Date: 2017-10-26
From: Max Patch

To: Davenport Gap shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Which of today's two last-time moments should be highlighted, now that we're at the stage of this epic hike that we're counting down the last times we're doing things?If I was trying to impress, I'd mention that entering Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the last national park we hike in on the AT. (And oddly enough it's also only the second, after Shenandoah National Park, so I guess it's not all that special.)But since I'm long past the phase in life of trying to impress, my favourite last-time moment of today was of a different kind: we crossed our last interstate highway, I40. More importantly, that meant it was the last chance to follow the AT tradition of mooning every interstate, although because the trail crossed via an underpass it meant Sriracha and I had to, um, express ourselves via the off ramp.Today also featured a first: the first time we've stayed in a shelter protected by chain-link fencing and with a bear-proof latch on the only door.This is in keeping with the Smokies' reputation for bears, which in turn is why park rules ban hikers from staying overnight anywhere other than the shelters and camping is only allowed if the shelter concerned is full. Gulp!All the day's landmarks happened in the latter part of today and the first half of today was almost verging on dull as the trail followed an undulating ridgeline through the usual viewless forests. In another month when the leaves are gone, the views will be better but we're glad we'll be done with the trail well before then.The location of our campsite, on an abandoned road near where it headed around a spur, was yet more proof of the katabatic effect. The proximity to the spur meant there was very little hill above us and what we'd missed through this was made clear when I wandered along the road towards a gully to attend to my morning constitutional. The cold air flowing down from the balds of Max Patch meant the temperature just a few minutes walk from our campsite dropped by about 10 degrees.The lack of gobsmacking views or other distractions is always conducive to doing the miles and we hauled along for a couple of hours before our first break, at which point we were overtaken by two sobos, Potable and Sticks, who were hauling ass and were on a four-month schedule to finish the AT. The only break from the forest was a small bald which we shared with some kind of aircraft navigational facility, although of greater concern to us was the ability to sit in the sun, which made it the perfect place for lunch.Then we went back into the forest again for the long gradual descent to Standing Bear Farm, a hostel that is a true AT landmark -- partly for commemorating nobos completion of the Smokies, which is often an ordeal of snow, ice and low temperatures, but also because it's famous for outbreaks of norovirus, the consequence of the cumulative effect of poor trail nutrition and equally poor trail hygiene. Like a lot of other famous AT hostels, it had the usual coterie of sketchy hangers on "working" there. But it was friendly enough and my main goal was to resupply for the short hop over to Gatlinburg. It turned out that the Second Breakfast Club had had the same idea when they came through the day before, which meant the cupboards were pretty bare. There was, however, enough to resupply, although that involved buying some brands of energy bars I'd never heard of before, which is often a leap into the unknown. I guess I'll find out in the next couple of days.Potable and Sticks were also present and the others in Team KRT rocked in over the next hour, during which we warmed ourselves externally (via a heater in the communal kitchen) and internally (via the pizzas they sold for $10). Just as we were leaving, OK and Happy Feet rocked up. They explained that her main cold-weather clothing was a puffy jacket, which she'd worn for the climb out of Hot Springs but her sweat had rendered it useless, prompting them to stop early and make a fire to dry it back out again.She was very very happy to find that Standing Bear Farm sold cold weather clothing bought from local Goodwill shops, including a perfect Mountain Equipment windproof fleece for $5.Soon after this we crossed I40 and then began a grunty 1200ft climb up to Davenport Gap shelter, in the midst of which we crossed into the national park then hauled up to the bear-proof shelter, where we were happy to call it a day.Life is good.AT fact of the day: When I met Potable and Sticks, they asked if I was "the triple-crowner", meaning someone who'd hiked the AT, PCT and CDT, the three main US trails.I replied: "Not yet." Even though we're about 90 per cent of the way through the AT, there's still plenty of options for things can go wrong and to confirm the universe's fondness for hubris. As I told the others in Team KRT, I'll only become slightly confident of completing this trail when I cross Neels Gap, 30 miles from the end...