Start point: State Line Branch
End point: Max Patch Summit
miles hiked: 14.7
Slept very well. Didn't even put my rain fly on my tent so I could fall asleep looking at the stars, there were some lightning bugs out too. Nice morn, when I woke up there wasn't even much of a chill that you normally get in the mornings. It was only a short hike to Standing Bear Farms Hostel where I stopped to get some fuel for my alcohol stove. I forgot to mention about how much my appetite increased in the smoky mountains. I got so hungry... When I went to town back in Gatlinburg I bought so much food I was worried about straps breaking on my pack, it weighed so much. I didn't mind the weight though, it hurt my shoulders sometimes but when I get hungry I can eat as much as I want. Standing Bear Farms is really a cool spot, probably should have stayed there but was trying to save money. Fan into Freebird, Anything, and Symphony, who I had all met before. After I left there it got hot! That did not make the next part very easy, which went from 1800 elev to 4263 in less than 5 miles. Stopped at Groundhog Creek Shelter for lunch. Freebird showed up, we've been passing each other all day and talking abit. He is from Las Vegas. Nice guy, we'll prob end up hiking together abit, kind of on the same pace. We talked about trying to make it to Max Patch summit to tent, which was 7 mi away. Oh my god, those hills inbetween Brown Gap and Max Patch Rd killed me. There must have been at least 5 ups and downs that were huge. At one point I came over the top of one, and saw another I was about to have to climb and yelled "you gotta be kidding me!". Its one of those times 3 miles feels like 6. When I finally got to Max Patch Rd it was getting dark so I hiked up to the summit in the dark with my headlamp on. Came up on a fire at the summit and said "hey thanks for keeping the fire going for me!". Someone said "heres a wedding crasher". A couple had just gotten married, they did the ceremony on the summit right before sunset. They and all their friends were celebrating and hanging out when I got there and they gave me a beer and made me feel welcome. Had a couple pieces of cookie cake and a carrotcake cupcake, yum! Had a wonderful time getting to know Rob and Ellie's (the newlyweds) and all their friends, all avid kayakers from Ashville, NC and the surrounding area. Hung out with them late into the night and then set up my tent, again with no rain fly for another starry night. Saw a shooting star at one point before I went to sleep.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment