Date: 2019-05-18
From: Standing Bear

To: Jerry's Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 48.2

Thursday, May 16 - Today was a slower than usual start we had a rough time getting out of Standing Bear. I would like to blame their no checkout time policy! Somehow we made it out of the trap and on trail at about 12:30. We climbed and climbed and climbed for about 11 of our 13.5 miles to Max Patch. Max Patch is a huge bald mountain top with grass field that make perfect camping spots. Polo, Oatmeal and I all decided to cowboy camp to look at the stars. Life was good, until about 4:30 AM when are slumber was rudely interrupted by the rain. We threw our tents up as fast as possible, and went back to sleep, damp and frustrated! Friday, May 17 - Another slow start, the rain continued until about 9 AM. Amazingly it stopped raining and was sunny minutes later. The sun was great to dry out the stuff that got wet last night in the cowboy camp mishap. Unfortunately, drying gear in the sun takes time and we once again weren't started until noon. We wouldn't let that hold us back though we did 16.6 miles to Deer Park Mountain Shelter. It felt great to do two higher milage days in a row, no pain or soreness! Tomorrow it's a short day into hot springs for, food, food, food , a resuply box, and stove fuel. Polo is currently uncharacteristically snoring next to me in the shelter, figured i would call him out for it on here! (Still love you Polo) Life is amazingly simple out here and I love it. Go hiking I promise you won't regret it!Saturday, May 18 - Today was a short 3.3 into Hot Springs NC. We broke camp at 8AM which was by a long shot a record for us!! It was easy to get up and moving because it was about 3 miles to the Smokey Mountain Diner, we nearly ran. Before hitting the diner we stopped off at Laughing Heart Hostel to pick up my mail drop. (Shouts out Michelle) The owner was awesome and ended up allowing us all to wash our clothes there when we found out there is just about zero washing machines in Hot Springs! From Breakfast, we checked into the Alpine Court Motel, which was a solid room for hikers, and the 80 dollar price tag wasn't bad split 3 ways. That's right I said 3 ways, and no it wasn't Oatmeal or Bones as the third! We picked up another friend, Rosebud! Her hiking partners went to Trail Days and that wasn't her thing so she has been running with us! This town visit was a bit special thanks to a visit from Michelle's cousin and his lovely Wife! (Names left out as always) They brought Polo and I some awesome energy and electrolyte hiker snacks, as well as some phenomenal cookies! The trail magic didn't end there though, they also took us out to a phenomenal dinner at the tavern down the street from the Motel! The fact that they drove almost an hour to come spend some time with us and take a peak into our simple life was awesome and a huge thank you to them!Sunday, May 19 - Today was an awesome day for hiking and we took advantage hiking 14.8 miles. Unfortunately we didn't get out of town until about noon. Hot Springs is a town where the trail is legitimately the side walk of the main street. We were unable to walk past the diner without stopping, and ended up eating breakfast on our way out! The hiking today was challenging, with a lot of ups and relatively steep downs. We saw two bears, one was a juvenile, and the other was a well fed adult. Both of the bears looked at us and continued to eat the grubs or whatever they were after! My body feels great as we start to push bigger miles. I unfortunately have a blister on my pinky toe, which is a bit annoying but far from a deal breaker. Blisters form Calluses, so the way I'm thinking about it, is soon I will have rock feet! Tomorrow it's a 12 mile day to Jerry's Cabin Shelter. The weather report says 20% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow, here's to hoping that doesn't happen! Another huge piece of news is that tomorrow we will break the 300 miles hiked mark! Stay tuned for a cool picture. Today we were down one in the tramily, Oatmeal. He got held up in town with his lady and didn't end up on trail until about 6PM, he pushed/is pushing late into the night and will be camped a half mile behind us tonight! Tomorrow he will likely catch us or meet us at the shelter! (The tramily will be full again)Udo update:He is legitimately frustratingly good at hiking. Pads look just as healthy as when we left. Never tired. Still not one assist by me, meaning he has climbed every rock, crossed every river, log Bridges, etc. Goodnight y'all! "Crocs n socks" and Udo