From the end of Smokies to Sam’s gap

The last days in the Smokies started weirdly with Gatlinburg people sporting city shoes and no water bottle braving the icy slopes toward Charlie’s bunion (one of the jewels of the trail just out of the city). The majority of these people, mostly families, were nice and very curious about what we were doing. Maybe the children will be coming back in a few years with the right shoes? Maybe they will carry the love of nature to the next generation? 

The second part of the Smokies seemed a little less difficult than the first one, even if there were still an impressive amount of downed trees due to the hurricane.

« Charlie ‘s bunion » is worth its reputation with its splendid rock formation colors. I also enjoyed the little extra walk leading to  mount Cammerer and its awesome fire tower.

Standing Bear hostel, judiciously situated just out of the Smokies, was weirdly charming with its eclectic buildings. That made me forgive other more rudimental features of the place, like the absence of real bathrooms and the shabbiness of the resupply.

The next day I walked 10 miles to Brown gap and camped alone in a “food-motivated  bear area”. Everything was fine… I think bears stick to the conventional camping places where they can smell many people cooking. One person just adding boiling water to a bag of food might not be enough to attract them.

At Maxpatch, I met trail angels Hyper Hiker (9 years old future thruhiker), her family and her little dog. It was so great to receive an orange! The views from Maxpatch were impressive. I also met an impressive hiker, March, who is doing the thruhike by herself, at 18. She earned her way by taking a semester off and working 2 jobs for a total of 70 hours a week.

At some point near the end of March, days got a little blurry and blended together. I hiked intermittently with friends Swannie, Hot Sauce and Anker, whom I met much earlier in February. I also met Diesel and Bumblebee, who I had previously encountered at Neel Gap.

When I got to Hot Springs, I took a room at Elmer’s Sunnybank, a unique mid-19th century Victorian house. I appreciated the delicious breakfast at the diner and shopping at the Hillbilly Market that is very appropriately supplied for the specific hikers needs.

When I left Hot Spings, I was facing a long uphill toward Lovers Leap, and it is only at the summit that I realised I had left my hiking poles at the hostel! I coerced two day hikers to bring me down and back by car… Thank you so much, guys!

There was a terrible rainy day up in the Cherookee forest. This forest is not easy: there wasn’t any switchbacks and the hike was pretty steep. Thankfully the Southern cookie lady made a welcome break from the rain, in between two never-ending 3-mile hills , under the storm. We ended up 9 people in the shelter: 7 side by side and 2 under the structure. Clothes did not dry up overnight but thankfully the weather passed from foggy to sunny during the morning and I was treated to the best ridge views of the whole AT up to now.

And now, after a few uneventful hiking days, I am enjoying a few days off near Sam’s gap with my husband and my favorite canine. We have rented that perfect little cabin through Airb&b. The charming owners are treating us like family. We also enjoyed bread, croissants and cookies from our favorite bakery in Durham, Loaf. The owners refused to let us pay when they heard I was walking the AT! People are so generous.

That great relaxation time got precipitated by my big toe nail that decided to leave the hike… I really wanted to show a picture of the toe, but my support team protested! Today I enjoyed slackpacking from Devil Fork to Sam’s gap. Spring flowers were all over the place. Lovely.

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