Day 43: Cosby Shelter to Standing Bear Farm

So I’ve been calling this place Standing Bear Hostel when it’s correct name is Standing Bear Farm. I made it here at about 500pm last night. This post is being the following morning… This morning! See, I was up way past what we call “hiker midnight.” I was up until “real midnight.” When I went to bed, I was way too tired to write.

Yesterday’s hike was the third straight day of really good hiking. Having got off to a later start, go figure, I covered 12.5 miles in about 6 hours! Not too shabby. If I can just do days like this consistently, I’ll have no trouble completing my thru hike.

Most of the hike was downhill and descended about 3500 feet over 7ish miles. This was a tougher climb down than the one into the NOC from weeks ago. My knees held up well and didn’t give me any issues. This morning, however, they are pretty sore. Vitamin I is definitely needed for today.

Going to bed so late, I have woken up late and am off to a really slow start. There’s pretty much zero chance of catching MotMot and Zeeba by Sunday night. That would’ve required 33 miles over two days. My late start today and the 100% chance of rain and the 3000 foot climb out of here make that pretty unlikely.

But they are taking a zero day in Hot Springs on Monday which is probably when I’ll arrive. So at least we can get together for dinner. My revised plan therefore is to hike a short distance today, about 7 miles. That will then leave two 13 mile days into Hot Springs.

Yesterday after the climb down, I exited the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Because the past 3 days have been gorgeous compared to last week’s hell, I decided to spare the park my one finger salute that I earlier had promised. Instead, I gave a little nod of thanks for the awesome weather and views. Can’t wait for yall to see the photos and videos.

One awesome landmark I saw from way up high was Interstate 40! It was so tiny in appearance – looked the size of toothpicks. And to think I’d be crossing it, on foot, later in the day was a neato thought.

After crossing the interstate, my first interstate crossing, the hostel was “only 1 mile ahead” and “only 300 feet up.” Well, I call BS on those numbers! It felt more like 10 miles and 5000 feet up. But what a cool destination that lay ahead.

This hostel must be like the Taj Mahal of A.T. hostels. This place is totally cool and is like a little mini town in the middle of absolutely nowhere. They’ve got a small general store that’s not much larger than a shack. It has all kinds of hiker-friendly foods and also refrigerators with sodas, milk, meats, cheeses and microwavable meals. No, they don’t have Stoffers Macaroni and Cheese! 🙂

There’s a kitchen and dining building where hikers can cook, eat and socialize. There’s a bunkhouse that has… bunks! It has a wood stove for heating. There’s also a laundry room that has a washer and dryer. It also has a vintage hand washer!

When the bunks fill up, as was the case when I arrived, there is an area where tents can be setup. So, I tented here last night. Near the tent area, there’s a nice fire pit with several chairs around. That’s where myself, Tabasco, Atlas, Little Bear and Lumpy hung out last night. We listened to music, drank beers, tended the fire, told hiking stories, it was a great time.

Lumpy is the guy that’s running this place. Yesterday was his birthday, so he was in a celebratory mood last night! The guy is a trip. He’s got one of those personalities where everything he says is funny, without meaning to be funny. Sadly, I can’t give any examples because they would fall flat.

So here I am hanging out with other hikers who’ve just arrived at the hostel. Some are staying tonight while others are just passing through to resupply.

For myself, it is super tempting to stay here another night. But I’m already a day behind where I want to be. Staying would put me an additional day off. So I need to hike further. I have camping options at 4.5, 5.2 and 7.5 miles for short day options. Long day options exist for 10 and 15 mile days.

Pippy and Wayward have decided to try and yellow blaze up to Hot Springs. Wizard, Tabasco and others left here an hour ago so I’m behind even my new bubble! I’ve got to get out of here and maybe I’ll catch them if they stay at one of the shorter options.

Oh, and writing yesterday’s post this morning has really sucked! I can’t believe that I’ve kept up with my blog every day for 42 days. Yesterday was the first, and hopefully last, day that I didn’t write on that night.

So, I’m off to get packed and hiking!

Wandering on…

Mojo