Date: 2004-03-27
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Hot Springs - Alpine Court Motel
Miles today: 33.4
Weather: clear sky

Little did I know that today would turn into my longest day on the whole trail. I was only planning to do a 20 mile day, so I left Standing Bear Farm at 8 in the morning - far later than usual. The days by now were starting to get downright warm, and the sun baked us through the leaf-less trees. The day started with a nice uphill to get up snowbird bald. Again, since I wasn't planning to go far, I took a nice long break at the top of this grassy bald. Then the trail went far down before ascending up max patch bald. Max patch was one of the neatest places along the trail. Lush grass fields extended from the summit for some distance in every direction; it felt like the type of place you might go for a sunday picnic, and although there is a road that goes near the summit, the overall feeling of wilderness is still very prevalent. I met up with Boo's Goose, and another thru-hiker, pop tart, at the top of Max Patch, and we hung out just below the summit for nearly two hours. The scene was quite idylic; behind us, the majestic smokies dominated the landscape, and around us, the wind blew ripples through the short grass. Perhaps the only thing we were missing was a frisbee and some BBQ (hot dogs and hamburgers, sorry, but I'm from the North). But ahead, from somewhere over the top of the summit, it looked like there was little wisps of smoke rising up from some nearby point. The rest of the sky was mostly blue with a few scattered clouds, and the smoke really began to stand out against the otherwise pure mountain vista. It was 3 pm, we had done 14 miles already. We made a crazy decision. What if this was a real forest fire? It was 19 miles until the town of Hot Springs, and we decided to give it a go. The Forest Fire was straight ahead. As we started down from Max Patch, the air started to thicken and reek of smoke. As the air turned gray from the smoke, we encountered a forest service employee at a road crossing. The trail ahead - was closed. They were doing a prescribed burn, and we had to walk around the fire on a forest service road, and rejoin the trail in about a mile or so. As we walked along the road, we could see the fire burning across the forest floor. The flames were small, no more than a foot or two high. But the heat from the fire was no less incredible. At several points, the fire was burning right next to the road. We were five - as much as ten feet from the flames, and still the heat felt unbearable, as if your flesh was melting, or as if your skin was cooking. It certainly was uncomfortable. Forest Service fire fighters were everywhere to prevent the fire from getting out of hand. At the end of the road, we had to walk along a firebreak through the woods to reach the trail. Then it was a nice, long, steady, but rather moderately graded stretch of trail up Bluff Mountain.      At the top of Bluff Mountain, it was just after 6pm. There was still just over 10 miles of trail between us and hot springs. We were certainly tired. We threw off our packs and snacked while Boo's Goose called hotels in Hot Springs, so we could have a place to stay when we arrived. We made Reservations at the Alpine Court Motel. We had hiked 24 miles already. And now it was close to 6:30, and still we decided to press on.      We shouldered our packs and hiked down the mountain, as the light faded. The blue sky faded to orange, and then to black. By 7:20, we needed our headlamps to see anything. The trail here consisted of many little ups and downs. We must have had an amazing amount of adrenaline running through our systems by this point, because we were hiking incredibly fast, even uphill. At 8:50 pm, shortly before we reached Deer Park Shelter, we stopped and took one of our few breaks since leaving Max Patch. God were we tired - and we still had more miles to go! We snacked, rested, and then turned down the pace a bit. Just beyond Deer Park Shelter was a rather mild uphill, which on any other day would have been a breeze to climb, but for our tired bodies, it was a bear. Shortly after the top, we saw the lights of Hot Springs shining brightly in the valley below, and it gave motivation to our tired bodies. The bottom of my feet were killing me. Luckily this was only due to tenderness, and not to blisters. The trail descended into town on a series of long, gentle switchbacks, giving us the appearance that we were not getting any closer. I was about ready to just throw my body down the hill and let myself roll into town, and the only thing that perhaps stopped me is that I am a purist, and I believe in touching every white blaze.      Shortly after 10 pm, we emerged onto main street, in the town of Hot Springs. All the restaurants were closed, so we celebrated reaching the town by grabbing a coke from a machine we passed on the way to the hotel. Then we made our way to the paddlers pub and ordered ourselves a beer, just before last call. Then we stumbled back to the hotel, and cooked our lipton dinners outside. I'm definitely taking a zero tomorrow!