Date: 2010-04-15
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Spring/Campsite!
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: clear sky

I was the first out of the sack today! I woke mostly everyone up! Haha! I met the "Wolfpack" this morning. They're the German couple that I've heard so much about. They've traveled the whole world over, twice! Good for them! Spring Kat fell back early on. He's planning on a slower day today. We didn't hike with him the rest of the day. "Fun Dip" and I talked with "Cool Tool" a little about the no-cook methods. I'm not a fan. I think you end up eating empty, unhealthy calories that way. To many chemicals and preservatives, and not enough real food. Whatever, hike your own hike. "Cool Tool" misses coffee the most.I wore my brand spanking new socks! I applied moleskin to my heel. My feet felt great today! Although, today was mostly downhill, it was completely easy. It was really hazy today. We bypassed a vista because of it. The Smokey's are really living up to it's name today. We hiked hard through the uphills and took a break at Cosby Shelter for water.Stopped for lunch on the last vista overlooking the end of the Smokey Mountains. I'm really glad it's over! Such hard terrain! There's still snow in shaded places. The birds are singing more at the low altitudes. The nettles are blossoming! Water is hard to find up high along the ridges, but down in the valleys it's still plentiful. We ate lunch and saw "Cool Tool". Apparently, we're suppose to be enemies. He's from Chapel Hill. I'm from Durham! Duke vs. UNC! Conan, Backwards, Cheif, and Super Max came next. We took pictures then started downhill together. I was in the back, coughing with all the dust they were stirring up. I was the caboose. We met Guthook and Giggles. They're quitting the trail. I got water at the Davenport Shelter and we walked out of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park!DONE!!!!!!The first day was the hardest because of all the food I was carrying. My favorite park was all of the Birch tree confetti! The lichen and moss was awesome leaving Spencer shelter. Fun times here!I'm camped tonight between two streams. I'm in my tent and I LOVE it! It's so much like home! I've missed this "Stealth Coffin"! I almost set my ear plugs out like I was sleeping in the shelter. No need tonight! The habit is over! No more snoring! The trickling water will sing me to sleep tonight!I'm going to Standing Bear Farm tomorrow for a virtual day off. Hopefully no more than a mile. Maybe a pizza?! Rabid, Safari, Red Hawk, Conan, Backwards, Guthook, Giggles, Spring Kat, and Super Max moved on beyond us. It's just "Fun Dip" and me here tonight.The tree's are at least 150ft tall here. Huge Populars drape the whole scene in neon green leaves. "Fun Dip" is making plans for his break from the trail. He's having a hard time deciding what to do. He doesn't know whether to keep going or to go home and save money. I told him to do what's most important to himself. He made a comment about how much greener the forest is on one side of this valley than the other. I laugh out loud and think of a quote I saw back at Blue Berry Patch Hostel. The quote said, "Sometimes, I just want to think more about the next twenty feet than the next twenty years!"