Day #26 - Walking Through the Seasons

Miles: 12.8 to Painter Branch campsite 

It was cooold this morning! There were about two inches of snow on the ground outside the shelter when I woke up. The walk to the privy was a challenge! Crocs aren't known for their great traction on snow and ice. I used snow as duff since there weren't any leaves around. That works, right? 

My shoes were FROZEN when I went to put them on. Luckily, I had loosened the laces the night before anticipating the freeze, but I couldn't cinch them back up this morning. Oh well! After an hour or two of hiking they had thawed enough for me to tighten the laces. 

There were lots of downhills today. It was slippery but beautiful. The snow on the ground was so sparkly! I'm on of the only ones in our group from the south (Read: I'm really slow in the snow). Wing It was trying to give me tips like walk on the fluffy white parts and not the big rocks. My feet were soaked and filthy but warm.

 

Eventually we got below the snow line and were just hiking through mud. We reached a point where things dried out and you couldn't tell there had been snow anywhere nearby. At on point we had to road hike and literally cross highway on and off ramps. I would have been totally lost without Wing It. For the most part, the trail is not well marked when it follows roads. 

We hobbled up to Standing Bear Hostel so Twist could pick up Oliver (dogs aren't allowed in the Smokies) and we could resupply. Standing Bear is an odd place. It's a bunch of small random buildings/shacks and has a commune feel. We grabbed what we wanted from the resupply shed and wrote down our purchases and their prices on envelopes which we put money into and gave to the owner. Their "laundromat" consisted of a washboard and a dryer. That was just way too much work so I just dried my wet, dirty clothes on some rocks in the sun. I'll do proper laundry in Hot Springs.

 

After we snacked we hiked on to our campsite. On the way, Wing It found two salamanders. I chased one 10 ft up a tree. Those little guys are impressive! 

This is a great campsite. We're surrounded by streams. It feels so good to camp again! We're no longer tied to the shelters like we were in the Smokies. Leaving the Smokies is bittersweet. I thought they were beautiful. I'm glad we got just one typical Smoky weather day. I can say I experienced it but I didn't have to freeze my butt off for days. 

We made a campfire and sat around with the hiker fam: Wing It, Bluebird, Stealth, Blacksmith, Wiki, True Story, Muffin Man, Simba, Tigger, Teach, Twist and Oliver. An owl flew over while we were bear bagging and now it's hooting. 

It's 8:37 p.m. right now. WAY past our normal bedtime of 7:30ish. I hurt today but life is GOOD! I love being warm in my tent. Such great things ahead! 

Best Thing: Beautiful scenery and salamander sightings. 

Looking Forward To: Relatively easy mileage with just a few more days to an awesome weekend in Hot Springs.