Hot Springs, NC

Howdy all, yes, I am having the time of my life out here on the trail. I left Fontana Dam and had a wonderful trip through the Smoky Mountains that included cold (again), ice (again), rain (again) but the last 2.5 days were sunny and clear! We got to Clingman's Dome and the weather cleared after hiking there in ice. The views are indescribable. I did take pictures that I am sure will not share the majesty of the mountains here. I will share those when I return. I can tell you that the mountains range in color on a good day from midnight blue to the a pale sky blue depending on distance from peak that I was standing on and I could see for miles. On a stormy day, those same mountains range from pearly gray to a dark forbidding gray that chills the heart. Those chilly mountain ranges peak in and out of swirling, misty clouds that curl around or bash against the mountain range. You know I do love a stormy day as much as a sunny day so all are good ones to me. Radar joined us through the Smokies, as a former thru-hiker, he had a lot of knowledge of the area and brought us to Mt. Cammerer Tower (a mile of the trail). The tower is poised right at the end of a cliff and offers 360 degree views of the northern Smokies. Well worth the extra miles to see how far we had travelled and how far we had to go to make it here.

The bear - now that is a story for sure. We stayed at Roaring Fork Shelter two nights ago. A feisty male bear decided that he might enjoy our food and climbed a tree next to the bear cables. (I will post a picture sometime of the bear cables so that you can see them) Well, a man had set his tent up not too far from the cables and the bear has not pleased with his choice of campsite. He was up the tree, huffing at the man. I had heard tree branches breaking as the bear climbed the tree but did not realize what it was until I heard him yell "Jones, there is a freaking bear out here over my head!" We all had our headlamps on in a flash as this was happening at 10:00 PM (hiker midnight). Sure enough, there he sat on a small branch trying to reach out and snag a food bag. We watched him, yelled and eventually, he climbed down and ran away. By that time, the three men in tents had climbed into the fully occupied shelter for safety. We were now packed liked sardines in a can and had to all turn from one side to the other or no one turned over. My friend from Israel, Tom, turned his head lamp on and to our surprise there stood the bear again less than 20 feet away! He was so quiet we never heard him. We all joined in the fight to save food by yelling, blowing whistles etc... until he left again and hopefully for the last time. We took turns sleeping, turning and checking the woods with our trusty headlamps and finally morning arrived. The oatmeal was especially tasty that morning as we had worked so hard to protect it. What would have happened if someone would have lost their food bag - all would have shared to make sure that no one went hungry. Thru hikers do take care of each others and those that they share the trail with.

Dan - I found evidence of Bigfoot and wanted to share with you. This picture is K Bar's boot inside the bootprint of the biggest bootprint I have ever seen. Maybe he is out there tracking me - What do you think?

I only have a half hour at the library so have to make this short. I am going to try and add a few pages for everyone with the flowers etc..that I have seen. I do not carry field guides with me so if you recognize a flower or such please do let me know what they are. I thought maybe the Clarke School for the Deaf elementary kids might be able to find out this information for me too.

And lastly, a shout out to the Springfield YMCA. I have made it up a lot of mountains thanks to you and your classes. Pilates has certainly helped me carry that 35 pound pack too.