vaporjourney
04-10-2007, 16:26
Man this year has been great for us thru-hikers. Started on March 17 and was hiker 344 starting from the visitor center, and number 13 for the day. The trail hasn't been too crowded so far, and have met tons of great people. Had some slight misting hiking down into NOC which felt great, and an insane downpour with hail on my 2nd night in the Smokies. Got to Charlie's Bunion in the morning fog, but waited it out since I had been determined to see the view for months. Made some hot chocolate on the rocks, updated my journal, felt a wind, looked up, and the clouds had broken! I crawled out into the bunion, and was above all of the clouds, with a few mtn peaks poking through. Possibly the most intense thing I have seen in nature, and honestly beat the Grand Canyon for me. Beautiful. The next night got down to 15* and a couple of inches of snow, making my last day hiking out of the Smokies to Standing Bear Farm really fun and tiring. My pace has been a little slower than expected, and may be ruining my chances of tagging on the IAT after Katahdin, but really haven't wanted to rush it. Maybe I'll see more of you out here...