In the morning while I was packing my gear, a fat grey squirrel visited the front porch of my cabin. He was overly friendly... Feeling sorry for him, I broke off a small piece of protein bar to give the little guy. I extended my hand with generosity and the little bastard immediately leaped from the porch rail onto my arm. He missed the protein bar and sunk his dirty little teeth into my hand!!! He actually drew blood!!! He would not leave me alone... I now officially hate squirrels!! LOL.
The climb out of Standing Bear was tough, mostly uphill with steep switch backs. This was a test of endurance today. The climb brought How Bout and I to the summit of Snowbird Mountain. It is a grassy bald. From the summit, the visibility was 100 + miles. We stared in amazement viewing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the distance. We could see most of the mountain range through the park. It was a great feeling knowing we hiked the 73 miles through the Smoky's and it was now behind us in the distance.
Yesterday How Bout received his two drop boxes that he missed in Fontana. So today his pack was extra heavy with goodies his wife and mother sent him. He let me know several times throughout the day just how heavy it was. Being the good friend I am, I sunk up behind him and added rocks one by one to his Crock shoes that were strapped to his pack!!!! LOL. He was exhausted at the end of the day...
We stopped at Groundhog Creek Shelter for lunch. There we met two section hikers from Knoxville out for the weekend. I had How Bout take a photo of me at the shelter. I am loosing weight daily. My shorts have been falling down so i fashioned a belt out of para cord... hillbilly style! After two peanut butter and jelly tortilla sandwiches, we hit the trail. We decided to push on to Max Patch Road which is .7 miles from the summit of the famous Max Patch Bald. The plan is to pack up before dawn, reach the summit and watch the sunrise over the Bald. Hopefully get a few nice photos. We set up camp next to a babbling stream under a thick canopy of Rhododendrons. The sound of the creek will either help me sleep soundly or make me get up to pee countless times tonight...
Side Note: I have become very interested in the "Indian Marker" trees. Along the trail, I have seen quite a few and photographed all of them. The Cherokee Indians used these trees as markers for trails, water, direction and some researchers believe hidden gold. The tree is also called an "Indian Thong Tree". The Cherokees would bend saplings of the tree and fasten it with strips of animal hyde called "Thongs". If you look closely at the base of the bent limb, many still have scars where the thongs were fastened to the trunk. Researchers estimate these tress to be 150 - 200 years old. Each time I see one, I stop and wonder what it was used for and try to visualize the Native American bending that very sapling. To me it's intriguing.
Today I hiked 12.6 miles mostly uphill. I was reminded of the song by Hanna Montana, "The Climb". It pretty much paraphrases today's uphill battles and my life in general.
So far I have hiked 253.4 miles on the Appalachian Trail and many more off the trail...
