Week 21

Week 21 Monday- Friday I had a dream last night that I was ascending toward the summit of my last climb of this hike. I walked toward the bronze plaque that sits on the top of Springer Mountain, and when I got there, I turned around and looked North. As I gazed off into the 2,189M distance, this powerful feeling came over my entire body. I can only describe it as an earth shattering wave of energy that moved through my entire being like osmosis. I lost it! Emotion beyond anything I have ever felt came pouring out of me. I was crying, screaming, and laughing all at the same time and then.... well, I woke up, slightly disoriented, in my tent. I guess as a thru hiker you know the end is near when you start having the "I'm finished!" dreams. I hope the real moment is as epic as the one I experience in my slumber. My week started out with the most wonderful rendezvous with Wes in Hot Springs, NC.

I was so overjoyed to see him, I don't think I let go of his hand the whole first hour we were together. He had reserved us a hotel room at a very swanky Inn called the Iron Horse. It was absolutely fabulous. The Inn had a wonderful old Southern ambiance to it. The hallways were super wide and all the shiplap walls and wooden floors looked as though they were built a hundred years ago. There was a wonderful restaurant on the bottom floor where we had a delicious steak dinner, and then it was onto our room which was equipped with a California king sized bed, adorable old/timey Southern decor, and a jacuzzi garden tub. I was in heaven! 

On Tuesday, we got up early and went to the Smokey Mountain Diner for pancakes and country fried steak. Afterward we hung around town and took care of some chores. My mom had sent an amazing resupply so we did not have to worry about food, but I wrote my blog about last weeks adventures, wrote some emails, did laundry and dried out all of my gear that was still soaked from my 20M swim on Sunday. By the afternoon, we had finished up chores, walked around every part of town we could, and had BBQ lunch at a local restaurant. 

At this point I needed to get on trail so I could get to the next shelter before dark. The minute we started our goodbyes I started bawling. It just came pouring out. I couldn't help it. I miss that man so much. It is like I don't have a piece of myself present when he is not around. I will forever say when asked what the hardest part of the trail was, that it was not being near my husband. He is my rock. He is the best piece of me. He is my everything. I must have kissed his face a 1000 times as he tried to drive out of that parking lot. I even made him stop for one more right before he was putting his foot on the gas to drive away. There was about a 1,500 ft. (2M) climb out of town, and I cried like a siren the whole way up. I was so thankful no one passed me on ascend. They would have thought I was a crazy person the way I was sweatin', and hikin', and cryin' like that, but I made it up and to the shelter as intended. I made myself dinner and went to bed early, still depressed from my parting of ways with my guy. The next day I hit a hard 22M day. It was super hot and humid, but I made it to my mark, Groundhog Creek Shelter. The shelter was right past a beautiful bald called Max Patch. The day was clear so the views there were magnificent. At the shelter, I met four section hikers from Metro Atlanta. 

I was so excited to have company on account of having to camp alone so often as I hike South. We made dinner together and talked about an assortment of things. I also got to play with their dogs, a Golden Retriever, a Chow Mix, and some sort of Spaniel. The next day I made it to Standing Bear Hostel where I bought a shower, did some laundry, and grabbed my resupply that Wes had dropped off there on his way home. The laundromat, by the way, consisted of an old fashioned washboard sitting in a sink next to some dish soap and an old rusty front-loading dryer. It was most definitely my most interesting and exhausting clothes washing experience on trail thus far. 

After my quick "Gym/Tan/Laundry" excursion at Standing Bear, I hiked two more miles and made it to the entry point of The Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Ten feet into the park, I nearly stepped on a Copperhead laying smack dab in the middle of the trail. That guy scared the crap out of me.

He was so well camouflaged with the Autumn leaves surrounding him that my feet came within inches of his body before I noticed he was there. Luckily, I was able to back away in time and throw a few sticks his way until he slithered off the trail. The next 8M were 4,000 ft. of brutal. I felt as if the constant climb would never end, but eventually I made it up to the ridge line and caught my first glimpse out into the Smokeys. 

The landscape was gorgeous and full of rusty brown and yellow foliage scattered across the range. I made it to the shelter I planned on sleeping at around 6PM, but unfortunately it had been temporarily closed due to aggressive bear activity. You are not suppose to sleep anywhere except the shelters in SNP, but I was not going to be able to make it to the next shelter unless I hiked late into the evening, so I broke the rules and stealth camped about 1.5M past the shelter. This was quite he task considering how narrow the ridge line is along pretty much the entire AT. It was a miracle I found a spot only about a mile past the shelter. I met another thru hiker at my stealth spot named Stumbilina. She is a flipflop as well. We hiked out together the following day, but her pace is a bit slower than mine so we did not stay together.

Saturday- Sunday The Smokeys have been a delight to hike through. I have followed the narrow ridge line of the AT through the park and met all kinds of weekenders and section hikers. I have loved all of this human interaction, and the views and the weather have been wonderful as well. 

I was a bit disappointed when I got to the top of Clingman’s Dome, the highest point on the entire AT, and found the observation tower was closed, but the hike from there to Siller’s Bald was wonderful. 

The next day, I hiked 24M down and out of the SNP. On my way out, I stumbled upon a Sobo named Scout and his son. We hiked the last 2M or so together and had a delightful conversation. Scout was an retired attorney from San Diego, CA. He hiked the PCT and had recently co-authored a book about the history of the trail. By the time we got to Fontana Dam, he had invited me out to dinner in the village.

Two of his friends that I had met earlier in the park, Dot and Franky, met us at the visitor’s center, and we took his son’s car to the local grille. Dinner was wonderful. The experience reminded me of that night in Virginia when my soon-to-be tramily took me out to Mexican in Marion after that very first week of being out there. I had never met these Sobos before, but we instantly connected and spent the entire meal laughing and sharing stories about the trail. We were friends. We ended up getting a room at the very fancy Fontana Village Resort. I slept on the floor and had an amazing hot shower. I have a resupply at a hostel about 7M down the trail, so I will be doing a light day from hotel to hostel. I look forward to a second shower and hopefully washing my 4-day dirty clothes.