Day 46: Standing Bear Farm to Groundhog Creek Shelter

So today was the day to make good and actually hike! I’d decided to stick with the 7/13/13 mile plan for the next three days. That will get me to Hot Springs where my next mail drop and bounce box reside.

Woodstock and Giggles and Maynard also seemed interested in that plan, so we were all pretty much on track to leave together. But by the time 130pm rolled around, they were not yet ready to hike. But I totally needed to hike. I felt that if I didn’t leave very soon, I’d end up staying yet another day. So I headed out on my own with hopes of them catching up.

The day’s hike went really well. It was a near 3000 foot climb, which I easily hiked! I was so surprised at myself. I really feel like I’m getting my trail legs now. A month ago, that climb would’ve taken me the whole day and destroyed me in the process. But not this time, I did that climb and hiked 1000 feet downhill afterwards and arrived here at 6pm. That was 7 miles in 4.5 hours that included some serious climbing.

Not only was my hiking physically satisfying, it was also mentally satisfying. While I had a great stay at Standing Bear, I knew I was loosing progress. Being back in the trail meant I was now gaining progress. Yay!

Today I passed Snowbird Mountain, also called Snowbird Bald. The view was spectacular. In one direction I could see the entirety of the Smokies that I’d covered the past 3 hiking days. Another direction showed distant views of Balds and peaks which I’ll be hiking over in the next two days. Also at the top of this mountain is an FAA installation. It’s a radar used for locating and tracking aircraft, providing that info to air traffic controllers.

So I’m all snug and ready for sleep. Tonight’s been great; there are four of us tented near a fire ring. Chef Oden, Tonka, Tonka’s wife and I all had a fire while we had dinner. With that, I’m caught up now and am off to sleep. Goodnight!

Wandering on…

Mojo