Date: 2009-05-03
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: light rain

I woke up at Standing Bear Farm, after a night in which most of the older folks were snoring beyond belief. Luckily, my earplugs came to good use again and were able to keep most of the horrible noise out. Pilgrim¢s ankle is doing much better today and we are going to hike on with Ninja. I have really enjoyed hiking on my own during the day, so I let both of them jump ahead, as I am also a slow mover in the morning. Today was a really tough day because of my interrupted sleep and constant drizzle. I am feeling my legs at the moment, also because I left with a much heavier pack filled with a full bottle of denatured alcohol for fuel, my electronics bag of my camera, iPod, and chargers, a full bag of food provisions, extra Endurox, etc. It just felt much heavier. It was so quiet hiking up the mountain and I enjoyed listening to Dalai Lama¢s audiobook on my iPod. Only one earphone was functioning correctly, so I also enjoyed hearing nature¢s energy (i.e. the birds chirping away). The rain was intermittent again, coming down in buckets at times, while drizzling at other times. After climbing Snowbird Mountain, I went to inspect the FAA research facility, which seemed entirely out of place on the desolate mountaintop. It was the first large grassy clearing that I had seen and I initially mistook it for the upcoming Max Patch. I was able to catch up with Ninja as she was leaving the one shelter after enjoying her pop-tart lunch. Pilgrim pushed on with Jack, who was just so excited to be out in the open forest again. Further down the trail, we met up again for a quick snack and enjoyed watching Jack chew on all types of bark from dead trees. It was our hilarious entertainment for the day and boy did it keep us occupied. As we approached Max Patch, we came across a sign that read: ¢Aggressive bear in the area! Do not leave food bags out or the bear will eat it!¢ Curtis and friends and Standing Bear told us before that there was a lot of bear activity in the vicinity of Max Patch. We certainly did not want to become a legend on the trail for the wrong reason, so we made extra sure that we took all of our ¢smelly¢ products and food out of our bags. Continuing on, we came across a huge clearing, which turned out to be the Max Patch. Honestly, it was absolutely beautiful and a definite highlight of the trail thus far. The MP is this huge swath of green rolling landscape, which most closely resembles the rolling hillsides of Scotland. The only difference was that you had the Great Smoky Mountains as a backdrop. It was just awesome to see Jack run freely in this huge playground of green space. So beautiful. Grizz was close by and we saw him preparing to light up a joint to enjoy the moment. The next few miles were wet and swampy and required absolute concentration, as one little slip-up and you would end up right on your bum. Fortunately, we managed to arrive at the shelter just as a heavy downpour came through. After eating a very delectable meal of Beef Lo Mein and Vegetable Medley (4 servings), I¢m heading off to sleep. Another 15 miles tomorrow and then off to Hot Springs!