Date: 2009-04-15
From: Standing Bear Farm, TN

To: Roaring Fork Shelter, NC
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

The party went on till pretty late last night. At around 10:30 they had separated into three groups spread around the farm and started screaming to one another about there being free beer. I just heard bits and pieces after that, but the people staying in the bunkhouse said it went much later. I'm glad I chose the cabin. I didn't even hear Moose come in. The cabin had a gas fireplace, but it only had an on and off button. We had to turn it off as the two in the loft were being cooked alive. I awoke very chilled in the middle of the night. I put more clothes on and finally went back to sleep. The Standing Bear really is a unique and awesome retreat to go to after the Smokies. Clive has definitely provided a great place for hikers and gives them everything they need. I can even understand why he doesn't provide a modern washing machine as we are so muddy and dirty that he would constantly have to repair a regular machine. I liked the big basins to clean the mud off of my gear. Thanks Clive for a wonderful place. I got a late start in the morning, but finally got hiking around 10:00. It was overcast, but not so cold down at the hostel. There was a chance of rain in the forecast and I put my pack cover on right from the start. Yesterday I waited until it started raining and my pack got a little wetter than I'd have liked. I headed out to start the climb out. And a climb it was. I climb up and up and up all day. On the way up I saw more flowers to include some daisy like flowers. The hike up the mountain was like walking from spring back into winter. Sigh. I want it to be spring everywhere. As I went up the mountain the temperatures started to drop and I soon put on my rain jacket and rain pants for warmth and wind protection. As I was going up I ran into Rock coming down. (This is the second Rock I've camped with.). I asked what was up and he told me I was going south instead of north (I had told him of me going the wrong way before). Ha, I was going up and I knew that was the right way. Finally, he said he had called his wife from the summit to come get him. He is a section hiker from Ohio and his knee has really been bothering him. He didn't want to risk serious injury and has decided to go home. I'm sad to see him go as he was great company through the end of the Smokies. I continued hiking up and eventually entered the fog once again. I reached Snowbird Mountain which is supposed to have great views, but all I saw was fog. I took a picture of a survey marker just to have something to take a picture of. Ha. I've seen these survey markers a lot. I wonder if every summit has one. I then hiked down the mountain and out of the fog to Groundhog Creek Shelter. I was initially going to stay there, but it was only 12:30. There were several other hikers there having lunch and talking about where they were going to stay tonight. There was much talk from other hikers about camping on Max Patch for the night hoping for good weather tomorrow. Maybe I'll do that and off I hiked. So up I climbed some more until I was back in the fog. On my way up Max Patch I saw snow and it was very windy and cold. There was also a sign about a very bold bear in the area. When I got to the top I saw three hikers set up and their tents were whipping in the wind. The whole scene reminded me of something from an Everest movie and I decided that it would get way too cold up there for me, so I decided to hike on. And another place with great views that I missed. Oh well. The trail was in better shape with less deep mud until the very end when it got very muddy. My shoes are once again caked in mud. There is one benefit of mud: it is soft. The bottoms of my feet haven't hurt at the end of the day since the mud began in the Smokies. I also thought of a positive feature of the cold weather: my water stays refreshingly cold throughout the day. I'm trying to find a positive spin on things. I finally made it to Roaring Fork Shelter around seven and I was very tired. I sat up in the shelter, ate dinner and hit the bag. I talked with Iron Man while I ate dinner and set up my space in the shelter. Neat guy from New Jersey. Also in the shelter were Ewok, Scout, Veggie Steve, Yoyo and Leatherfoot. Shorty and Big Fish were also outside in tents. I was telling Iron Man about collecting a small rock from each state and he said that sounded heavy. He then showed me some stuff he has collected to include a crow's feather (the mice stole it in the night) and a horse shoe he found in the Smokies. Very laid back and interesting man. Veggie Steve doesn't like when people snore and wanted me to kick Iron Man to make him stop. I figure if you decide to sleep in the shelters instead of tent, then someone snoring and headlights in the middle of the night comes as a risk. Iron Man was not snoring very loud and I didn't kick him, but turned over to sleep. Hard day with all the up, but the forecast for the next several days is looking good. The trail tomorrow is just a couple of ups, but mostly down.