Date: 2022-04-21
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today has been a good day. I descended around 4000 feet in elevation out of the Smokies. I crossed under I-40. And then I ascended another 4000 feet in elevation up to a campsite for the night. And I did it all in about 15 miles. It was 10 miles going down and then 5 miles back up. I¢m still deciding which was worse/better.I slept in and had a late start to the day. Ronin was already leaving the shelter when I was just crawling out of my sleeping bag. It was a peaceful morning as only a few people were around the shelter and no one was really talking. I liked it a lot.The trail coming out of the Smokies was rough. Well rocky is the better description. It was covered constantly in rocks ranging from golf ball size to basketball size. Bigger rocks than these aren¢t a problem. They are usually buried in the ground and don¢t move. I¢ve learned to read the trail and know where I¢d like to step around these rocks. It¢s not always right but it works. With the trail being so covered in loose rocks that were odd shapes and would just roll or turn over I was constantly twisting my ankles and feet into odd positions. It hurt so bad. I think one of the worse pains I have ever felt in my feet was stepping on a rock and it bending my foot in the wrong way. The pain shot from the base of my foot up my leg. I nearly fell over. I had to take a few minutes to just sit down. Thankfully the pain went away and it hasn¢t happened again today.Other than the rocks it was a nice downhill roll out of the Smokies. I love the Smokies but I am happy to be out of them. I encountered the downpour of rain for a day, the freezing temperatures for a day covered in ice, and a day full of the most beautiful hiking weather. You just never know what the Smokies are going to hold. I dropped the second half of my hiking permit in the permit box as I exited and I signed it that I had completed the Smokies in 4.5 days. If I looked at the hours I actually only missed the Smokies challenge of 4 days by a couple of hours. Even with all I faced in the Smokies and with a trip into Gatlinburg I still almost made it. I will have to come back and do it later.Right out of the Smokies I crossed under I-40. It was like encountering a little bit of home. I then wandered up the trail and a short gravel road to Standing Bear Hostel. I got there along with Ronin. We weren¢t sure what to do. So we found another hiker we knew and he said just go up to the main house and talk to someone. So we did. We went in the front door and started looking for someone in charge. It¢s a really cool house it¢s a mixture of old farm house with really old wooden floors and a more modern cabin with nice clean wood beams and a massive tv on the wall. We eventually did find a lady and asked about checking in and she just stared at us and said we were in her house. We apologized several times and back tracked to the front porch with her. She was upset and pointed out a doorbell. But there was no signs telling people what to do. I got a shower and resupplied some food. The whole place was very interesting. Like buildings were just like thrown together with whatever was laying around. Scrap pieces of wood, windows, doors that didn¢t fit well, etc. The place seems to be run by a family who live around the land. It¢s a neat place but the family all acted like it was an inconvenience when I had to ask them for something. Like when I asked about taking a shower but not staying the night the lady just rolled her eyes and said it would be $5. When I asked about where the showers were she rolled her eyes again and told me where. She then remembered to say that the towels weren¢t up there though so we would have to go find some in the laundry hut. And I do mean a hut. There is no washer. You have to scrub your clothes in the sink on a washboard. Which is really cool but I¢m not paying for laundry and then doing it myself. I was tempted to stay and see some friends roll into the area. But Ronin had a good point of getting the big climb out of the way today rather than in the morning.After eating a whole pizza, which I knew was a mistake but I loved it anyways, I pushed out with Ronin. We made it the nearly 4000 feet in elevation in 5 miles up to a campsite. It was so hard and I thought I was going to throw up almost every step of he way. I sweated so badly that the shower earlier was pointless but it was so nice when I took it. I dunked my head in the stream on the way up. But we made it and had time to talk more. Ronin is from CO. So we connected over my time there and all the places we had been. He has traveled a lot in Asia so I got to hear some crazy and cool stories. I told a few from going to Haiti. It was a good evening with just the two of us. We talked about how much we have been around others on the AT and getting a night away from them all is peaceful. I like him a lot. I¢m looking forward to getting to know him more.