Date: 2016-03-08
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up early and wanted to get moving. I planned to get out of the Smokey's and go to Standing Bear Hostel for the night to resupply for the push on to Hot Springs. I also wanted to avoid any further interactions with Ranger Rick...The trail was surprisingly free of ice and I made good time. It helped a lot that the majority of the day would be going down hill. Down hills are sometimes more difficult than the ups depending on the condition of the trail and the slope of course. Along the way I met a couple Rangers out for a hike to somewhere. One commented he liked the way I had my water bottles slung from the front of my pack. We had a brief pleasant interaction then we were all on our way. I was expecting one of the rangers to ask to see my permit for the back country hiking but neither those two or any of the other rangers did. I got the impression they were all focused on projection a "Helping" presence to park visitors than that of rules enforcement. Sometime after passing the first two rangers I saw a couple sitting on the side of the trail. I stopped and said hello. They seemed friendly enough. I noticed an electronic device the man had in his hand and asked him what it was - as it looked something like a gps device but was about 2 inches thick and looked way heavier than any hiker would be carrying. It was just then I realized they were 2 rangers. The man stood up and started to explain it was a recording device they used for a survey of the forest. There was a bug/beetle that was attacking some fur trees and they were doing a survey of the infestation... I guess to plan the treating of the forest to combat the pest.Me being me... I couldn't help but ask the ranger if there were ANY Pine trees in the Smokey Mountain National Park? Talk about opening Pandora's box... within an instant he had rattled off a list of at least 7 species of pine trees... Virginia Pine was the only one I caught as he was listing them so fast... I then recounted my interactions with "ranger rick" who said there were no pines in the park... then shared my fortune cookie philosophy with them which they got a good chuckle out of... The one thing that really stood out during the interaction was their sincere desire to share their knowledge of the park with visitors if provided the opportunity. It was easy to see they took their jobs very seriously and were very knowledgeable and did a lot of behind the scenes work the public never sees or knows about to keep the park looking as great as it does... So... the 18.4 miles went by faster than the previous days 12.1 which is really a strange feeling. I arrived at the Standing Bear Hostel and found the accommodations to be a little rugged... but it was the only option for me at that point. First impressions were that it was a basic hostel and it would be like paying $20 to stay in a shelter. Then afterwards, you realize you got a hot shower, use of the kitchen to cook some food, (pizza in my case) and that it was a step up from a shelter. There were not mice at least! I met Wild Card... I think is what he called himself... he was a driver/currier in his life off the trail. His shoes were blown out a little and when he took off his shoes and socks you could see his toes were really red... he said he had gotten some frostbite on the trail but they seemed to be coming around. I was concerned for him and really was thankful I hadn't had such difficulties in my hike to date. I also met a young guy by the name of Major TP (indian tee pee - not the #2 TP) that was doing 20 miles or so per day on average. He was a really cool guy even though he was a vegetarian... sorry vegetarians... plants have feelings too... and animals are just "recycled plants" anyway... Plus our ancestors worked really hard to get to the top of the food chain... ok... enough said... but I do have some respect for vegetarians... it's not easy being "green" so to say... We all kind of hung out in the kitchen until we realized it was almost 11 pm and I thought... wth... it's 5 hours past my bed time... and went to bed.