Trail Life Update Day 20-24

It’s been a while…

Simply put, time management for vlogging, blogging, journaling, and staying alive is a bit difficult to juggle at the same time. I vlog to have a video representation of my journey and my feelings, but also for friends and family who like to keep an eye on me as I wander through the woods. It is easy and above all simple, except when it comes to adding videos and editing them. Filtering through dozens of videos becomes tedious and takes away my time in the present on the trail and at camp. I usually try to do this in the city or late at night in my hammock. However, I enjoy going back each time and watching my videos to see the physical and emotional changes over the last month on the trail. Anyway, it takes me some time to write and upload videos. I’ll work on this!

Trail Life Update: The Birth of a Trail Name

Somehow I managed to spend 2 weeks on the trail without a successful trail name. I was a little sad, but nothing really seemed to fit. He hadn’t done anything too stupid or embarrassing…yet. On the 15th, I decided to hike one of my longest days on the trail to date. It was 15.1 miles to the NOC. I woke up early and hit the road. I put on my headphones and made my way to the Wesser Bald Tower in the blink of an eye. I got there at noon!
Pretty good for me, not to mention I still have slight knee pain. It was a hot, but quite windy day in Wesser Bald. I ate quickly and decided to keep pushing. I arrived at the NOC at 3 pm. I was excited! I saw a group of hikers that I’ve been jumping for the past few days. It was a small meeting to catch up and see how everyone is doing. I got excited and rewarded myself with a beer from the general store. I did some housework and dipped my knees and feet in the river. I was feeling so good that I had 2 more beers from the general store. This was a mistake… I stopped drinking water and didn’t eat anything since lunch. Jumping into dinner, I was feeling drunk and happy as hell. I decided to have a whiskey with dinner. Six of us went to dinner at NOC and within 15 or 20 minutes I started to embarrass myself. I dropped my glass of water, couldn’t find the bathroom, and ran to the waiter’s tray tables. It was a disaster to say the least. One of the guys at the table said something about three beers and the entire table agreed that three beers is my limit and now my go-to name. It’s been a couple of weeks since that day and Three Beers has officially become my name. It’s a little embarrassing, but everyone seems to enjoy the story of me making a fool of myself. Tres Cervezas is here to stay.

Fontana Dam through Great Smoky Mountain National Park: miles 164.9 to 240.8

Day 1 of the Smokies

As luck would have it, I planned a zero to zero when the rain decided to hit. To this day, nothing has been more difficult to climb than Sassafras Mountain to Cheoah Bald. Probably because I had three beers and a whiskey the night before. Every mountain I have climbed since that day has not even compared to that devastating day. Halfway there felt like a lifetime. I hated that day. Cheoah was beautiful, but fuck that climb. Needless to say, getting to Fontana from that point was easy.

Fontana was a highlight for me being so close to home. Friends came to walk to Fontana Dam and have breakfast at the lodge. After my nero and zero, my girlfriend went for a walk to Mollies Ridge Shelter with Kirby and I. Kirby is a friend I met on the trail and was hiking with for a couple of weeks. We started around 9am and made the 13.3 mile hike to the shelter on time. It was only 4 when we arrived. The rules about staying in specific shelters in GSMNP seem strict, but also annoying because Kirby decided to walk a few miles and my girlfriend had to stay in the shelter, so I stayed with her. It was okay because I wanted to spend time with her. The shelter was horrible. I’m not a fan of shelter life. I would rather set up my hammock, which I did the rest of my time in the Smokies. I stayed at the shelter with my girlfriend. It was a terrible night’s sleep for me. I couldn’t get comfortable, coughing, farting, sneezing and being late kept me up half the night. Not to mention the cesspool of germs everywhere. At this point I will set up my hammock for the entire route, even in the rain.

Smokies Day 2

As soon as I woke up, I left that shelter. I said goodbye to my girlfriend and set off. Had to catch up today to meet my friend at Silers Bald Shelter. Today will be a 17.8 mile day! It was a cold morning, but I was excited to try to cover so many miles. I was in a good mood and ready to reach a new level for myself. I got to the next shelter in about an hour looking for my friend, but couldn’t find him. I figured he left early and moved on. I happened to pass by him mid-morning when he stopped for his second breakfast. I felt great this morning so I kept going until I arrived at Derricks Knob Shelter for lunch. At one in the afternoon I covered 12 miles. I was quite surprised and proud of myself. I spent two hours here resting and relaxing. I only had 5 or 6 miles left and plenty of daylight. The wildflowers were so beautiful along the trail. I was mesmerized by them most of the day.
Spring beauties, trout lilies and violets were everywhere. It was so beautiful to witness. I finally packed up and was ready to end my day. I arrived at the shelter at 5 or 6 pm and was defeated. I was literally so tired that I set up my hammock, made three packages of ramen, and fell asleep at 7:30 pm. I didn’t even make it to midnight hiker.

Day 3 of the Smokies

The morning was cool and it was difficult to get out of the hammock. Half the time I only get out of the hammock because I have to poop or pee. I wait until it’s an emergency. It’s not smart of me. It’s a risk I’m willing to take when it’s cold. I wasn’t exactly quiet, but in the process of packing up, a deer walked within 10 feet of me!
I guess they are so used to people that they don’t fear them. It was a magical moment and apart from taking a quick photo of it, I watched it for 10 minutes until it went a bit up the hill. There were many big highs for today. I finally made it to Kuwohi, hit the 200 mile mark, took a successful hero to Gatlinburg and back on the trail, and made it back to the trail with two extra beers. It was a fantastic day. The shelter at Ice Spring was very close to the tent city. We set up our hammocks away from the shelter and called it. It was a 15.3 mile day in the books.

Smokies Day 4
I had a plan today. Today I was shooting 20.3 miles. I watched the sun rise over the mountains and left.
Mileage and elevation were manageable for the day. I had a lot of confidence in myself to make this happen. The day was full of short, hard climbs, flat sections and mainly descents. I made it 12 miles at 1:15 pm Tri Gap Shelter already had a few people there. I had a quick lunch because the flies were biting my legs. I ate my food, collected and filtered water, and walked away from that shelter. I had maybe 500 feet of climbing in 7.7 miles. The rest of the kilometers were all downhill. I left at 2pm and arrived at the Cosby Knob Shelter at 5pm. My feet were killing me at this point. I arrived at camp and felt very tired and antisocial. I set up my hammock and ate alone that night. This shelter was also full, but luckily the Ridge Runner wasn’t a jerk with all the tents throughout the campground. I successfully made it to 20.3 miles. My first 20 miles!

Smokies Day 5

This was my last day in the Smokies! I was pretty exhausted, but very happy to be able to see Mount Cammerer again. Finishing the Smokies is a huge feat right off the bat. The descent to Mount Cammerer was shorter than expected, but it was wonderful to see this fire tower again. To make this short and sweet, it was about 5,000 feet of descent before noon. My knees and feet were screaming. I left Great Smokey Mountain National Park in four and a half days.
It was amazing to finish. I was extremely spoiled with the good weather at over 5,000 feet because it was incredibly hot on I40. It was also a culture shock walking under the interstate. I was grateful to finish up with a couple more hikers, as I didn’t know where to find the next part of the trail. What a place to find a little magic on the trails just after finishing the Smokies and just before the stairs.

The Smokies were filled with sight after sight, but each and every one was as amazing as the last. Charlie’s bunion was my favorite. I’ll miss the cool weather, but I’m happy to be able to stealth camp away from so many people. I like to dig holes for my cats in peace and quiet. On that note, I hope you enjoyed my wild little moment in the Smokies!

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