We tried to be quiet once we got to the hostel last night. After all, it was almost 10p so everyone had already been in bed for almost two hours. Despite what the Smokies NPS thinks, this is not a rowdy group of people. Morgan made us a pizza before bed and then he and Rolly Polly split one. We checked the register and noticed that Patches, Lady Bug, and Stickers were all here tonight.
The original plan was for us to stay at Davenport Gap Shelter last night and then take a Nero to get to Standing Bear Hostel. In reality, we hiked over a 20 mile day, yesterday, but only got 18.1 miles of trail miles. After the way we both felt last night, we didn’t think hiking would even be a possibility today. We took our time getting ready and caught up with people we thought we might never see again.
Stickers and Lady Bug are planning on going to Groundhog Creek Shelter then making it to Hot Springs in a couple of days after that. Patches was asleep across from us last night, but never heard us come in.
We talked with Swagman for a while. He has atrial fibrillation and is going to have surgery to correct it in July. He’s trying to hike as much as the trail as he can before his surgery. That means he will be doing a flip flop at some point because he’s afraid that he wont be able to finish the hike before Baxter closes.
With today’s short miles, we were able to relax a bit. We kept playing leap frog with a group of younger hikers, one of which is Tortuga. Tortuga would race ahead and than take a break with the group and relax while Bunny and I would eventually pass them. We ended up making it to the shelter before him. Talk about role reversal, the Bunny finally beats the Turtle.
The whole group stopped on top of Snowbird Mountain to enjoy the views and soak up the sun. They thought it might be fun to have some chaperones around, so they invited us to join them. Rivers offered us cheese he had bought down at Standing Bear and a couple of other girls shared some interesting flavored truffles (ginger and lemongrass, lavender, and salted caramel). Zillow and Bunny had talked a little about her trip to South America last year and we talked about trips we’ve all done.
I’ve got to say, I admire this group of young hikers. They hike hard and fast and take lots of breaks to get together and sit and relax. It’s not unusual to be walking and see one of them asleep under some trees or a couple sitting by a creek talking. They are making the most of their thru-hike and still making great miles. They will blow by us in a few days (like everyone eventually does).
Once again, Patches blew by us today so we won’t catch up with her again until there is some trail magic that will slow her down. W’ve heard Freash Grounds might still be around Lemon Gap which we will pass tomorrow.
Groundhog Creek Shelter is only a 6 person shelter, but the site has lots of level spots for camping with several different fire pits, bear cables, and an adequate privy. As thru-hikers, we are paying nothing to use this shelter in the forest. The forest service is able to provide a much nicer setting for free when the NPS seems to go out of its way to disregard AT hikers. I really like to kick dead horses—I know I’m out of the Smokies, but it will take me a few days to let go.
EFG