Updates from the Trail III...
[Neat stuff... Kimberly Ann is a few days ahead of schedule. How cool is that?!?]
3-24-2006
So I decided to book it and make it into Hot Springs on Friday instead of Saturday. It's a really small, cute town, and I'm writing from a little pub in the middle of town as I sit and sip the first coffee I've had in probably over a week. The lady here is super nice, and the guys sitting at the bar said, "welcome from out of the hills!" when I walked in. it made me laugh. The people at the post office were also very friendly. It's nice that even though I am a stinky, dirty hiker, people still seem really interested to talk to me & be nice. I like that.:)
I didn't get to tell you a whole lot about the Smokies. The elevations in the NP stay mostly beteween 4500-6000+ feet, and so it's generally a big colder there than in the surrounding areas. The Great Smokey NP includes the highest point on the AT: Clingman's Dome. Even though it was snowing & blowing & cold when I hiked to the top, I guess I lucked out getting to go up there at all, because word on the trail is that it got so snowy and bad up there with trees blowing over the trail that they had to shut that part of the trail down until May & are currently working on a blue blaze trail to get around it. This, of course, could just be AT gossip of some sort, but I would imagine it's true. But anyway, the weather in teh Smokies included everything from rain & sleet to snow to sunshine. Probably about half the time I couldn't really see much at all, but when I could see, the views were incredible. There was one spot (Rocky Top) where I sat & read my Bible, and it was just about perfect.:)
It was kind of crazy coming down out of the Smokies, because it was like walking from winter right into spring. Leaving GSNP, there is a large elevation decline, and so the lower I got, the less snow there was, and by the time I made it to the hostel... no snow at all. It was really neat. It's amazing how much the weather can change with elevation.
We had the most delicious dinner [at the hostel]. Sprocket made us all spaghetti with meat sauce that had big chunks of squash & tomatoes & mushrooms in it. It was fabulous. After dinner, I called my mom since she wasn't home earlier, & it was cold, so I sat by the fire while I talked. Well.... this was not a good idea, because then the guys started making fun of me for talking on the phone so much that day. So Sprocket & Smokin' Jeff started calling me "Ma Bell". ... evidently from a Beastie Boys song..... and they said that had to be my trail name. *laugh* I don't know if I'll keep that or not. Regardless, it was pretty funny sitting around the fire trying to talk tomy mom with all these boys crackin' jokes. Oh... and I met 2 really cool guys named SouthPaw & Bemis. They were actually South-bounders.... they hniked all thru the winter and are pretty close to being done with their hike now. They must be crazy to hike south thru the middle of winter, but they sure were neat to talk to. They seemed so laid back and care-free. It was great.
Let's see, what else? When I first started hiking, I was determined to tent about every night I could, but I think my philosophy on needing to tent all the time is changing. last night, I ended up at the same shelter as Dave, & we were the only ones there, & he had heard bad weather was coming, so we stayed in the shelter. Sure enough, when we woke up with morning, there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. haha. Welcome to the mountains. So today I got to walk about 10 miles or so in the snow before the elevation was low enough to turn into rain.
Anyway, this letter seems to be going on & on..... sorry! I'm going to get going so I can buy a couple items & do a few errands in town here before I head back into the mountains. Hot Springs, by the way, is the first official "trail town." The AT literally goes right thru the middle of it. It's kinda cool. There are even little AT symbols on the sidewalk. Looks like this:
[picture an "A", with a perpendicular line coming down from the crossbar of it, so as to make AT in one letter;)]
3-24-2006
So I decided to book it and make it into Hot Springs on Friday instead of Saturday. It's a really small, cute town, and I'm writing from a little pub in the middle of town as I sit and sip the first coffee I've had in probably over a week. The lady here is super nice, and the guys sitting at the bar said, "welcome from out of the hills!" when I walked in. it made me laugh. The people at the post office were also very friendly. It's nice that even though I am a stinky, dirty hiker, people still seem really interested to talk to me & be nice. I like that.:)
I didn't get to tell you a whole lot about the Smokies. The elevations in the NP stay mostly beteween 4500-6000+ feet, and so it's generally a big colder there than in the surrounding areas. The Great Smokey NP includes the highest point on the AT: Clingman's Dome. Even though it was snowing & blowing & cold when I hiked to the top, I guess I lucked out getting to go up there at all, because word on the trail is that it got so snowy and bad up there with trees blowing over the trail that they had to shut that part of the trail down until May & are currently working on a blue blaze trail to get around it. This, of course, could just be AT gossip of some sort, but I would imagine it's true. But anyway, the weather in teh Smokies included everything from rain & sleet to snow to sunshine. Probably about half the time I couldn't really see much at all, but when I could see, the views were incredible. There was one spot (Rocky Top) where I sat & read my Bible, and it was just about perfect.:)
It was kind of crazy coming down out of the Smokies, because it was like walking from winter right into spring. Leaving GSNP, there is a large elevation decline, and so the lower I got, the less snow there was, and by the time I made it to the hostel... no snow at all. It was really neat. It's amazing how much the weather can change with elevation.
We had the most delicious dinner [at the hostel]. Sprocket made us all spaghetti with meat sauce that had big chunks of squash & tomatoes & mushrooms in it. It was fabulous. After dinner, I called my mom since she wasn't home earlier, & it was cold, so I sat by the fire while I talked. Well.... this was not a good idea, because then the guys started making fun of me for talking on the phone so much that day. So Sprocket & Smokin' Jeff started calling me "Ma Bell". ... evidently from a Beastie Boys song..... and they said that had to be my trail name. *laugh* I don't know if I'll keep that or not. Regardless, it was pretty funny sitting around the fire trying to talk tomy mom with all these boys crackin' jokes. Oh... and I met 2 really cool guys named SouthPaw & Bemis. They were actually South-bounders.... they hniked all thru the winter and are pretty close to being done with their hike now. They must be crazy to hike south thru the middle of winter, but they sure were neat to talk to. They seemed so laid back and care-free. It was great.
Let's see, what else? When I first started hiking, I was determined to tent about every night I could, but I think my philosophy on needing to tent all the time is changing. last night, I ended up at the same shelter as Dave, & we were the only ones there, & he had heard bad weather was coming, so we stayed in the shelter. Sure enough, when we woke up with morning, there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. haha. Welcome to the mountains. So today I got to walk about 10 miles or so in the snow before the elevation was low enough to turn into rain.
Anyway, this letter seems to be going on & on..... sorry! I'm going to get going so I can buy a couple items & do a few errands in town here before I head back into the mountains. Hot Springs, by the way, is the first official "trail town." The AT literally goes right thru the middle of it. It's kinda cool. There are even little AT symbols on the sidewalk. Looks like this:
[picture an "A", with a perpendicular line coming down from the crossbar of it, so as to make AT in one letter;)]
1 Comments:
wow, what adventures your having Kim. keep the letters coming.
thanks jared for posting them.
By
Justin, at 11:15 PM
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