That pesky bear at the last shelter in the Smoky Mountains definitely put a wrench in our previously well laid out plans! After Amity and I got dropped off by our supporter we had a very short hiking day, just around 3 miles, and decided to stay at the Standing Bear Hostel. We had a cute private room with bunk beds right on a river. The shelter we were planning on staying at had reported bear activity of a mom and three cubs, something we didn’t want to come in between! It was fun to have a hostel stay though, apparently it is one of the most popular on the entire trail due to its location to the Smoky Mountains.
After leaving the hostel pretty early the next morning, we had a very long 14 mile day due to the crazy elevation! Over 8 miles of our 14 mile day was straight up! We were greeted by Max Patch towards the end of the day which was beautiful, and then got to stay at the Kani’ti Lodge where I had one of the best cheeseburgers of my life! We were spoiled by David and Matthew who cooked for us while we were there and got to play with his black lab, Sunny š
Since the Kana’ti Lodge was less than half a mile from the Appalachian Trail we slept in, had a huge breakfast, and got a late start the next day! It was a shorter day at 10 miles just to break up the 20 miles going into Hot Springs the next day. We stayed at a random tent site on the side of a mountain and got rained on that night.
Luckily we only had a 10 mile day into Hot Springs the next day because my knee was bugging me a little bit. Hot Springs was amazing! I actually stayed in this town about 4 years ago when I came to the Appalachian Trail for the first time and did a section hike. We were whisked away by one of our supporters where we were taken to the Dancing Sun cabins, we had an amazing and relaxing stay!
Instead of hitting the trail the next day we took a zero day in Hot Springs. We had a surprise visitor from Allison! This is who I stayed with at the very beginning of this adventure in Greenville, who is also a previous Warrior Expedition hiker from 2019. She will be starting the Great American rail trail bike ride a month from today, Good luck allison! We enjoyed her visit by basically eating the day away, and lounging around the Iron Horse Inn. I also had a surprise box from my friend Lisa! She thru hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2016 and knew exactly what I needed, she treated me to spa items, girl scout cookies, and lots of treats for my food resupply! Signing off…..Feather Blue šŖ¶š
Hiking Through with Feather Blue 