cigarettes, which appeared to be the knock-off version of Marlboro Lights. The cashier said: "So, you're going to try the Broncos, eh?", and the daughter said, "No, these are for Mom. She'll smoke anything." So you have Mountain Mama's.Afterwards, I went back to the Trail and started hiking the 2 miles over to Standing Bear Farm. On the way, I saw Shifty, a cute little high school kid hiking the trail. I also saw two people really strung out on some hard core drugs. It marked the first time on the Trail that I had been afraid of the locals. Then I remembered that I was in or near Cocke County, TN, one of the marijuana-growing capitals of the US, and everything started to make sense. Standing Bear Farm is a great place run by Curtis and Maria. I stayed in the cabin built right over the creek so that you can see the running water through the floorboards. Several other hikers showed up (Java, Poptart, Pile Up, Red Streak, and Squirt) and Maria took us all to her parent's restaurant in Newport, TN to listen to the house bluegrass band. They were phenomenal. Some of them were musicians from Dollywood, playing at the restaurant during the off-season. The fiddle player played the heck out of Orange Blossom Special, which is the fiddle equivalent of the electric guitar solo on Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Java and I sat around with our mouths hanging open in awe while the rest of the kids ate and ate. There was one local guy who did a nice job of buckdancing and got Poptart (Mimi) up on the dance floor with him. She did right well for a girl from Boston. My favorite song that evening went "I ain't got no blues, I got a chicken in my backyard". There was a kid there named Calvin, about 10 years old, who kept coming up to Red Streak and putting his face a couple of inches from Red Streak's face and scaring the bejesus out of poor ole' Red Streak. I'm not sure what the deal was there, but the rest of us were entertained. Red Streak took it well, but he's a member of a Christian Youth Ministry, so I don't think he's allowed to yell at kids even if he wanted to.