Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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April 25, Mountain Mama's Kuntry Store - mile 235.1

    What a lovely day it's been! Inspired by cheeseburgers & fries, I power hiked the 9.3 miles here to Mountain Mama's, just in time for a huge lunch. Not so fast that I didn't enjoy the last views of the Smokies, though. It was like looking out onto an ocean of clouds, with mountain tops as islands rising above them. Amazing. I'm sad to be leaving the Smokies.

    I must say that the cheeseburgers here have lived up to their reputation on the trail. I have been eating nearly non-stop since I got here, thanks to the arrival of three mail drop packages. YAY! It's so fun to get goodies & letters after being out of touch for a while. It feels like Christmas every time I get somewhere & there's mail waiting for me. Of course, this particular time, it's almost my birthday, so I got extra cards & letters for the occasion. When I mentioned that as the reason they were having to lug out so much mail for me, the store owner also gave me a free ice cream cone for the occasion. What a deal!

    Tonight I'm bunked in the "Honeymoon Shack", a vibrant pink 10x10 four walled shed with four bunks built into the walls. I picked this one over the others primarily because it has the semblance of real mattresses as opposed to the foam pads in all the other sheds. I'm not yet convinced that they will be any more comfortable than the foam, as they seem to be a good deal older than me, but I figure I can always move during the night if it's too saggy. What is even less reassuring is the presence of all the mouse hangers in these "bunkhouses". In shelters, I'm used to hanging my food so the mice can't get it, but normally when I'm supposed to be back in civilization, I don't worry about mice. However, these buildings are barely a step above a shelter so I'm not surprised that the mice get in. For tonight I'm still happy to be in one, with a garbage bag duct-taped over the screen door to help keep out the cold. We're told to expect 30's tonight, so it's nice to be inside, at least a little.

    It's 9PM & much past my bedtime, but the four of us staying here tonight have been yukking it up for an hour on my front porch, which is the only one with chairs. This is one of the reasons why hiking the A.T. is so enjoyable - meeting so many different & interesting people who all have a love for this crazy thing we do called backpacking. Every day I meet new people & pretty much without exception we enjoy each other's company & have plenty to talk about together. What a fascinating journey this is.

   

April 26, Groundhog Creek Shelter - mile 244.7

I'm loving life on the trail today! I saw the most beautiful flower in the world - a jack in the pulpit. I've never seen one before & yet, today, there was one just inches off the trail & I knew immediately that's what it was. Even though, I had just shouldered the pack after eating lunch, I stopped again to get down on my knees to look at it & take a picture. It was absolutely spectacular - not to mention huge! The main part of the flower was close to 2 inches long.

    Anyway, the rest of the day has been just as nice. I started the day off with a lovely breakfast at Mountain Mama's, a BLT piled high - even with mayonnaise - yum! Then we got a ride back to the trail for a 10 mile, mostly uphill hike here to the shelter. Although my pack was heavy with all the food I'm carrying, I didn't mind today because I'm glad to have lots to eat! I had home made almond bars for my first snack & half a block of cheddar cheese with my bread & dried fruit for lunch, plus a candy bar & gorp & lots of crackers for later snacks. I'm so excited that Mom sent me some of those big gooey Cadburg eggs & I'm saving one for a birthday celebration tomorrow.

    Tonight we've got a cozy fire going & about 6 hikers camped down below the shelter - I'm hearing a lot about politics, drugs, parenting & lots of other subjects with which I have no experience. It's certainly an interesting conversation.

    April 27 Walnut Mtn Shelter mile 257.8 Another perfect day on the trail - one of the best ways I've ever spent my birthday. The sky is crystal clear blue without a cloud in sight, the breeze is keeping away the gnats & I have a lovely tent spot near the shelter that may or may not really exist. It's curious about this shelter. Only one guidebook (the one I carry) seems to confirm it's identity. None of the trail signs or topo maps or other guidebooks show that is is here, although I actually saw it & touched it with these very hands & it's real! I believe it is scheduled for removal - probably has been for some time, & that's why it's off the maps. At any rate,it's extremely old & dilapidated & it looks like mouse central, so I've opted to camp instead. The spring is not too great, either. Water does exist but it's stagnant & I don't plan on using it. Luckily I filled up at the stream half a mile back so I should be fine.

    Two other thru-hikers, Gnome & Polar Bear are up here on the mountain with me to help celebrate my birthday. I guess "keep me company" is a better term than celebrate, as I don't imagine any of us has anything more exotic on the menu than noodles or rice, although I am now enjoying this fabulous Cadbury egg. Right now it tastes like food fit for a king! But Gnome the fire builder will get a nice flame going later & we can kick back to tell trail stories.

    Today's hiking had the highlight of the entire A.T. so far. We hiked up & over Max Patch, a large bald with an eye-popping 360* view of all the Appalachians around us. I happened to be hiking with Mr. Moo at that point & as we got to the top, he started whirling around & singing the "Sound of Music". I just heard from Gnome a few minutes ago that he did the same thing when he got to the top! I guess everyone felt inspired by the acres of green grass on top of the mountain.

    It certainly was a "top of the world" experience up there. I actually spent more than an hour on top - I think half of it was figuring out how to use the timer on my camera, so that I could get a photo with both Mr. Moo & me on it. After that, we pulled out lunch & ate for another half an hour, tying to soak in the entire view.

    The rest of the day we hiked through hill sides of trillium, which are all in bloom right now. There are three kinds of white trillium & two purple, but all of them are spectacular. I was so busy looking at them that I nearly fell off the side of the mountain at one point. So after that, I tried to keep one eye on the trail and the other on the flowers.