Date: 2013-05-09
From: Tricorner Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 11: Tricorner Knob Shelter to Standing Bear Hostel¢I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more¢(The Proclaimers); Young Hiker: ¢It¢s flat.¢ Advice: Never believe someone who tells you a trail is ¢flat¢ or ¢easy¢ unless that person is in high heels.;What, no parade!?!After a huge thunderstorm last night, and being sardined between two hikers, I was happy to walk outside at 6:30 this morning to find the rain had stopped. That the sky was lightening was a hopeful sign (the guide mentions that this shelter and the area surrounding is the dampest on the trail- joy!). On my trip to the privy I saw a deer, which casually walked away as I approached but returned to munch on the grass next to the privy while I was inside. I guess the grass is sweeter around there . Even though it was no longer raining, it was still pretty damp and the thought of getting back into cold, wet clothing was not appealing, so I held off for a while by focusing on breakfast and filling up with hot coffee. Once I could no longer avoid it, everything went on and Rider and I headed out of the shelter and started walking with the intent of "getting out" of the Smokies. The early morning was filled with what else- fog and mist. Still we were walking above 5,000¢ and sometimes 6,000¢ elevation and we were presented with plenty of misty goodness. Like the day we hiked to Clingmans Dome there were sections infused with the scent of Christmas Trees; it was so invigorating! Water flowed down rocks onto and across the trail so that there was no shortage of places to pump water if you needed it. I mentally chopped the day into 4-mile segments, figuring that four 4-milers would be easier to swallow than thinking of 16-18 miles total hike. Today we would descend more than 4,000 feet just getting to the northern boundary of the Smokies. The first segment brought us to the intersection with the Snake Den Ridge Trail and put the highest elevation of the day behind us at Mount Guyot Side Trail (6,395¢). Day 11- Early Morning ViewsAs we descended the weather improved dramatically, we even saw the sun again and the temperatures rose allowing us to shed some layers. By the time we finished our second ~4-mile segment we arrived at Cosby Knob Shelter where Rider and I stopped for lunch. I was feeling pretty good, I think it was the weather actually and perhaps the feeling of uncontained joy associated with looking out to see the mountains above instead of below us once again. Cosby Knob Shelter is a beautiful location with a large open area in front and slightly below the shelter; it seems certainly suitable for tenting. The stream is just beyond the shelter and the privy just prior to the shelter and downhill a bit. As we were eating lunch, Crispin showed up. We also were visited by a few younger guys traveling south. They told us how beautiful the Mt. Cammerer Tower location was (remember the day hiker at Fontana Dam Hilton said I should go see this). I was torn; this was the third group of people who said we should see that location even though it would be a 1.2-mile round-trip detour from the AT. ¢The trail out to the tower is flat. It¢s easy¢, one kid said. Dammit, I wasn¢t sure I wanted to do MORE miles today but if it was easy well how could I just blow it off?! Rider teased me about it too: ¢You know you want to go.¢ Damn peer pressure! So Rider and I left Crispin and the kids and set back out headed north with a commitment to take the detour in less than 3 miles. Day 11- Second Section HighlightsGetting to Mt. Cammerer trail was not that easy either, the trail still had some surprises with descents followed by a long, slow climb. It seemed like it took forever climbing out of Deep Gap. We ran into a young family while climbing one of the ridges. The kids were so cute, the little girl was crying because of a fall in the mud so I gave her my Gnome to hold and got her picture, of course she didn¢t want to give up the Gnome so I traded her the Gnome for some chocolate chip cookies which she seemed to enjoy even more- kids are so easy to please . The family had come from Mt. Cammerer tower and said how amazing the view from the tower was and that the trail ¢wasn¢t bad at all.¢ So all I was thinking was that 1.2 miles was not a big deal as I finally approached the turn off an hour later. I stashed my pack in the woods nearby and waited for Rider to arrive. He decided to carry his pack with him but I just took my poles, some water and my camera and wallet. We started down ¢the flat¢ path, which was NOT flat¢¦at all. Not only was it not flat, there were actually some sections that you had to climb over rocks to stay on the trail. Not only was it not flat but there was a location to tie-up horses and a sign warning that they should not be used to go any farther. I was a little pissed that we were so misled! But after grumbling for a quarter of a mile on that trail, and after Rider¢s trudging over the rocks in full pack (which was REALLY full since he just restocked at Standing Bear), we made it to the tower and it very much was a spectacular view! We must have hung out there for at least 30 minutes just taking photos, making some calls and watching a helicopter fly through the mountains/valleys below us (it was so surreal to watch- it looked like a remote-control toy). After getting a bazillion photos from the final 5,000¢ altitude, we walked back to the AT and headed downhill more or less for the next 5.5 miles.The last segment to get to the northern boundary of the park was beautifully warm and generally sunny. It was as if the Smokies didn¢t want us to remember the cold, wet, and foggy weather that taunted us for much of our traverse. Not only did she want us to forget, but she seemed hell-bent against letting us leave. The winds, I may have mentioned before were pretty severe on a number of occasions during our time in GSMNP. Last night was pretty windy too. As we walked along the trail we were greeted by blow-down after blow-down; some too high to go over and some too low to go under and one which seemed nearly impossible to get around in any fashion. It was just crazy. Somewhere during one of these obstacle-breaching activities Rider lost his favorite running shirt- a bright yellow and blue shirt that I¢m not sure how anyone could miss on the trail. He was quite bummed out when he caught up to me a ways down the trail and shared the news. I felt badly, but there was no telling where the shirt was dropped. I figured since Alana had picked up my Crocs, someone was bound to pick up his shirt. We agreed to stop at Davenport Gap Shelter (the last shelter in the park) to leave a note for people to bring it ahead to him. Speaking of the last shelter, we finally arrived at Davenport Gap Shelter around 6 pm, and after seeing the location (in a hollow), how dark it was down there, and seeing the fence that still existed at the front of it (creepy), I was so glad NOT to stay there. Crispin was at the shelter when we arrived, he had gotten ahead of us when Rider and I took the "flat trail" detour. The cage on the front of the shelter we mused, seemed more to keep humans inside rather than bears outside! Crispin was going to stay for a bit to rest his feet but Rider and I were moving on while we still had the energy to do it. We kept playing leapfrog with Corey for the last few hours until we finally started walking together at the exit of GSMNP. This brings me to my complaint of the day. How could there not be some series of GIANT signs, like all the ¢South of the Border¢ billboards you see on the way through North Carolina to South Carolina on I-95, at the end of the Smokies? How about at least something that says: ¢Congratulations, you have just traversed 72-miles of likely terrible weather and survived. You are a badass, enjoy a beer 3 miles ahead.¢ Or one of those penny-flattening machines so you can get a stylized GSMNP Penny or even a simple sign that just said, ¢Leaving Great Smoky Mountain National Park¢? Do you want to know what there was to herald the park boundary? A tiny box¢¦that was it!! A tiny, metal box for hikers to put their registration (and money) into. Give-me-a-break! Oh and for the record, there was no visible wall that separated the bad "inside-GSMNP" weather from the good "outside-of-GSMNP" weather and no parade either. I wasn't impressed, neither was McKayla Maroney. Moving on, we crossed a street, crossed a bridge over the Pigeon River, walked under the I-40 overpass, crossed another street and then re-entered the woods with a multi-stair ascent that simply kicked MY A$$! How could they do this at the end of a long stretch?! Gritting my teeth, I climbed this ¢last hill¢ which went up sharply and then seemed to continue going up for another 2 miles or so before the final descent down to a stream and a road (by the way, the same flipping road we had crossed near I-40 before climbing those stupid stairs- we could have walked the road the whole way!). At the road I waited for Rider and then we headed left towards Standing Bear Farm hostel. It was about 7:30 or 8 PM when we arrived. Standing Bear is pretty unique. I will talk more about the hostel tomorrow but it has everything a hiker could possibly need: a bunkhouse or tenting space, hot showers, a kitchen, a well-stocked ¢store¢ and clothes washing facilities. We chose to tent and grabbed a shower before attacking dinner. When we arrived at the kitchen area/hangout fire ring we found Navigator and Coach as well as Fire Hydrant there. Corey of course was staying the night and Thumper and Frodo were also on site. It was a big reunion although Alana had continued to hike beyond the hostel so we missed seeing her this evening. Day 11- Wrap UpIt was a late night, filled with a healthy dinner followed by 2 beers which did me in. Talked quite a bit with Rocket (former Marine now working at Standing Bear) and Rider and the other Bill whom I found out had also been in the Army Signal Corps so we had a great time talking about old commo-related stuff. Finally turned in at some ungodly hour like 10¢¦it¢s a nice place and I¢m so happy to be clean again after a LONG day getting out of the Smokies. Goodnight from OUTSIDE OF GSMNP at the legendary Standing Bear Hostel!More photos for day 11 of the trip can be seen at: 2000Miler_Day11