Date: 2005-04-19
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: scattered clouds

11:15I'm back on the Trail, walking again, after dropping down to Mountain Momma's for some breakfast. I got out of the shelter really early this morning, 6:40.   I some candy bars and beef jerky and hauled ass with the intention of going to Mountain Momma's and eating and moving on. I made it to Davenport Gap Shelter fast, by 9:10, signed in real quick and went down the road to Mountain Momma's and ended up having to walk, of course, no cars went by. That's 28.6 'Extra Trail-Estrial' miles.I sat down to breakfast. I had scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns, coffee, orange juice and a Pepsi. I ordered a cheeseburger 'to go' because they were running a shuttle bus back to the Trail at 11, and I didn't to skip the cheeseburger or the rise back, so I packed it. I met a couple of hikers there. I stocked up on cigars, cigarettes and candy bars, so I'm set to go. I should beat Standing Bear Farm in an hour an a half. If I get done with my laundry and shower early enough, I may walk out of there. I have like 32 miles to get into Hot Springs.I made some phone calls this morning, one to Carol to tell her that Bob is picking me up and bringing me in to Asheville on the evening on the 21st to hang out for a couple of days. It turns out she could not book the cabin for Hot Springs. 'Trail-Fest' is going on, and it's probably all booked up. I'd like to get into Hot Springs early on the 21st. When I get there I want to eat a lot, get fat, get my mail drop, shower, and do my laundry before I get into Asheville. I also need to replace my pants. These pants already have over 1,000 miles on them and they are starting to show it. There are stains that don't come out and they are wearing out from the straps from the back pack rubbing against them 30-40,000 times a day. Every time I tale a step, the waist-belt runs across the pants and they are wearing thin there, believe it or not.I feel pretty good. I'm developing a little bit of a blister on the right outside heel of my foot. I put a patch on it. I think it's because I put an extra set of insoles into the shoes to make them fit better. Unfortunately, its making my foot rise higher in the heel. I'm going to have to change that when I get to Standing Bear Farm, I guess.I'm out of the Smokies as of 10 o'clock this morning. It took me 4 days and 3 hours. I hear its supposed to start raining tonight into tomorrow. So be it, I've been lucky so far.Tracker found my digital voice recorder on the road coming down to Mountain Momma's. I don't know how it fell out, but luckily he found it. I told him I'd buy him breakfast but I was leaving, so I gave him $5 towards his breakfast. It was well worth it for getting it back 10:00 P.M.I'm sitting out in Curtis' 1948 McCormick cherry-red tractor in front of Standing Bear Farm. I was watching some hikers play Texas Hold 'Em Poker with pennies. I wouldn't play because I'm not that good at it.It was a long, busy day. I met so many hikers at Standing Bear today, I lose track of the names now. Standing Bear Farm stands on 5 acres in Hampton, Tennessee. The Smoky Mountains run on the North Carolina/Tennessee border, so I've been jumping back and forth between the states for the last 4-5 days. There are a series of log cabins and sheds and a wooden house that Curtis and Maria live in. Curtis is a pretty intelligent guy. I sat and talked to him for a while. The first thing I noticed was the creek that runs through there. I asked Curtis if he ever considered hydro-electric power because he's got the perfect place for that here. He was all over it already, he already knows everything there is to know about it.There are 2 buildings that are bunk houses, a re-supply shed with a fridge and a freezer and a whole wall full of goodies with anything that you would want to eat on the Trail. It's all done on the Honor System here. You get what you want and throw the money in a box. Same with checking in, it's $15 to check in, you throw the money in an envelope and put it in a box.I got here at about 12 o'clock and by the time the sun was setting, this place was crawling with hikers. The bunks are full, the tents are full, they even have a huge teepee outside that people are sleeping in. There must be 40 people here.I got my laundry done, took a shower and made some phone calls. I called Bob to confirm my pick up on the 21st. There's a group here from Seattle that also want a ride to Asheville.I offered to help Curtis repair one of the showers here. I ended up taking over that project so that he could run a shuttle into town. I asked Au Pa to get me some Coronas. Everyone picked up beers, so we had all different kids here. I played some horseshoes with Patch, he beat me 21-14.Around 7 o'clock Au Pa and Au Ma's dog came back from the kennel. He was glad to be here.   The shuttle girl offered to get some sandwiches for Au Pa, I asked him to get me one too, which was the best BBQ sandwich I've ever had. It came with huge home fries. Real good stuff.Just before dark, some of the kids started a fire in the fire ring. It has a bunch of benches around it. A bunch of people gathered around the fire and ate, drank beers and talkedThis is what living is all about. I'm perfectly happy sitting around here. Sitting by a fire, eating my BBQ sandwich, sleeping in my 10 x 10 log cabin with open gables. Curtis was surprised that that's where I picked because he just redid that cabin. He said he was actually keeping farm animals in it and he switched it over to a room where people could hang out in late at night. It seems I'm the first person to want to stay in there, to me it's perfect. It has a wooden slat bunk, a bench and a table with some tea candles on it. I have one lit now. I'm as happy as I could be.Tomorrow I get up for a big mile day. I have 32 miles to run into Hot Springs before Thursday when Bob picks me up. I'd like to be back on the Trail by Sunday or Monday. I'm not that concerned about the time now because I've met my obligations with Eddie, and I'll meet my obligations with Carol.