Date: 2008-03-12
From: cosby knob shelter

To: standing bear farm hostel
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Woke up early today to the sound of Grasshopper and Brakeman packing up. No big deal, sleeping for 10 hours is plenty. Some nights before I was carrying a book, I was trying to sleep for 12 or 13 hours. That is just too much and I just laid awake for a long time. I'm used to lots of sleep now and am sleeping through most nights (though waking up every couple hours to roll over).Hit the trail early and was rolling today. Part of the reason was almost the entire day was literally downhill. Had to get out of the Smokies to a gap to cross a river. Guess what's after the river? A huge climb, what else? No big deal, gotta get back into the mountains.There was one climb early in the day. It was about 800 feet which would have been daunting in my earlier days, and it still is a little on the map. However, I smoked that mountain. I stopped once most of the way up because I had to adjust my layering because I was starting to sweat. Other than that, I didn't so much as pause or run out of breath, I just powered up it. It was amazing. It sorta qualified my perception that I 'm getting in shape. I chose to ignore the fact that my pack was light because my food bag has little food in it.Anyways, had a long downhill and I hiked with barefodder most of the time. We were hiking at about the same pace. Pretty amazing for him being 70, I hope I 'm like that. Nice guy to talk to.Played leapfrog with Grasshopper and Brakeman again, and also talked with them a bit at breaks. Its amazing all the people you meet out here, and how many different people are out here. To this point, everyone I've talked to is exceptionally friendly. If normal society was like this...well, I'm not going there.Took lunch at Davenport Gap shelter and then headed out of the Smokies. The weather was fantastic. Shorts and a T-shirt. I guess I got pretty lucky there. I'm sure I'll see plenty of snow yet though.Crossed I-40 and got to Standing Bear Farm Hostel. I needed a breakfast and lunch resupply to Hot Springs. I also much desired a hot shower and laundry - I don't even want to look back and see how long it had been. My socks have one of the worst smells I have EVER encountered. I had them hanging on the back of my pack to dry, and I could smell them...while moving forward. That is wrong.Anyways, I got to the hostel and had a nice long hot shower. Finally posted my journals for the Smokies (no signal). I washed my clothes the old fashioned way - with an actual washboard. That was pretty special, even the hostel owners didn't know how to use it. They just started using that instead of the washer because it kept breaking. I figured it out and it actually mostly worked and my clothes smell better.I had some serious food today. Definitely not the best quality, but it was all about quantity. I started with a roll of oreos (14) and then I had a 40 ounce (1 liter) can of chili for dinner - the whole thing. Had a couple pops too. The chili was over 1000 calories, but I'll burn it off tomorrow before lunch. How great is that?Can't think of anything else; another fine day on the Appalachian Trail.