Date: 2006-04-20
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter (GSMNP)

To: Standing Bear Farm (Hostel)
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning was extremely foggy from all the rain yesterday. Not only are we dealing with the extreme fog, but also everything is wet once again from all the due that settled over night. With no chance of the sun breaking through the clouds to help dry things out we packed up and gathered around the shelter for a quick breakfast. The hot topic this morning was Doc Narley. He arrived in camp sometime late last night and made his sleeping arrangements under the picnic table in the dirt. I say sleeping arrangements but all he had was his old dirty sleeping bag and the area under the picnic table didn¢t help his cleanliness. This didn¢t seem to bother him thought as he was tucked away inside the sleeping bag like a caterpillar in a cocoon. When he did emerge to face the day he was in good spirits right away because he started the day with a fresh morning cigarette. Jane, Baro, Salt, and I all left out of camp about the same time heading for Davenport Gap. Along the way another storm blew in which only lasted long enough for us to decide to skip the fire tower at Mt. Cammerer Trail in fear of having to face another storm in the Smokies. Most of the trail from this point to Davenport Gap was all down hill. Once reaching the gap we made the decision to try out the legendary Mountain Mommas Kuntry Store. It is a bunkhouse and dinner built from the remains of an old schoolhouse. It isn¢t the classiest place on the trail but the staff was able to serve us up a mean cheeseburger and fries. It was so good I had to go for a second order. After finishing our meals and reading a little in the store¢s trail register to see who all had stopped in ahead of us we decided that we didn¢t want to hike the 1.3 miles back up the road to the trail so we hitched a ride with Natem. Natem is hiking the trail in sections and is shuttling his car around from trailhead to trailhead to help support his trip. He is a rather strange man, so strange indeed that he slept with all his food throughout the Smokies to prevent the bears from getting it. After some quick group discussions about his mental stability we decided to put his problems aside because he had a car and we needed a ride. Salt, Baro, Jane, and I ended up piling all of our gear on top of his little blue station wagon, lashing it together with our shoestrings, and jumping inside for a ride. The ride back to the trailhead tested everything I have ever learned in boy scouts about knot tying because Natem took off and didn¢t slow down until skidding to a stop at the trailhead. The ride only covered just over a mile, but it was a mile of many sharp turns, small roller coaster hills, and an old rutted out gravel county road. Fortunately all the knots that we tied held and all of our gear made it back to the trail safely with us. After returning to the trail and waving Natem off the bottom fell out and it started to rain once again. The rain continued all the way to I-40 and then on into Standing Bear Farm. Standing Bear Farm is a hostel run by Curtis and his wife Maria just on the north side of I-40 between Northport, TN and Asheville, NC. When we all got to the farm we settled in and Curtis showed us around. The hostel is set up in several little wooden huts built by Curtis and is so far the coolest place I have stayed on the trail. In one hut he has built a kitchen area complete with a pizza oven, another is a supply shack that he has opened on the honor system, several huts are bunk houses, and finally one has phones, laundry, and intranet. The shower house was built across the creek and had plenty of hot water, which felt really good after a long wet day on the trail. As everyone cleaned up and got into some dry cloths we gathered on the front porch of the main cabin and listened to Donkey and Curtis play the guitar a little and enjoy being dry for a change. After getting to know the new faces we concluded the night with a nice fire and celebrated completing the Smoky Mountains with Donkey getting a Mohawk. Tonight at Standing Bear: Just Gene, Natem (Tom), Slim, Donkey and his new Mohawk, Salt, Three Dollar Bill, Eliza, Gringo, Jane, Baro, Curtis, Maria, and I.