Max Patch to Garenflo Gap – Northbound

March 17, 2013
Max Patch to Garenflo Gap – Northbound
14 miles, 9 hours
Moderate

Tigger took this picture of us
at the top of Max Patch

Tigger is hiking with us today, Yay!  Chuck shuttled us out to Max Patch to head north to Garenflo Gap. I would say it was a moderate day today, rising from a low of 3550 to the top of Bluff Mountain at 4686 then back down to Garenflo at 2500. 

It was great fun having another woman to hike with for a change.  Wait-up went on ahead and left us to talk all we wanted to on the trail.  I guess he enjoyed it too, walking at his own pace instead of waiting on Catch-up at the top of every incline.

Wait-up and Catch-up at the top of Max Patch.
 

Along the way, we met Steven, who had twisted his ankle while sliding down an icy patch in the Smokies.  He said he slipped about 30 feet before he was able to stop.  We heard some gruesome stories from several hikers who had come through the Smokies in February with about three feet of snow on the ground.  Steven would not agree to accept a ride at Garenflo with us nor to let Wait-up carry his pack, but insisted on hiking the entire distance to Hot Springs with his pack.   He made it too after dark that night.  Those thru-hikers are some tuff dudes!

Tigger and Catch-up at the top
of Max Patch

As usual, before the end of the hike Tigger and I started dreaming about a burger, so when Chuck picked us up we headed to the diner.  Unfortunately, the diner closes at 4:00 on Sundays, so we went to the Spring Creek Tavern.  They have a good hamburger too and, I understand, they have a live band on many evenings. 

We had another good night’s sleep in the private room at Laughing Heart.

Wait-up at the top of Bluff Mountain.
 

REST AND RECOVERY DAY IN HOT SPRINGS

March 16, 2013
REST AND RECOVERY DAY
0 Miles

A day off from hiking after only one day of hiking is unusual, I know!  It was not by choice, believe me.  I really didn’t want to do it, but was afraid to take a chance on my symptoms returning while out in the woods, so here we are in Hot Springs for the day.  We couldn’t have landed at a better place for this to happen.  We spent the day walking around the nice little town, visiting a few shops and the diner again, getting to know Chuck Norris and his wife Tigger, visiting with other hikers, and resting.   Solo and Pilgrim are also taking a rest day.  They are an unlikely pair, Solo being from Elijay, GA and Pilgrim from Massachusetts.  It was a good day, and all my symptoms were gone by the end of it.  Ready to get back on the trail tomorrow.

The white blazes of the AT are right in the sidewalk.
 

On the streets of Hot Springs
 

Hot Springs main street
 

Laughing Heart Hostel
 

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
 

NORTH CAROLINA/TENNESSEE BORDER

Well!  We finally made it to the AT again!  Long time since we planned to go to the GSMNP last July.  This time we decided to skip the SMNP and begin our hike north of it (for several reasons). 

With my 60th birthday coming up, I had a crazy hankering to spend it on the AT.  So on Thursday, March 14, we drove north to Waynesville, NC to spend the night before beginning our hike the next day.

We have been in training for 8 weeks before this hike, using our wonderful "walking around the soccer field, up and down the bleachers, up and down the hill from the creek" method.  We will see if it keeps us from getting sore this time. 

We will be "slackpacking" most of this trip.  That means we will be spending the night at various hostels along the way and taking only a daypack with us out on the trail each day.  There is only one section that is too long without road access to allow us to do this.  So we will have one night in the tent on the trail, not even at a shelter.

Keep reading for a day by day progress report of our hike. 

TRAINING AND ITINERARY FOR GSMNP

June 16, 2012

Today we hiked 9 miles up and down the biggest hill we could find in Pace, Florida with our loaded packs.  In two weeks we will be leaving to conquer the Great Smoky Mountain National Park section of the Appalachian Trail.  For five weeks we have been walking around the soccer field and going up and down the bleachers building up to 1000 reps on the bleachers and 6 miles total walking, 3 times a week. Our plans included 3 additional weeks of training before we take off, but our schedule has changed and we will be starting our journey on July 1.

The good news for us is that our packs are much lighter now than they have been in the past.  We have traded in our No Limit sleeping bags weighing 5.25 pounds for military patrol bags weighing 2.6 pounds each. Our new JetBoil stove and smaller fuel canister weighs 1.5 pounds compared to 3 lbs for the old Coleman single-burner propane stove and fuel. We will be carrying no tent because in the park we are required to stay in the shelters.  Plus, with the amount of rain we are experiencing right now, we will be able to use our Katadyn water filter instead of carrying so much water in our camel backs.

We have called the National Park Service to register for shelters in the park.  Our itinerary had to change because they have closed the Cosby Knob Shelter due to bear activity. This will make for longer days for us, oh well!
  http://www.wate.com/story/18659760/black-bear-activity-closes-some-areas-in-great-smokies

We had planned to take day four  off in the middle of our hike, but when we called to register for the shelters, the park ranger could not fit us in to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter on day five so we had to register for day four at the shelter and forget a day off.

Here is our projected itinerary (subject to change).  We have decided to hike south-bound on the first leg because the the incline going up Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the AT, doesn't seem to be as bad as north-bound. We have called the park service office and registered for the shelters.

Travel Day  - Drive from home to Fontana Dam. Leave the car at the dam and have Donna shuttle us up to Cherokee or Gatlinburg to spend the night.

Day One - Newfound Gap to Silers Bald Shelter, 12.5 miles
Day Two -  Silers Bald Shelter to Russell Field Shelter, 14.7 miles
Day Three - Russell Field Shelter to Fontana Dam, 13.5 miles

Drive the car up to Gatlinburg, stay at Carr's Northside Cottages and Motel (good reviews on Trip Advisor). 

Day Four - Suttle to Newfound Gap, hike northbound to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, 15.6 miles
Day Five - Tri-Corner Knob Shelter to Davenport Gap, 15.7
Shuttle back to Gatlinburg to our car and spend another night at Carr's before heading home the next morning.

Thes last two days will be the longest days we have done so far, but we have read that this section is not too hard and many people get their fist 20 mile days here. 

P.S.  We did not go to the GSMNP when we expected to because of the Heat Advisory in that area which began the weekend that we were planning to drive up to start our hike on July 1.  It is at least 10 degrees hotter there than the average temperatures.   

Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam

APRIL 20, 2012

Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam - Moderate

15.4 miles in 7.5 hours

The Cabin in the Woods, Stecoah Gap

Today we slackpacked.  Whoo – What a relief!  We woke up bright and early in the beautiful Cabin in the Woods, made our breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, packed up our lunch, water and a few snacks and called for a ride.  Phil, Donna's husband, had us up to Stecoah Gap in ten minutes.  We started our hike at 8:20.  As was to be expected, it was a steep climb out of the gap.  But without our backpacks it was an enjoyable hike and a welcome break.

The Cabin in the Woods,  back porch with a view of the mountainside.

The Cabin in the Woods, Stecoah Gap

By 9:30 we were at the Brown Fork Gap Shelter but since it was off the trail, decided not to go in to see it.  We would have seen some of our comrads there; a few who had made this shelter their goal the day before. A few had stopped at Locust Cove Gap.   So, we were without our usual company today and we missed the camaraderie, but did meet another young man today who was thru-hiking and trying to be the first to make it to Mount Katahdin wearing the skele-toes.  We are interested to hear if he made it all the way, since they did not look too stable to us.

At Cody Gap we needed water, but found that the water hole was off the trail down a steep bank, so decided to take our chances and walk on, hoping to find water on the trail.  We did find a very good water stream right before Yellow Creek Gap. 

Can you see Fontana Lake down there?

At 12:00 we stopped for lunch at Yellow Creek Gap, SR 1242.  We had hiked 7.6 miles in 3.5 hours.

The remainder of the day was up and down (literally), but nothing compared to the day before.  The ups were steep but not too high, and the downs were not too bad.  Many welcome gaps of rolling ridge-walking.  Some spots were rocky, some spots were muddy and slippery.  

See Fontana Lake through the trees?

We first spotted Fontana Lake from the top of the mountain long before we got to it.  It was a welcome sight, but we didn’t know at the time that it would be a long time before we actually got to it.  It was a long descent into the valley.  We finally came to NC Highway 28 right before the Dam Marina.  We still had 1.4 miles to go over a mountain to get to the dam and the Visitor’s Center.  After a bathroom break at the marina, we began climbing again to cross over to the Fontana Dam.  We were tired and ready for it to be over; therefore did not welcome the climb that was ahead of us.  Putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, we finally made it to the Fontana Dam at 4:00. 

Hwy 28 goes through Fontana Village.

We wanted to see the “Fontana Hilton” shelter, so made ourselves trek down the hill for a glance.  It indeed was the largest shelter we had seen.  It was two levels on each side of a center breezeway; built to shelter 24 people.  The showers and water fountains that were advertised in our 2011 Thru-Hiker’s Companion though were not in service and looked like they had not seen water in awhile.  There were showers, though, at the Visitor’s Center, but we didn’t have a towel or soap with us, so we were unable to use them.

Our vehicle parked in the Visitor’s Center parking lot was a welcome sight. The first thing we did was take off our boots for more comfortable shoes and then went to the soda machine for a cold drink.  Unfortunately, my camera quit working before we got to the dam and we could not take pictures to prove that we had made it—but I promise you that we did!! 

91 miles in 8 days.    

Nantahala Outdoor Center to Stecoah Gap

APRIL 19, 2012
Nantahala Outdoor Center to Stecoah Gap  - Strenuous
13.6 miles in 10 hours

River's End Restaurant at NOC.

We visited River’s End Restaurant again for breakfast before setting out on the trail at 9:00 a.m.  This section of the trail was everything we heard it would be – very steep and a long uphill climb.  Eight miles of elevation climbing from 1723’ to 5062’ at Cheoah Bald.  It was definitely the most strenuous day we have had on this section.  We reached Cheoah Bald at 3:00 p.m.  It was a beautiful view from the top of Cheoah Bald.

A view of River's End Restuarant from across Nantahala River.

Nantahala River at NOC

Nantahala River at NOC