Finish and Fires

Bubbles and Sprout summited Springer Mountain on November 19, finishing their 2198.7 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail.  Between the last blog that was received (November 5th) and their summit there was a fire on the trail.  The pictures below are from that time.

Getting ready to summit with Poppa Lip

Bubbles and Sprout sitting on the rock.  Nice photobomb Flying Dutchman!

Before and after pictures of Smudgy Cheeks, Kathleen, Bubbles, and Sprout
March 27 to November 20

Smoke on the trail

Fire at night

Fires at night

That is not clouds, it's smoke.

Smoke on the trail

Nantahala Outdoor Center

Sprout Day 223 (Saturday, November 5, 2016)

We woke up early but it was so cold and hard to get out of the sleeping bag! It was also really quiet at the shelter where we were staying. It's quiet tonight too, unless you're close to the shelter because there are a lot of weekend people staying there.

This is Icewater Spring Shelter and it's three miles from Newfound Gap. We hiked 19.8 miles today and it was a beautiful walk all day. I've been so happy to be in the Smoky Mountains. It's been nothing but great. We're lucky because a lot of the leaves have fallen and we can sneak views in every so often. Plus, there's some great views along the way.

We were going to leave early today but the sun started to come up and it was too beautiful to just leave. We sat and finished our breakfast and drank coffee. A couple we met at the 501 Shelter in Pennsylvania got ahold of Bubbles today and offered to pick us up tomorrow at Newfound Gap and drive us into Gatlinburg for a resupply. They live in Georgia and offered to drive up and meet us in the morning around 9:00. That helps us out so much because we were going to have to hitch to town and it's a 13 mile hitch. I can't wait to see them again. It's been a long time. I remember them saying they would get ahold of us when we were down here and do some trail magic!

It's cold again tonight but no snow. I can't wait to get into Gatlinburg tomorrow. I remember the last time I was here was when I was younger with my Uncle Matt and Aunt Abby. I'm sure back then I would have never guessed I would be walking all the way here someday! It'll be cool to see the town again and experience it now on my hike.

Day: 223
Miles hiked: 19.8
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1984.4
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bear: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chickens: 1
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24

Crawfish: 1
Deer: 21
Donkeys: 2
Groundhog: 1
Grouse: 1
Horses: 17
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Peacock: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads:
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Sprout Day 221 (Friday, November 3, 2016)

Last night, when we were sleeping, all of us thought we might of heard a bear outside of our tents. Bubbles, Whiskers, Toad, and I are still hiking together. There was definitely something out there walking around and crunching on apples or nuts. It wasn't a squirrel, it was a lot bigger.   Regardless, nothing happened other than hearing something rustling around right outside the tent.

Not too long after we left camp this morning dogs started barking real close in the area and not too long after that we heard two gunshots echo close by.

We hiked 20.3 miles and we're staying at Standing Bear Hostel. We set our tent up outside along with Toad but Whiskers got a bunk inside. It's supposed to rain tonight but I'm not too worried about it. As soon as we got here we set up camp and got a pizza from the hostel. They have a small resupply store but we have plenty of food. They sell frozen pizza and drinks and after a long day of hiking both of those sounded fantastic. Splat, another hiker we've been hiking around the past few days was here and some other section hikers. Two of the section hikers were from Akron and Massillon area. It's a small world and we couldn’t believe we saw someone from back home tonight.

We are basically camping at the base of the climb up to the Smoky Mountains and it’s unbelievable. All day I was getting a little view here and there of the climb that waits for us in the morning. It looks a little intimidating but I know we will we be fine. There's nothing the trail can throw at us at this point that we can't handle and I'm actually excited to get into the Smokies. We're probably going to see a lot more bears since there's no hunting in the Smoky Mountains. I'm going to be sure to hang my food bag a little higher and a little further out for the next week.

We got up early and got out of camp around 6:30. It felt good to get up, get breakfast on, and get packed and ready before the sun came up. It was nice making cowboy coffee today too. It hit the spot before we had to start hiking for the day. When I make cowboy coffee it reminds me of being a kid and spending time at Nanny and Papaw’s house. Nanny would always make coffee in the morning for Papaw using a French press, or something similar, and make it on the stove. It would make the whole house smell more like coffee than a regular coffee pot would. When I get the water boiling, and dump the grounds in, a huge steam full of the smell of coffee hits me right in the face. It always reminds me of being younger and spending time at their house.

We crossed over Max Patch today. It was awesome to be there. I remember watching videos back home last winter of other thru hikers hiking over this section. It's a huge bald area right before the Smoky Mountains. The views are some of the finest on the Appalachian Trail. It was a little cloudy, and the wind was blowing, but it was a beautiful 360 degree view.

We're only about 51 miles from being a 2000 miler and it's just overwhelming to think about! I'm really proud of how far we've made it and couldn't imagine being here with anyone else other than my best friend, Bubbles. It's great how well we help each other out and help each other accomplish so much while being out here.

Tomorrow our plan is to wake up early and make some breakfast and get moving. The problem is it's already 1:00 a.m. and I need to get to sleep so I can get up early and not be so tired. If it's raining hard in the morning we might sleep a little longer to see if it passes. It's going to be a tough climb tomorrow but I'm just happy we start first thing and get it over with! We got to take a shower today here at Standing Bear and I'm ready to get back on the grind tomorrow. We're just trying to finish  strong! 

Day: 221
Miles hiked: 25.7
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1953.9
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bear: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chickens: 15
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 21
Donkeys: 2
Groundhog: 1
Grouse: 1
Horses: 17
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Peacock: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads:
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1

Sprout Day 219-220 (Tuesday & Wednesday, November 1-2, 2016)

We hiked a little over 13 miles to get in to Hot Springs. It was a tough hike because it was hot and humid and the terrain was rough. Coming down into town was really rocky. It's crazy because the weather is unseasonably hot right now but it can change at anytime. One day it's hot and the next it's cold. We've heard from northbound hikers that there was snow in the Smokies last week.

We hiked out of Hot Springs today and went another 13 miles. We are staying at Walnut Mountain Shelter. We're staying up the hill from the shelter and can see the Smokies from here! It's amazing to see what we're about to climb. The climb into the smokies is ridiculous.

Hot Springs was a great trail town. As soon as we walked into town we stopped by the local pub, I think the name was Spring Creek Tavern, for burgers and a drink. It was really good. We had to go next door to the Outfitters to get our permit for the Smokies. You have to get online, pay $20, and print off a piece of paper and carry it with you to the Smokies. After that we went down to the Laughing Heart Hostel and paid $10 to tent outside. Then, we picked up our resupply package.

There's a really good local market that makes good subs so we each got a sub, ate half, and packed the other half out today for lunch. We were planning on leaving Laughing Heart early today but we forgot we had to send stuff home and had to wait on the post office to open. They didn't open until 9:00 a.m. After the post office one thing lead to another and we didn't get out of town until around 11:00.

It was a tough climb out of Hot Springs and the heat didn't help. Since it's November we saw a bunch of bear hunters out today with their dogs. We were sitting at the top of the first climb, eating the other half of that sub, and saw a dog walking down trail. He had a couple GPS collars on so we knew it was someone's hunting dog. Not too long after that we heard a bunch of dogs barking and howling and knew they were on a bear. About an hour later we saw two hunters walking up the trail and I stopped to talk to them for a minute. They said they've killed 7 bears in the past 2 days and that they'll get at least 45 this year. They're only allowed one bear per hunter but they hunt in big groups and everyone helps each other out. They said the dogs have been on two bears today. We will see a lot of bears in the smokies because they're protected there. No hunting in the Smokies. I bet all the bears around here are making a run for the Smoky Mountains!

Water has been so dry lately so we had Poppa Lip send us some Aquamira drops for when there's just stagnant water. If there's not too much flow, and the water looks nasty, I'd rather filter and chemically treat it. Plus there are two hikers about a day in front of us who had the norovirus. It doesn’t matter what filter you have it - won't filter out noro. It has to be chemically treated it too. I don't want either of us to get sick this late in the hike. We have to finish strong and to do that we need to be healthy.

Day: 219-220
Miles hiked: 25.7
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 1933.9
Baby Bear: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Bear: 1
Bluegill: 2
Butterflies: 8
Chickens: 15
Chipmunks: 3
Cows: 24
Crawfish: 1
Deer: 21
Donkeys: 2
Groundhog: 1
Grouse: 1
Horses: 17
Hummingbird: 1
Inchworm: 1
Really Big Dog: 1
Mice: 2
Moose: 2
Nest of bugs: 2
Newts: 2
Owl: 1
Peacock: 1
Rabbit: 1
Red Squirrel: 1
Skunk: 1
Snail: 1
Snake: 3
Squirrels: 12
Toads:
Trout: 2
Turkeys: 4
Turtles: 107
Vultures: 6
Woodpecker: 1