And I Will Walk 500 Miles...

39 miles, 24 hours. Took these hiking legs for a spin and they performed brilliantly.

On Tuesday morning at 9:00am we set out on a cold morning from Overmountain Shelter - a beautiful old converted barn in an exposed valley that looks onto the mountains. The night before we had been lucky enough to catch glimpses of the meteor shower despite the brightness of the moon.

The morning 9 miles was a breeze. The sun was shining but the air was crisp as we tackled the two morning mountains. The descent to the road that could take us over to Roan or Elk Park was steep but manageable and we (Avocado, Rocket and myself) got to the road by 1:00pm. Starving, we headed down the road to Mountain Harbor Hostel on the promise of pulled pork sammies and a bit of relaxation out of the sun.

The hostel was beautiful. The old red house had a wrap around porch with a porch swing and a hammock where you wait for your lunch, overlooking a beautiful green bridge that crosses the river that cuts the property and along which billy goats roamed lazily back and forth. It was a sight and the food was spot on. No pulled pork but a meatball sub on French bread was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Around 3:30pm I finally convinced my hiking buddies that it was time to move on. Of course, when we got to the top of the hill there was the most ridiculous trail magic I have seen to date. It may as well have been a free resupply with barbecue beaver sandwiches. Fresh caught beaver. Welcome to the south. The had everything - bananas, oatmeal, cliff bars, snickers, mangoes, yogurt, ramen, water, toilet paper, kiwis... You name it.

I was in a bit of a sour mood with a bit of a stomach ache lingering from lunch and I was eager to press on. Avocado and Rocket, now reunited with Lady who we found at the trail magic, were ready to slow it down and take a short day but I knew that I wanted to make it over to Hampton, TN before the pending rain. After a solid 45 minutes of waiting to see if they would join I took off solo for the next 8.4 miles to Mountain Falls Shelter.

With the heat of the day winding down and the simple terrain I was able to make incredible time and got there in about two and a half hours to find Spider and Backtrack enjoying some dinner but the shelter was otherwise empty. They were planning to take a quick nap and then press on at midnight for Hampton. I was in. Plus I sure as hell wasn't sleeping in that shelter alone.

After a quick 3 hour nap without my sleeping pad (read: restless) we pulled ourselves back up and got packed to head out, each donning headlamps to illuminate the ground in the denser parts of forest. For the most part the nearly full moon lit the way as we trudged on through the relatively tame terrain.

Night hiking is a blast. It's just like day hiking except dark and there is no risk of sunburn. Every time we came to a campsite we would get real quiet then as we passed we would start making monkey/bear/bird sounds just to throw the campers off. They probably thought we were loons, we thought we were hilarious. On a few occasions I missed the rock and stepped in some watery mud, soaking my socks, but it never bothered me for long.

Probably the best part of night hiking is hearing the person in front of you trip and steady themselves and then call out "root!" or "rock!" or "limb!" which then inevitably leads to you tripping or getting smacked in the face with a branch. A little painful but pretty hilarious.

The sun rose as we went over the last hill and we took it in as we descended into Cherokee National Forest. We took a quick break and took it all in - Backtrack offered me his one hitter and it was too beautiful to turn down. Happy Wednesday!

The descent was steep and my knees were squeaking up a storm but we made it to the road that leads to the hostel just outside of Hampton - 16 more miles down. But we weren't done - we had 3 more to go.

The first part of Cherokee National Forest is beautiful and flat with huge rock outcroppings. After about a mile you sharply descend 1600 feet over about an eighth of a mountain down to Laurel Falls - one of the most incredible waterfalls I have seen on the trail to date. I took the opportunity to take off my shoes and soak my ankle in the icy water (my Achilles had been bugging me a bit) before we continued on.

Spider thought that he saw a blaze and immediately started leading us up basically a rock face which I was sure wasn't right. My sense of direction (or logic) must be getting better because we were going exactly the wrong direction. Foolish.

We finally got to the side trail that would lead us to Hampton at 9:00am. In the 24 hours previous I had walked over 37 miles. Holy heck. My feet were tired (as was I) and my tendons and knees were sore but I was relatively unscathed. I felt like a million bucks.

And then, 3/4 of the way down the side trail, there sat 10 cans of PBR. I thought I was hallucinating again but no. It was 10, unopened, ice cold cans of beer. Hallelujah and thank you trail gods! We sat down after a long 8 hour day and indulged. Sure it was 10am but after a full night of hiking it was 5 o'clock somewhere.

Happy and tipsy we sauntered into town by about 11:00am. We went to the grocery store and bought a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, sausage and snacks all of which we housed immediately upon getting to the hostel. Hiker hunger has officially set in.

The hostel is called the Castle and it looks the part - the building was built in 1909 with beautiful stonework. The floors are a little uneven but it will do for the night. I am showered, scrubbed, shaved, teeth brushed, toes attended to and nails clipped. Laundry is almost done and then it's time for some Grade A relaxation.

What a day. I feel like a million dollars. And maybe a nap.