Down the trail towards the Smokies

A much longer hike is in store for me today than my luxorious 3 mile trek yesterday.

My food requires resupply; my efforts will be further rewarded with a knee massage, stretching and rest upon arrival. I’m amazed at how efficient I’ve gotten with my backpack, my traveling home on my back I can pack my bag in less than 5 minutes, once my tent is folded. I learned in the pouring rain a week or so ago that I can get down my bear bag, fold my wet and muddy tent and be hiking in less than 10 minutes. From my recent experience, I know that once I get down from the mountain I’m on, the rain diminishes significantly.

Though this seems obvious, when you’re in big weather, the obvious slaps you in the face and motivates for some quick and steady travel.

Despite the apparent efficiency I write about, I’m still tweaking my pack. I’m sending home my iPad, Lumix, charger and straw filter, none of which o really need. My blog is now being written on my iPhone in Notes, then sent to my son Jacob. My pictures are now being taken exclusively on my iPhone. Pictures will now be more contemporaneous with the daily blog. The straw filter is convenient but with my Sawyer and pills, I don’t use it. So, I’ll now have about 3 lbs less weight in my pack. Hopefully and expectantly, I’ll have this efficiency and effectiveness down as I move north so I can keep my pace and add less stress on my knees and back. Mind that I’m only about 7% complete, so I’m learning early, relatively speaking. More later, down the trail towards the Smokies.

North Carolina doesn’t believe in switchbacks no matter the steepness of the climb. No blisters!

Knees feeling like they’re healing. Not there yet but they feel much more fit. I just arrived after a typical mountainous day with some steep and punishing downhill treks with many many many boulders to climb over. Due to imminent thunderstorm storm, I hiked 15 miles to Fontana Village and got a night in a room I’ll be sharing with Sleeping Bag’, aka Garret, a 20 yr old I met at Cabin in Woods. Restaurant dinner (yay!) and see if storm comes tomorrow. If not, I’ll head to the Smokies. The photos that you see of a dam is Fontana Dam, which is the southern terminus of the Smokies. I’ll pressure point massage my legs, soak in hot bath and stretch. My body is responding well to doing my daily job of hiking 8–15 miles to my next new home. I hope to have some black bear pictures from the Smokies. Good night.