Even more Pictures

So I've yet to figure out how to rotate pictures - but these are some horizontal ones I was able to find...


A half-day winter scene in the Smokies. The sun is shining, though, for a pleasant change. And it continued to shine nearly ten days straight after this hour!

Sunset on Max's Patch. It's pretty, huh? One really good thing about balds is the views they provide. Once the leaves grow on the trees for the year, I think out visibility will dramatically decrease again. BUT, the leaves will shade us from the powerful sun...

This is the trail magic scene just below max's patch (clearly were not on the bald because there are plenty of trees). The guy on the far left (cheeseburger, I think) is cooking for us, and the guy next to him is also a trail angel. Most everyone else besides 2 or 3 others are hikers...although these trail angels did thru-hike last year, so technically, they are hikers too. just no current ones.

Some current thru-hikers, just in case you're curious what thru-hikers look like. Megan and Scooner (both standing) are hiking together and Paul and his mom, Martha, (sitting on the log) are also hiking together.
more pretty flowers using my very neato macro feature...

more pictures on the at...

This is the little oasis of Standing Bear Farm.  It has everything we could ever want without ever having to step a foot into town...but I do like towns.  

We are all enjoying the wondrous sunset on Max's Patch...and each other's company, it looks like.

The mini tent-city on Max's Patch.  Look at the fly in the center of the picture...  I probably had 10 swarming around my head that day at any given moment.  Those little sucker's bite, too.  they bite hard enough to draw blood.  And it hurts.  badly.  

We've more or less been hiking on the Tennessee/North Carolina border for a couple weeks now.  At nearly every road crossing, I've seen a Welcome sign to either one of these states.

A double decker shelter.  I don't recall the name of this one - they all have special names.  This one didn't have a broom.  someone probably took it home as a souvinere (I can't spell tonight...how do you spell this word???  My bedtime's at dark, and it's nearly midnight now, so i'm a bit loop.).  Anyway, the floors were covered in dust and dirt.  but were used to that, i guess.  We met Wolf Taffy this evening, and he had to help the emt people evacuate an older man off the mountain after his heart decided to not work probperly.  not so good.  but the man's ok.

A few photos

These are a few photos.  I'm still trying to figure out how to upload these things. 

This is my lovely home.  26 ounces.  Lots of space.  It took me about a week to learn how to properly set it up - and even still, there's always more to learn, right?  There were about 9 of us tenting up on Max's Patch that night to a beautiful sunset...and just down the hill was a trail magic crew serving up yummy food and drinks for us.  perfect! 

I love flowers.  There will be more pictures of them on my camera.  In fact, I've discovered I not only have a 'macro' feature on my camera, but a 'super macro' feature - meaning I might be able to take pictures of amoebas.

Some strange weather/pollution causing these streaky rays in the sky on top of Big Bald.

A typical shelter scene at dawn, although there were a few more people than normal at this one.  I think 25 people ended up sleeping there that night.  The shelter itself only holds eight.  The next night, there were only six of us.
Cool formations just after Newfound Gap in the Smokies.  It seems as though the mist/fog continuously froze on the twiggies through the night as the mighty wind blew.  do you know what this is???

More to come...

Night-time Noises

We've crossed the 300 mile barrier! In fact, Erwin, Tennessee is 339 miles from Springer. It's amazing how time flies when you are having fun! And one thing I will not complain about is that out of the last ten or so days, only one has seen rain...nice change. Not a cloud in the sky today! Or yesterday. or the day before that. or before that. maybe the day before that. dun-dun-duuuuhhh...but the forecast does call for scattered thunderstorms the next week-ish.

I was sick for about 9 days. I had convinced myself it was just allergies, but now I think it was a minor cold floatin' around the trail. Just nasal issues. No sore throat. Some coughing, though, especially in the wee hours of the night - not so good in close shelter or hostel quarters, but what are you gonna do??? People snore all night. So I was just contributing my part to the unpleasant nighttime noises.

But you know what??? I've discovered if enough people are snoring, the different snores sometimes create a pattern, so you can make yourself a snoring song and eventually dose off to a pleasant sleep. There are just so many different types of snores I never even knew existed!

This other guy I met a while back (Dr. Doom) says he intentionally, consciously, knowingly snores louder than the rest and falls asleep faster and sounder than ever before.
hmmmm....

enough about snoring.

So you wanna hear some more cool cheesy trailnames like my own? Here's a list of people I've met. ready...set...go!!!

Turtle, Jazzman, K-Bar, Soundtrack, Blink, Rugged Shark, Highlander, Matchstick, Spoonman, Pineapple, Rainman, Ahab, Nature, Huckleberry Finnegan, Laughing Owl, One Step, Stats, Pellet, Linus Cloudbuster, Scooner, Coyote, Sodfather, Ninja, Wolf Taffy, Kazoo, SpamCan, Ziggy, Shameless Blue Blazer, Truckin, Toothferry, Spring Peeper, Tree Beard, Dartanium, Caveman, Z, Kuru, Zippedy Doo Da, Bones, Trigger, Pink Blaze Nazi, Mr. Pink, Saint Patty, Two Pack, Hobbit, Knickers, Red Tree, Western, Go Gator, Baby Gator, Leon, Guitar Dan, Indiana Jane, Featherfoot, Cruiser Don, Hot Feet, Canoe, Yak, Stud, Leg Stretcher, Up and Adam, Scout, Shorty, Dr. Evil and there's even more that don't have names yet...

I get to go to Asheville this afternoon! My papa is coming for the night from ATL and hangin' out with me. It'll be way fun. And he has a computer and adapter for my camera card (I think)...so I'll be able to post some photos finally! I've got lots of good ones...

until then...

And if your in the south, I hope you're enjoying the beautiful weather!

Veggies in my tummy tonight

Stephanie decided to stay in Hot Springs one more day. The glorious sunnybank inn - owned by Mr. Elmer (not the glue guy) - where she is has convinced her one more day off rest/healing is best. Hopefully her feet won't be so sore tomorrow. Plus, there are just so many new faces she gets to meet. And this place also makes wondrous vegetarian meals for dinner/breakfast, which she enjoys greatly even though she is not a vegetarian. but vegetables are so yummy. she usually just eats pastas by Knorr (formerly Lipton), oatmeals, cheeses, snickers, and cookies...so veggies are always welcome. she did buy an onion for the next couple of meals, just to flavor things up a bit. her momma gave her some cholula hot sauce (but it's not too hot), too - and that stuff is so yummy. she would drink it if she could, but she won't because it might give her a stomach ache...and then some, probably. that wouldn't be such a good scenario out in the woods...or in the non-woods.

I'm done with my town chores - chores here are fun though. They really just consist of taking a shower, doing laundry, eating loads of high calorie food (on purpose - I love it!), buying food/meals/snacks to eat on the trail, finding internet and the using it, calling my parents, and sleeping. Occasionally, I will drink a beer - one will make me almost drunk.

I have allergies, I've concluded. I don't really like allergies, I've also concluded. And I don't like taking medicines either (except everyday, I have been taking what is known as vitamin-I...aka ibuprofin).

the lady is kicking me off the computer. til the next internet source!

The land of the Hot Springs

Hot Springs, NC.

Miles hiked: More than I've ever hiked in one month.
Miles left: Way more than I've ever hiked.
Roughly 12% of the trail down, 88% to go. It's a decent chunk to get out of the way, in my opinion. The Smokies changed things up a bit. Some people skipped because they have dogs (no dogs allowed in the smokies - except the special circumstance people). Some people got stuck in Gatlinburg longer. Some people waited out the rain. Some people decided they were hiking to fast and need to slow down. Some people vice versa.

So it's good to see new faces - and of course always nice to see familiar ones. It's like a big reunion when you see someone you have seen on the trail for a couple of weeks - I can only imagine how much more intense those reunions will be when one hasn't seen a hiker buddy in months! That's what Trail Days will be good for.

Hot Springs is a small place. Smaller than I had imagined. It's one of the few towns - and the first town - that the trail actually runs through. That's pretty neat-o.

I walked my first 20 mile day yesterday. good day for that sort of thing. Cool temps, light rain showers, easier terrain despite the mountains to walk over. I had hiked from Max's Patch after a beautiful night on top of the bald. Probably my favorite day on the trail. That bald is enormous - a huge mountain top void of trees. Lot of speculation as to where those trees went. Maybe it's natural. Maybe the Native Americans chopped them off for spiritual practices. Maybe the mountain people knocked them down to raise there cows. Maybe the aliens wanted to make pretty pictures in the mountains. Nobody knows. But these are the ideas.

I don't really know what happened to them. But I do know that no trees on a mountaintop = spectacular views of other tree covered mountains and even more wondrous sunsets, as long as it's not raining. Thank goodness it wasn't. I took too many pictures of the sun falling behind the mountainous lands.

I spent a good two hours yesterday searching for a place to stay in this tiny town. Most places are booked. If it's not booked, it's too expensive. Or if it's not booked, it's 1/2 mile out of town. 1/2 mile really isn't that much, but after walking 20 miles, 1/2 mile feels like 20 miles. But that's where Lori, Coyote and coyote's dog boomer, and I ended up last night. At the bunkhouse which had space, 1/2 (20) miles away.

I'm taking a zero and staying in town tonight. In fact, I'm doing laundry right now and I bet my clothes are done drying. One of the many town chores checked off the list...we'll go over town/non-town chores some other time.

And I also have a bear story (not so good) to tell for another time.

I better go fold my clothes.

Ciao from the oh-so-Lucky Star!

Good-bye GSMNP!!!

I'm craving food. officially. all the time. even when it's in front of my face. even when i'm stuffed to the max. and I hear it only gets worse.

The Smokies are over - I'm hoping that also means less rain. Not a logical hope, but I still can hope that way. We arrived at the Standing Bear Farm today in beautiful weather - a very good start to my hopes. It may have been the most beautiful day yet, actually. And most of the day was downhill, too.

Being out of the Smokies also means more freedom - we get to camp where we want. No forced shelter stays. No super high elevation trudging in the mud and fog...well, not til a lot later on, at least.

The Standing Bear Farm is sort of like a thru-hiker oasis in the middle of the mountains. It's actually not too far from I-40 (which we had to go under- that was super weird), so I suppose it's not entirely out in the middle of nowhere, but hiking to it you wouldn't know it. It's on a gravel road with some cabins, a bunkhouse, a farmhouse and a barn with a cute little creek running right through the middle of it and very odorous hikers just hangin' out. They've got a resupply food house and an honor system to pay for everything. Washboards to wash clothes, and open aired kitchen and shower...in fact, it seems kind of strange that there is even internet access...but it all makes more sense knowing the computer is a good 8.5 years old, ancient for computer standards. but it works!

The actual terrain through the Smokies wasn't that bad, or my legs are just getting mighty stronger - may be a combination of both. I like hiking uphill, though. In fact, I like it better than going down. Easier on the knees, more stimulating to my brain. I made it up to Clingman's Dome in no visibility - not much of a surprise. But I did get a cool photo of the observation tower. awesome.

I saw my first snake today. It was brown, skinny and about a foot and a half long altogether. Took a photo from afar with my zoom.

At these low elevations we've been without for a good week now, there have been lots of blooming flowers and trees. It's very pretty. Lots of whites, soft pinks, magentas, purples, lavendars, and even bright reds. also all shades of greens imaginable. I like it.

I want some ice cream.

"Lucky Star"

Successes:

My longest day has been about 17 miles...first day in the Smokies, actually.

My Trail name is Lucky Star. I do find this whole trail name thing a bit cheesy, to be quite honest. But, at the same time, it is growing on me. I was hiking about a week back near Wayah Bald in North Carolina and ran into this one older woman twice. The first time she expressed genuine joy in the fact that I was hiking alone (sort of a girl power sort of thing, maybe...but not in a cheesy way), and then gave me some advice on what was to come. The second time I ran into her was a quick encounter on the trail and she dubbed me "Lucky Star" - and many of you who read this know of my strange habit of drawing a little star on the pinkie knuckle of my right hand - which I've done for nearly nine years know. So I thought Lucky Star was a good fit...then I thought it just sounded too cheesy.

Well two days ago at Fontana Dam, Turtle and Jazzman (an older - but not old - couple hiking to Maine) were asking about my name and I told them the little story I just told you. Less than 1/2 hour later, Turtle comes out of the General Store and tells me there is a shirt inside with "Lucky Star" on it. That was weird to both me and Turtle seeing I had just told her the story. So I bought the shirt and have figured "Lucky Star" is meant to be.

Maybe I'll open up a coffee shop one day and call it "Lucky Star" and it will be a success.

I'm not addicted to coffee anymore (no headaches or morning groginess), but I do think about it often when I'm hungry and exhausted. So in a sense, I guess I'm sort of still addicted.

Hmmmmm, what other successes??? I guess the biggest is that I'm still out here, healthy and enjoying the beauty of the trail.

I did go rafting that one day at the NOC. It was snowing. It was cold. Trigger, Pink Blaze Nazi and I all froze our butts off on the two hour float through the raging rapids (not so raging really - up to Class III). Totally worth it, though.

That's all for now folks.

Baby Barriers smashed to bits and pieces!

I've crossed two barriers. 1.) The <2000 mile to get to Maine barrier, and 2.) The 200 miles hiked barrier. It feels great. I'm in Gatlinburg, Tenn (not so great), hanging out with my mom and sister (very great). They are visiting for a day or so and hung out in Newfound Gap waitin' for me in the gusty, cold, foggy day in the clouds - surprise, surprise - greeting various thru-hikers (some of my new hiking friends) with some trail magic - fresh fruit, bagels, soda, water, snickers, etc. It was great. It really was. I wasn't there. I was hiking from the Silers Bald Shelter 12 miles away along the skinny ridgelines with no views and wind gusts strong enough to blow you off the mountain if you weren't careful! It's crazy - roughly 75% of this hike thus far has been in the clouds (not so great).

But I try to look at the good in everything. And the truth of the matter is that I would rather be hiking in soggy wet conditions than 95 degrees with 100% humidity - days that are sure to come in the pretty near future. I've even discovered how to pack my pack and keep everything inside oh so dry.

All the shelters in the Smokies have fireplaces, too. So the last two nights, Pyro-fly and Recess warmed the stone-walled shelters with cozy fires. No one is allowed to camp in the Smokies - unless the shelters are full, so it's gonna be all shelters for the next several days. Lots of mice in some, none in others. Mice = not so great. They've nibbled through Turtle's pack, ate all his CLIF bars (which shouldn't have been there in the first place), and have even made random holes in my nasty socks. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Glad I'm not a mouse!

Into the Smokies we go...

another new quick post - I'm at Fontana Dam - gonna enter the Smokies tomorrow. Looks like I'll be meeting my mom and sister at Newfound Gap. Gatlinburg should be interesting.

Fun trail magic this morning. I was at a campsite last night with three others about 3 miles from the Dam and as we were finishing packing up about 7:45 am, a monstrous thunderstorm rolled in. Fun. Actually, it was kind of cool, but perhaps a tad bit too close to the lightning strikes - thunder rolling off almost instantly after the light filled the skies. Anyway, as we roll down to Fontana Marina, a Mayfield Icecream truck was in view and we were trenched and soaked and cold (perfect for icecream). Pyro-fly asked if there were any damaged boxes and the Mayfield guy gave us a whole box of Sundae Cones. It was truly a joy-filled moment. Then at 10:45, Captain Caveman's mom came with her students with sandwiches, sodas, cupcakes, vegetables...stuff like this makes hiking in thunderstorms totally worth it!

Thanks again for all the trail angels.

Hiking is still wonderful - I have lousy moments from time to time - mostly from the body adapting to suddenly carrying 30+ lbs...but it's adapting well and in a few weeks, I think I'll be as strong as ever.

And for the record, my trail name has become Lucky Star - a story on that to come...too many other people need to use the solo computer here.

Ciao for now!

Rafting in the snow

I'm still at the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center)...with working internet and no lines. I've decided to stay here another day due to the cold weather and fallin' snow at this low elevation - which equals more snow and colder temps at the 3000+ feet I would have hiked today - and get to hike tomorrow.. Two zero days in a row wasn't part of the plan, but this early on, my body really doesn't mind the break. Gaining an additional 35 lbs of pack weight and 135+ miles walking up/down mountains and hills over and over again in a two weeks period isn't exactly a natural way of getting into the best hiking shape of my life...it's breaking my body down. Feels good to heal a little bit.

Instead of hiking today, I should be renting a raft pretty soon now and rafting down the Nantahala River with some fellow hikers. They've got wetsuits and splash suits for us to wear and no extra charge with this chilly weather.

Actually, we've had some nice weather until now. Lots of variety actually for two weeks of hiking. I'd say 60% rain/chilly/fog/no visibility categories, and 40% in the lovely/warm/miles of visibility categories. I'll be heading into the Smokies pretty soon now and it does appear the weather will be nice. but you never know.

On the nicer days, the visibility of the North Carolina mountains is incredible. beyond incredible. so many layers of blues and greys - and deep pinks, oranges, and reds during sunsets/sunrises.

I've met lots of fun personalities and have been hiking with Rick (from NZ) and Mike (oklahoma). We've seemed to have similar mindsets as to how much hiking we want to do this early on and have ended up staying at similar shelters/campsites. But they left to the higher elevations this morning so it'll be a while before i see them again.

But I'm still at the NOC for another day and should meet lots more people who chickened out to hiking in the snow...