Date: 2016-03-19
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Asheville via Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: light rain

I slept quite well, but the section hikers we stayed with need a lesson in morning courtesy. If you're waking up two hours before everyone else, it's best not to talk loudly and shine your headlamps in the eyes of those still trying to sleep. Alright, getting down off my high horse. So I was up a little earlier than I expected, but that was ok. Rain was called for later in the afternoon and it was nice to get a move on. The sectioners and Timeout were out quite a bit before I was, but I went before most of the crew who came in later last night. The trail was as we expected, almost entirely flat with a few uphills in the morning. The sections in dense spruce forest were wonderfully spooky, as the fog was reducing visibility to about a hundred feet. I had one moment of just about perfect serenity, as I exited the trees onto a bald area, and the clouds parted momentarily so I could see away down into the valleys of North Carolina with blue skies. There was only the little rush of wind, the occasional bird call and the soft crunch of dirt and gravel under my foot. With the exception of a few climbs, the day was entirely downhill, falling over 5000 feet from Mt Guyot down to the Pigeon River Bridge. It was not difficult hiking, but all the downhill gave me some shin splints in my left leg. I tried to nurse it on my way down, but it gave me pain throughout the afternoon. My experience with shin splints has always been short-lived, however, which is a good sign. Learning Curve passed me at the Mount Cammerer side trail, which I might have taken if the view weren't mostly obscured and it weren't more than half a mile off the trail. Some section hikers yesterday said it was worth it. Ah well. They had time to kill. Just after the intersection, a strange pole plant knocked my phone out of my hip belt pocket, which i must have left open; it landed face down, and when I picked it up, the screen was cracked to bits. I had kept my phone in a lifeproof case for the first week of my trip, but started taking it off because it blocked the microphones and I couldn't make calls anymore. I cursed myself that I didn't put it on today, that I didn't zip my pocket, that I didn't put it somewhere else, everything. The phone still works, but it's much harder to text, and the front-facing camera is useless, covered in shattered glass. The phone was giving me a lot of trouble already; it has a habit of being at 40 or 50 percent battery, then thinking its out of battery and turning off and not turning on without a charger. I knew it had to be replaced eventually, but this certainly hurried the process. I stopped in for lunch at Davenport Gap Shelter and showed Curve my phone. He's a really nice guy, and was very sympathetic. He was setting up his hammock even though it wasn't even 2 o'clock, because he knew the gang from last night was going to want to stay. I hope I see him later on, he's got a great pace but seems to want to try and keep up the social aspect of the trail and have a real group of friends instead of pushing miles. I continued down to Davenport Gap, where I took a picture showing me that I officially made it out of the Smokies! And more, someone left a few cans of beer by the sign! I happily drank a beer before pushing on. The trail followed a very pretty creek with lovely cascades, and a few tent sites I bet Curve wished he'd known about. I had been sprinkled rain on a few times in the morning, but as I bottomed out onto a roadwalk, it started to really rain. I made my way across a bridge and under Interstate 40, stopping to talk with a Sobo section hiker before making the final tough climb up to the road where Standing Bear Farm is. I arrived wet, but not soaked, and, after a short while of looking around, was given the "Nickel Tour" from Lumpy, who looks straight out of central casting for Duck Dynasty. He must have given the speech a thousand times, but seemed pleased when I caught the references to Alice's Restaurant ("a hiker kitchen with all the modern inconveniences and implements of Dee-struction). I laid my stuff out on a bunk, and was about to take a shower, but then I (and my dad, who has done more planning for this trip than I have) got to thinking: tomorrow is going to be ugly, I would love to get my phone replaced, and the veritable metropolis of Asheville is an hour away. I asked Lumpy about a shuttle, and he quoted me a pretty reasonable price. I called around to all the other shuttle services in the Awol guidebook (as well as the other one Lumpy whispered to me that I should try), who all said no or quoted me much higher prices. I waited around for quite a while for the shuttle driver to return, and he seemed a little disappointed that he was about to head back out for two hours. After a host of cell phone difficulties that have convinced me more and more that I need a new phone, I had a hotel reservation and a ride into Asheville. It was already about 7 o'clock, but I hopped into a truck with Morgan, my driver, a 26 year old self-proclaimed Tramp who has been working at the hostel for a year after a long period of world travel. His two Boston Terriers were in the cab with us, and they were very cute. Lulu liked putting her head on my leg and sleeping.Soon enough we were in Asheville. We passed through downtown before Morgan dropped me off at the Marriott in its strip-mall type location, surrounded by a few fast food joints (Waffle House is on the menu for breakfast). As I checked in, a man who was shepherding a lot of tweens in soccer jerseys asked me if I was an AT hiker and wished me luck on my journey. I Spose the short shorts, backpack, down jacket and poles gave me away. I took a very generous shower and started my laundry before heading down to the strip for some food. I was planning on going to Cook Out, a burger chain that I've never seen before, but Morgan swore by, but only the drive-thru was open. So I went on down to chili's and got a burger, some chips and guac and strawberry lemonade and watched some March Madness. I headed back up to the hotel and turned over and finished my laundry before heading to bed. Tomorrow I'll sleep in and grab some breakfast before heading out and trying to get a new phone. Then I'll run some more errands and then maybe head into Asheville proper before getting a pickup from Morgan and heading back to the trailhead.