Date: 2007-04-16
From: Standing Bear Farm Hostel, TN

To: Newport, TN
Miles today: 0.0

It is a new day. We woke up after a pretty cold nite and decided we would goahead and resupply (they have a short-term resupply shack) and wash our clothes(almost everything we had was soaked still). Persistent walked outside, and Curtis caught her. He was a totally differentperson from yesterday (perhaps we caught him at a bad time, not sure, butrunning a hostel is not easy). He told her whatever we needed, he could make ithappen, even if we still wanted to go into a motel, etc. She told him wedecided we were taking a few days off and would appreciate going to a motel towarm back up. We proceeded to do what we needed to get done and upon packing up my food, Idiscovered the "special" snack I had been carrying for Persistent and I tocelebrate getting thru the GSMNP. None other than 12 mouth watering FerreroRochers chocolate truffle candies! Oh did we tear into those things! LOL We both agreed Standing Bear Farm Hostel would be totally cool in warmer temps(for us 2 VERY cold-natured hikers). Here's what we liked about it:They have a small "cabinish" building with washer\dryer and a computer and phonein it. They also have another one with a table and small kitchen in it. Theresupply cabin has a fridge and freezer with pizza and other frozen stuff in itthat you can cook in the kitchen. What I liked the most is that they worked onthe honor system. They have envelopes in the resupply cabin, and you keep trackof what you need, and before you leave, you just put what you owe in theenvelope and drop it in a box.I appreciated that type of communal trust, and although there will be the one ortwo that take advantage of it, I think it is very cool system. The cabin we slept in was really fun too. It has a porch and the loft we sleptin had a big wooden ladder you climbed to get up into it. There is another small building with an indoor and covered outdoor shower. Andthey had a privy, which was built just like the ones on the trail for everyoneto use. I liked the concept they were working from, and Curtis told me later today hehad built it all himself, and wants to put heat in the cabin at some point. We saw Hartley Houndog last nite too, and in passing, he asked us if we had paidfor our spaces yet, and we said no, we still needed to resupply. Then he goes,"Don't pay for your spaces, I've taken care of both of yours, and thank you somuch for the had warmers, you have no idea how much that helped me." WOW!! I was stunned that someone we just met would do something like this! THANKS!! We got everything done, and at 3:30 Maria (Curtis' wife and VERY nice woman with2 adorable children) took us to Newport, TN where she had dropped off the otherhikers the day before @ a Motel 6.I am currently typing this from my warm room, and my body is coming down fromits adrenalin high from yesterday. I am hurting now! LOL (as well I should be) We realized we just hiked 28.3 miles in 2 days, which is only 2.2 miles lessthan the distance from Springer to Neel's Gap, and that took us 5 days! LOL Trail legs are definitely kicking in.As we reflected on those last 2 days, we recognized how lucky we were to even beable to physically handle that kind of mileage without injuring ourselves,especially in those conditions.Once we got settled in, we got a huge meal, walked to Wal-Mart to get a fewthings we still needed. Oh, on that note, I'm passing on the advice I got froma friend on my hammocking forum. Apparently in the baby aisle, you can find adiaper rash cream literally called Butt Paste (hilarious huh?). Word has itthis stuff is great for healing chaffing, so I picked some up.We exploded our packs, I took a hot shower, we cranked the heater up to 77degrees, and we both layed in our beds like zombies and watched a Friendsmarathon on t.v. We have decided to hike back out on Thursday, and really give our bodies sometime to heal (our feet are pretty sore and beat up too). I am super excitedbecause Rachael is coming to visit me in Hot Springs. Only for a few days, butI'm thrilled about it, and it's our next stop.So how did my vapor barriers work on my feet? Awesome...till the bags ripped. I was using newspaper bags, which as we all know are very thin. My feetwere toasty warm, and all of a sudden (when I had stepped into a deep coldpuddle) I felt a wash of ice cold water. I kind of figured I'd ripped the bagat that point. I want to experiment more with vapor barrier techniques.I also want to praise my Frogg Togg rain gear. They blocked the wind in thoseconditions, and the wetness of me and my garments was due to sweating, notbecause they leaked. I've even washed them (not on delicate like the directionssay) AND dried them in a dryer, and they are still performing. I do have a seamcoming undone, but I fully expected to need to replace them at some point. I'lljust sew the seam back up.Best thing out of all of this is we are done with the GSMNP. We faced ourdeepest fears in it, mother nature showed us her fury, and although beautiful, Ithink it would be best appreciated in July! LOLAs for Sailor (who we thought was 1 day behind us), his sister signed my bookand told me as of Monday, he was still in Gatlinburg waiting out the weather. Smart smart man. LOLWe are still worried about Gadget and Scribe, who last we heard were at Peck'sCorner Shelter on Sunday. I so hope they are ok. Persistent text messaged themand let them know where we were and until when. I'll be relieved to hear oftheir whereabouts (hopefuly out of the Smokys). I need some rest now. More gear info in tomorrow's entry. It has been a wildride, and it will take me some time to process it all I think. By the way, the AT follows the NC\TN stateline thru the Smoky's and all the wayto Virginia. I was just putting NC on my locations, but I was in both stateseveryday. When we get to Virginia, we will have completed 2 more states!Bonus!!~Certain