If you’ll recall, last week I was in Hot Springs, and I wound up staying there several days longer than I had anticipated, in order to catch up on work. Thus I left there Monday morning, crossing the French Broad River immediately.

The Trail follows the riverbank for a good half mile before starting up toward Lovers Leap Rock. Unfortunately the morning fog over the river blocked any views.

The only good views this day were of Mill Ridge, a former tobacco field now owned by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Trail then crossed U.S. 25/70 again at Tanyard Gap, and after that I started noticing grave markers.

I made 11 miles Monday to Spring Mountain shelter, where a hiker mounted an electrical outlet (which, of course, does not work).

Tuesday I crossed Allen Gap and went only 5.3 miles on the Trail, then 0.7 miles down a road to the Hemlock Hollow campground and hostel, where the soda was cold and the rooms quiet and peaceful. Even though it meant losing some time, I was glad to take a bit of time off here.

Wednesday I left the hostel and near Whiterock Cliff ran across a hiker’s idea of humor. First I saw this handmade sign, reading “Speed Limit 10 mph,” and as soon as I rounded the next corner, the trail turned rocky, and 2 mph seemed like a pipe dream.

This afternoon I climbed up to Big Firescald Knob (4,360 feet) over the ridgeline, which was over a mile of continuous rock scrambling up and down, including a couple of brief vertical ascents and descents. That night I made 10.1 miles to Jerry Cabin shelter. I was planning to go farther, but after all that rock climbing my legs were too sore.

Thursday I realized that I was running low on food, which is rather unusual since I usually bring too much food rather than too little, so I decided to step up the pace and get to town as quickly as possible. The morning started with a climb over Coldspring Mountain where there’s a nice meadow, followed by Big Butt at 4,838 feet.

Along the way I saw more memorial markers, including the famous Shelton Graves.

That afternoon I climbed up Frozen Knob (aka Lick Rock) at 4,579 feet. I made 14.8 miles this day to Hogback Ridge shelter. In a couple of places here, steps were built over existing barbed wire fences to allow hikers to pass over while keeping out animals. Though I still can’t figure out how animals can’t just use the steps to cross over.

Friday morning started with a brief climb to High Rock at 4,460 feet, then down to Sams Gap to cross I-26.

From there it was straight up to Big Bald at 5,516 feet. The views are absolutely spectacular from the top.

Immediately after Big Bald is Big Stamp, at 5,298 feet. It’s several hundred yards long, and has a few trees which obscure just how long it actually is.

That evening I pitched the tent and camped out at Whistling Gap, having done 13.5 miles.

Saturday I was down to a couple of energy bars and so I left camp around 8 am and decided to get into town as fast as I possibly could. Though the day started with a nice climb out of the gap to High Rocks at 4,280 feet, from there it was mostly all downhill into Erwin. Of note, there were a couple of miles where it looked as if there was a recent forest fire; I could still smell the charred wood. Some of the pictures didn’t come out because it was dark and raining on and off that morning.

I made 13.5 miles and got into town around 2:30 pm yesterday. Then I promptly went straight to Sonic and ordered the largest double cheeseburger I could find on the menu. I got checked into a hotel and also managed to get some laundry done.

Today I’m relaxing my legs and I’ll hit the trail again tomorrow. I’ll be pushing fairly hard since I need to make it to Damascus, Va. by next Saturday at the latest, in order to get back to New Hampshire for PorcFest. Along the way I plan to get some video at Roan High Knob, time permitting. I probably won’t have another update posted until I reach Damascus, because Internet options are fairly limited between here and there, and because I’ll need to be moving fast and won’t have much time to stop.

That’s all for now; I’m hungry again and need to go forage for food…

I left Gatlinburg on May 7, a week ago, aboard one of these Cherokee Transit shuttles. Notice the U.S. government plate. This shuttle runs hikers and tourists between Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Newfound Gap and Cherokee, N.C., where there’s a nice Harrah’s Casino in case you’re out hiking and suddenly get the urge to lose all your money. I had no such urge. The shuttle, though, has a rather inconvenient schedule, so I didn’t get back to Newfound Gap until almost 4 pm, and only hiked as far as Icewater Spring shelter, for 3 miles.

I spent the next few days finishing out the Smokies. There wasn’t nearly as much to see, so I didn’t do a video, nor take as many pictures.

The next day I crossed Charlie’s Bunion, at 5,905 feet, a mountain with a rock outcropping exposed in 1929 and discovered by, well, a guy named Charlie who had a very similar looking bunion. The National Park Service blasted out the path.

I climbed over two more mountains, Mt. Sequoyah at 6,069 feet and Mt. Chapman at 6,417 feet, before it started raining very hard. I pulled into Tricorner Knob shelter around 5, just missing the heavy rain that rolled in that evening, and making 12.6 miles.

Friday I hiked 14.8 miles to Davenport Gap shelter, just short of the park boundary. I would have exited the park, but by the time I got there it was getting dark and more rain was in the forecast, so I didn’t feel like pitching a tent. Along the way I did see a strange triangular formation in the ground, as if some structure had been there but since removed.

Saturday I rolled out of the park, crossing the boundary at Davenport Gap and rolling into Standing Bear Farm hostel, for 3.4 miles, at around 10 am. My feet were killing me so I decided to take the rest of the day — and all of Sunday — off the Trail to rest them up.

Monday morning I rolled out of the hostel and crossed Snowbird Mountain at 4,263 feet, where I found an odd structure at the summit. If you know what this is, please let me know; I’m very curious.

I stopped in at Groundhog Creek shelter that afternoon, because just before I reached the shelter my left knee started complaining painfully. So I cut the day short at 7.5 miles. This afternoon I pitched my tent, because the shelter floor was nowhere near level, slanting much more than the campsite I chose. I can’t imagine how the people who slept in there stood it.

Yesterday I decided to get into Hot Springs as quickly as I could, and so I climbed up to Max Patch at 4,629 feet, where I made some phone calls, including calling my friends up in New Hampshire to have my replacement debit card sent down by UPS Next Day Air. Oh, I didn’t mention that last week: I got notice that one of my debit cards was canceled because the number was stolen from a merchant. So the replacement card got mailed out to New Hampshire. Much of this section was fairly moderate, so I made 13.3 miles to Walnut Mountain shelter.

Last night around 11 pm a bear wandered into the nearby camp of three section hikers who were camped out near the shelter, grabbing one of their packs and dragging it off a hundred yards or so before realizing it didn’t have any food in it. The section hikers were so frightened that they struck camp and piled into the shelter, hanging their food from a nearby tree. Unfortunately they hung it too low, because the bear came back an hour later and grabbed all their food. Mine remained untouched. Around 2 am everyone woke up again when the bear came right into the shelter and went after the section hikers’ packs again. It was finally scared off when a log that someone had leaned up against the wall of the shelter fell onto the bear’s head. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of the bear; it was too dark and I couldn’t get to my camera anyway.

This morning I gave the three hikers a day’s worth of food each, or three days worth for myself, which should have been sufficient to let them get into Hot Springs. For myself, I hiked hard and fast, climbing Bluff Mountain at 4,686 feet in the morning, and got into town around 3:30 pm, making 13.1 fairly easy miles. At least for me; I passed those section hikers halfway up Bluff Mountain, and I have no idea whether they’ll make it into town tonight. I stopped in at the outfitters and picked up my debit card, and all is well there.

The highlight of the day, though, was spotting a Ron Paul sticker on a beer truck.

My knee seems to be doing much better; I haven’t really had trouble with it since that one day. That just about covers it for this section. I’m going to rest and resupply tomorrow and leave on Friday. Next stop will be Erwin, Tenn., about six days later.