Cosby Knob Shelter to Waterville School Road (I40), Northbound

Woke up to the sun rising at Cosby Knob.

May 14, 2013
10.4 miles
7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

It’s funny that we now consider 10 miles a short day.  Considering that back in Georgia it took most of the day for us to cover 8 or 9 miles, it is amazing that we can now do 10 miles by early afternoon. 

The trail was first uphill until we got to the side trail to the Mt. Cammerer Fire Tower, then downhill all the way. There were several trees down on the trail, one that we had to literally crawl under.



Yep, we walked that 31.4 miles from Newfound Gap.

When we reached Davenport Gap we had a most lovely site awaiting us – a TRAIL ANGEL!  Woo hoo! This guy was from Ohio and he does trail magic full time on 4 different trails.  He had a table set up with Famous Amos chocolate chips cookies and a bag full of different kinds of chips, and a cooler full of sodas.  My, my, did that ever taste good and was the perfect reward for making it through the Smokies.  He even had camping chairs for us to sit in.  Firemaker – I mean two-point-oh – a guy named Mark, Frizz and us were there about the same time and we all enjoyed a little break before heading on up the next mountain toward I40 and Standing Bear Hostel.  Us to our car and them to stay at the hostel for the night. 

The distance from Davenport Gap to Waterville School Road is 2.4 miles.  Anything can happen in 2.4 miles in the mountains.  We thought we were home free but, low-and-behold, when the walking was good and level, a root got in Wait-up's way and he went down - HARD!  He actually turned a flip right there on the trail.  Once a 35 pound backpack gets going in one direction, it keeps going.  His head hit the ground and his hand came down on a rock as he tried to break his fall.  Nothing was broken though, so he got up and we went on down the trail.  Too close to the end to stop now. 

We felt quite an accomplishment to have finished the Smokies finally after first planning to do them back last July when the heat wave came through and knocked us out of it. We were happy to be back to our car and on the way to Knoxville for the night to stay with our daughter and son-in-law for a short rest.

Wait-up surveying the goods at the Trail Angel table.

Frizz, Catch-up, Wait-up, and Two-point-oh enjoying trail magic.

The AT passes under I40.

Max Patch to Waterville School Road – Southbound

March 15, 2013
Max Patch to Waterville School Road – Southbound
13.6 miles, 8 hours

Standing Bear Hostel

This morning we left the Smoky Mountain Best Western Hotel in Waynesville, NC to drive to the Standing Bear Hostel at Waterville School Road.  Curtis has agreed to shuttle us up to Max Patch where we will begin our hike southward back to his hostel where we have left the car. At Standing Bear, I understand they have a bunkhouse, a private cabin and tent sites. 

We arrived at Standing Bear Hostel just before 8:00 a.m. where we met Pilgrim who is working for stay at the hostel.  As it turned out, Pilgrim and his hiking buddy, Solo, joined us on the drive up to Max Patch.  They both commented later how Curtis was rude to us when he was collecting our money for the shuttle drive.  Evidently, it bothered them more than it did us. 

 At 9:00 a.m. we climbed to the summit of Max Patch.  Pilgrim and Solo headed north and we headed south.  We saw them several more times throughout our next few days and got to spend time with them at a hostel in Hot Springs. 

Looking up to the top of Max Patch

The trail in this section (Southbound) drops 1530 feet into Deep Gap, then climbs 1413 feet to Snowbird Mountain before descending 2463 feet again to Waterville School Road.  It sounds like we did more downhills than uphills, but the uphills we did were pretty hard for us, it being our first day back on the trail.  The bad thing about section hiking is that you have to start over on your conditioning each time you go out.  Needless to say, I was tired by the end of 8 hours.

Looking down from Max Patch
 



The tower at the top of Snowbird Mountain

 

The trail descends to Waterville School Road just south of the Hostel.  It was a short walk up the gravel road to get to our car at the hostel, and we took off to drive up to Hot Springs to spend the night before heading out from there.

The monument at the entrance of Hot Springs
 

On the drive to Hot Springs though, a wave of nausea hit me like I have never had before.  It felt like a severe case of motion sickness, although I have never had car sickness before.  We had to stop the car and let me get some fresh air.  Then I was hit with a fit needing to find a bathroom very quickly.  Luckily we had stopped right at the Tennessee State Line at the State Line Grill and I was able to use their facilities. 

We finally got back on the road and made it to Hot Springs.  Our first stop, of course was the Smoky Mountain Diner for a hamburger.  Wait-up ordered the 8 ounce burger and I ordered a regular, since I was not sure I would keep it down.  It was good food.  The sweet potato fries were awesome!  Then we checked into the Laughing Heart Hostel and were met by the manager, Chuck Norris himself.  We stayed in one of their several private rooms.  They have a couple of bunkrooms as well, three bathrooms, complimentary coffee, and a fully equipped kitchen and TV room for the quests to use.



The Hostel at Laughing Heart Lodge is located right at the foot of the AT as it comes down the mountain into Hot Springs.  It is the first building you will see on the left side of the trail. From the hostel, you can walk down a set of steps to street level to the little town of Hot Springs.  Most of the town can be found in a two-block area.  Some of the most popular places are the Smoky Mountain Diner, Elmer’s Sunnybank Inn, and the Bluff Mountain Outfitters.  The Hostel at Laughing Heart Lodge will soon become a very popular place because of its location and the hospitality you will find there.  It is a new facility, having only one season under its belt.  It opened for business one year ago on March 23, 2012.  It a beautiful piece of property that includes the lodge, a chapel building, and the hostel.  The lodge was formerly a Jesuit monastery and has been beautifully remodeled into a modern-day place of lodging, retreats, and healing.  And indeed, it was a place of healing for me.  During the night, I was again hit with a bad case of various stomach maladies and had to take the next day off from hiking to recover.  I can’t say enough good things about the hostel at Laughing Heart Lodge, you will have to find out for yourself or visit their webpage at http://www.laughingheartlodge.com/index.php/accommodations/hostel/

Note about Elmer's - I called from the top of Snowbird mountain to book a room there for the night, but found out that they charge more for section hikers than for thru-hikers, so I opted to stay at Laughing Heart.  However, I have read about Elmer's on other blogs and know that it is a very nice place--a historic house with excellent meals and the host has been very gracious to hikers for many years.  His hospitality is appreciated by the thru-hikers.

Elmer's Sunnybank Inn
 

The Smoky Mountain Diner in Hot Springs,
wonderful food and good service