Date: 2007-04-17
From: Standing Bear Farm

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

To catch you up, we spent the afternoon and evening at Standing Bear Farm on April 17th ,where Bailey and Maximus rejoined us at long last, which was wonderful! They were really happy to see us, as illustrated by crazy wagging tails and they ran around playing with each other and jumping in the stream. The hostel cat, appropriately named Killer, made sure to let them know who's turf they were on. She was ferocious! Curtis, the owner of the hostel, seemed to be a really nice guy and we had one of the most fun nights of the trip so far. A guy who works at the hostel, an interesting character who goes by the nickname "Sprocket" decided to hang out with us and we ended up staying up until 1am playing guitar and singing songs. Matt and Newt took turns strumming while Paul played "drums" on a log and Kevin used a Pringles can and we all sang enthusiastically and slightly out of tune... making up the lyrics we couldn't remember... we should totally take this show on the road! I smiled and laughed so much my face hurt and I know that we made some memories that I'll remember for a long time to come.    The next morning, we woke up very tired from our late night. Usually we are all asleep not long after sunset. There's a reason some hikers refer to 9 o'clock pm as hiker midnight! The beds at Standing Bear were really comfortable and I think we all would have loved to spend a bit more time in them... but onward and upward we went... mostly upward. My legs felt like they had cinder blocks attached to them for most of the day as we climbed back into the mountains. We hiked steadily uphill for a little over 7 miles until we came to our lunch spot, Groundhog Creek Shelter. After a nice, leasurely break we hiked 6 more miles to my favorite spot on the trail so far. Max Patch is incredible, especially for a girl used to hiking granite topped mountains in Maine. Max Patch is a bald, covered in grass and boasting 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains. Despite the rain clouds surrounding the summit when we arrived, we decided to pitch out tents right on the top in hopes for a great sunrise vista. We had enough time to cook a typical hiker dinner of noodles and a tuna packet, then begin a short game of frisbee when the rains decided to ruin the fun. We all bailed into our tents and listened to the wind whip around us. By morning the sky cleared and we got up early to see the sunrise. We waited... and waited... and waited... obviously we got up too early... and the it suddenly appeared , bright red and brilliant over the horizon. It was amazing to see the fog nestled into the valleys and the ranging shades of amethyst of the surrounding mountains.    The hike off Max Patch was an easy downhill for most of the morning and we saw several rabbits that made Bailey pretty excited, even though we didn't let her chase them. Lunch came after 9 miles on top of Bluff Mountain, the only real climb of the day. Kevin made a nasty concoction of corned beef and a pouch of oysters, not very appetizing to me so I opted for Ramen noodles. We hiked a little over 6 more miles to Deer Park Mountain Shelter and spent the night with some new friends: Third Times the Charm and Staggardly, and some old friends, members of the Maine Train (General Tso, Tapioca, Rangoon... they went for Chinese food in Franklin and came out with trail names)   The next morning, April 20th, greeted us with a 3 mile downhill "nero"... for my friends that aren't familiar with this term, a nero is a day that you hike very few miles and a zero is when you don't hike at all. We arrived in Hot Springs, North Carolina and I was happy to be in a town. My feet and knees were sore from the downhill and my right shin was feeling like the beginnings of shin splints. Despite my excitement about a warm bed and fluffy pillow, all the rooms in town were full and we had to pay to pitch our tent in a campground. This concept seemed very strange to me! A ton of hikers were there and we had a lot of fun, especially because of the Smoky Mountain Diner's amazing homecooked food and mother nature's cooperation in the weather department, sunshine and high 70s. A bunch of the guys played ultimate frisbee in the afternoon, those of us smart enought to spare our sore legs watched and laughed. Newt showed up in the afternoon sporting a new hiking kilt and Bluegrass showed up in a long-sought after straw hat, looking somewhat like Kenny Chesny. This inspired my favorite North Carolineans to sing a horrible rendition of "When the Sun Goes Down" in the worst Scottish accents I've ever heard... it was hilarious! At dinner I made a bet with Kevin that I could eat an entire "Hungry Hiker" burger which was collosal and I ended up losing, meaning I had to rub Kevin's dirty, gross feet. No more bets for this girl!    We decided to zero the next day in Hot Springs because 20 people all decided to leave at the same time, meaning the shelters would be full. Instead, Kevin decided to spoil us and go to the Hot Springs Resort for massages. It was a lazy day and I enjoyed every minute of it! Also, Irene sent us a wonderful care package and we were so excited about yummy snacks... we loved it and are lucky to have families back home that are thinking of us! Today brought the departure of Team Canada, our good friends Paul and Sue from Manitoba. They were out for a section hike and left for their next big adventure, mountain biking and rock climbing in Moab, Utah. It's amazing how people can come into your lives for a short time and yet you come to know them and genuinely miss them when they are gone. We're all holding out hope that Team Canada returns and hikes another section with us because we miss them, especially Paul's fire building ability and their trail gourmet cooking skills. We miss you guys... come back! Bluegrass and Newt also left today to make some miles and get to a concert, Merlefest. We figured if they left ahead of us and made some miles and we adjust our miles during the next week, then they'll be able to catch back up with us after the concert. I know it will be strange not to have them around and I can't wait to see them again.