Day 25 – Musicians on the Trail

The freezing fog overnight made for some stunning wintery hiking. Every tree and bush was outlined in hoar frost, and while it was cold weather for hiking, I stopped plenty of times to take pictures. It’s not every day you see such a unique phenomenon.

I should start by saying Sammy (Tour Guide) is a real one, and he let me siphon some of his fuel for my stove since mine seems to have leaked away over the last few days without me noticing. Thanks to him I was able to have a hot breakfast which motivated me out onto the trail by 8am.

I’m very grateful to my past self again for investing in the all-in-one stuff sack for my hammock, which makes tearing down in the morning super fast. My biggest slow down of the morning was because my straps were frozen to the bark of the tree! I felt so bad, but some bark peeled away as I was taking them down.

Despite the light rain from literally camping in a cloud last night, my set up kept me warm and dry, especially thanks to my poncho acting as a door on my rain fly to keep the wet out. It was nice to sleep in my hammock again, and I feel like I confirmed that sleeping with my feet elevated helps my feet feel fresh in the morning.

Being one of the first ones out of camp this morning, I had the trail mostly to myself, but encountered a father-son hiking duo from Ohio along the way, so I got to hike with them for a short time which was nice. It’s always a back and forth mentally in the mornings for what I favor: hiking alone or hiking alongside someone else to have someone to talk to.

At almost the halfway point for the day, I stopped at a shelter for a snack and a stretch and was passed by some guys with really odd looking gear. They explained that they were musicians, and they were carrying a keyboard in one backpack, which explained the weird shape! They had parked their car about 5 miles down the trail and spent the night at the shelter with plans to go up to Rocky Top today and play some music together. Rocky Top was in a few more miles, but they weren’t too sure if it would be worth it because while the forecast called for sun later in the day, it had been nothing but fog all morning.

After my lunch break, I passed by the musicians’ packs at a trail crossing. The musicians were nowhere to be seen, but I figured they probably took a bathroom break and I kept going. A little while later up the trail, there they were again! They were less than a mile to the top of Rocky Top where there was theoretically a viewpoint, but they were hanging out on the side of the trail waiting for hikers to come down to tell them if it was worth it since it was still super foggy and so cold they said their fingers were frozen and they wouldn’t be able to play their keyboard anyway.

We chatted about their music, carnivore diets (their food for their camping trip was 48 hard boiled eggs…), and my hiking SOS incident for about 30min before they decided to head back to their packs and drive to Kuwohi (Clingman’s Dome) for a sunset view there. Of course, after they finally decided to reverse course, about 30min later I made it to the top just as the clouds were clearing!

I felt so bad that they gave up right when the clouds finally decided to move on. I got to enjoy more snacks at the view and see the frosty trees on the surrounding mountains, but I’m sure it would have been fun to have some freshly made music accompanying the view too.

The guys are in a band called Sneezy, and I definitely want to follow up when I have internet to listen to their music and follow them on social. Maybe they’ll even see this post and see the picture I got at the top!

The encounter with the musicians (and giving them their trail names Pink Meat and Froggers) was definitely the highlight of my day, as was the sun finally coming out and showing off the frosted trees even more.

Once the sun started shining, the frost started falling off the trees like snow. A very unique weather day on the trail, for sure!

The climb to the shelter for camp was no joke, and I devoured some ramen and tuna before setting up for the night in my hammock again. The shelter filled up with the same group as the night before, who were less rowdy tonight. I think it was too cold for them to feel like partying. It’s supposed to get below freezing again tonight, but I have high hopes that I’ll be warm and cozy in my hammock.

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek’s ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!

To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.