Great Smoky Mountain National Park

I've neglected this blog. My mind hasn't really been on the trail which as far as I'm concerned isn't a bad thing. I'm trying to move on to the next fun thing (without forgetting the best of the AT). So here is the GSMNP portion of the AT. Currently I'm not worried about it because I need to get the rest of the 800 miles of trail the park has to offer.

Coming from the south you have to cross Fontana Dam to access the park.

Looking down on Fontana Lake

A glimpse of trail through the park.

I believe this is Rocky Top if I remember right. But apparently not the Rocky Top from the song.

Jon hanging out

I'll never forget the smell of fir and pines on Clingman's Dome.

View from Charlie's Bunyon.

I'll try to put up my NC pictures soon. Then its just GA after that.

north of GSMNP to Hot Springs

I've been slacking on this. I guess since I'm getting to the end of my pictures pretty soon. And I really don't think about the trail that much anymore.

Max Patch Bald, NC.

Jon and I met up with Mullet on our last night in GSMNP. I remember stopping early that day and collecting a bunch of firewood so we could have a fire that night for when people started showing up. I know how nice it is to come in out of the rain to a warm fire and I like to stop early. It ended up being a great group that night.
We hit Max Patch on a rainy day and somehow it stopped raining right before we got there and started up again right after we cleared the bald. Unfortunately for Mullet he stopped to do dishes and missed out on the clear moment.
I like overcast mornings when you're high enough to be below the clouds and above the fog.

Mullet relaxing and eating with us at a semi-crowded campsite.

Nice shoes, piano-boy.

Hot Springs, NC is a sweet little town on the trail. We ran into Jerry at the Dollar General and he suggested we stay at Elmer's place. It was definitely a highlight of the trail. Its a sweet old b&b with lots of music history. The food there is all vegetarian and homegrown on the all organic farm nearby. Plus one of the best breakfasts on the trail. Which is saying a lot because there are tons of amazing places to get breakfast along the way.

Like I said Elmer's place has a rich history in folk music and they have an entire music room set aside. After dinner Mullet played piano and sang a bit. Here is Stunned Mullet, Intents, and Jon hanging out in the cold room.

Wren tried to teach Mullet a Laura Gibson song. Then they tried to figure out some folk song from one of the books.

Jon outside of the Sunnybank Inn (aka Elmer's place). They had a great library here and awesome atmosphere. I met a lot of good friends in Hot Springs. I met Honey Do at the Inn and met Stunned Mullet in the laundromat. Little did I know how good of friends they'd become.

Rock cairns along the river leaving Hot Springs.

Me looking back on the town.

Jon found cigarettes. Mullet was self concious about the shoes he bought at the Dollar General.

The Nelson's house for some of the best trail magic in the south. Waffles, pork stew, brownie fudge sundaes, banana splits, root beer floats, etc... best thing to find in the morning after a crummy breakfast of poptarts.

Smokies in the next entry.

TN

As I mentioned in my last update I lost a bunch of TN pictures. Here are a few of what I have between Hot Springs NC and Erwin tn

Big Bald

Big Bald

Jon on BB

Mullet on Big Bald

This is the only picture of the snow that didn't disappear. We took a couple days off when we hit Erwin. I absolutely hated it. I couldn't wait to get back on the trail. And even though I knew there was a winter storm coming I still had to get back on the trail. I also decided to switch out my nice superwarm 20* bag for a 40*. The first night back on the trail there was 6 inches of snow by the time we got to the shelter. TN shelters blow ass. So it snowed all night IN the shelter. I woke up in the middle of the night soaking wet. All the snow melted right through my down bag and if you know anything about down you know it does NOT insulate when wet. So I was pretty much screwed. The next day we had a lot more snow on the trail. I had no choice, but try and make it to the next hostel about 8 miles north. Most people decided to wait out the day inside the shelter. Jon and I broke trail and hiked north. The drifts were above my knee and the wind made it snow up hill. I hate wind. My gloves suck so when my hands when numb and started swelling I put on some wool socks. Jon couldn't see the trail so I had to break trail the entire day. Looking for white blazes in the winter is fun.
I love hiking in the snow, but I prefer to stick to a 2 or 3 mile hike where I can go home to some hot cocoa and maybe some irish whiskey.
The snow storm jammed things up and stuck a lot of people in the hostels so it was pretty cool because it was a good way to meet a lot of cool people and get to know the people you already met.

This is Connie and her fat cat. She runs the Greasy Creek Friendly and thats where we stayed to warm up and dry out. Her neighbor Bill is some crazy old man. He starts his lawn mower up at 4 am near the bunk house and bangs on metal car jacks. He screams and hollers and plays the radio loudly to scare the hikers away. He's wild. He also puts up signs on the trail saying that Greasy Creek is closed all the time. He's a bitter old man, but provides a lot of entertainment. I know it sounds miserable, but you can't really hear his nonsense unless you're looking for it. He seems pretty harmless and Connie's place is a great stop along the trail.

Southern VA

Well here are the rest of my VA pictures. For some reason my camera messed up and I lost almost all my pictures between Erwin TN and The Grayson Highlands. I'm bummed mainly because of the friends I don't have pictures of because that area of the trail is pretty much where I live so that parts not a big deal.

Lops in the Grayson Highlands

CRS with some of the wild ponies.

Cooling my feet off at the Dismal Falls. This ended up being a really eventful day. The falls were great and I spent an hour or two there all alone. Then I ran into Baltimore Andy for the first time in about 500 miles. I saw the first rattlesnake of the season and came across a pack of wild boars. Then we night hiked and got good views of controlled burning across the ridge.

Log entry in at the Waipiti shelter. You may have heard about this in the Washington Post or on Dateline. Sad story.

Andy taking in the view. Virginia farmland looks like a big green quilt spread out across the land.

I guess thats all for now. TN/NC next time I get around to updating.