Sitting in the Standing Bear Hostel waiting for a Digiorno. Weird, but warm. We had a fantastic walk out of Hot Springs yesterday. Pretty much straight up. The goal for the day being Max Patch. This is one of those spots you can't wait for-and it didn't disappoint. We did a 19+ to get there only we didn't get the sunset. Wind was howling and the temps were dropping drastically so we camped on a ridge right next to the meadow. Keyword: cold❗
I believe it was in the low 20s making this the coldest night we've encountered. We were fine. We had started hearing how serious other hikers had had it later as we encountered our friends. Sadly, Budget and Buffalo are now done. Bearing down on 2,000 miles, they called it quits today after a miserable night. They'll give the finish a try in Spring.
We enjoyed the sunrise on Max Patch and it was fantastic. Still really cold I ended up wearing something on my legs while hiking for the first time. Going back to shorts tomorrow (I think).
Just after noon we summited Snowbird Mountain. Been hearing about a trail angel up there with some great chow. Indeed it was! Five hotdogs, hot chocolate, a couple lemonades, Reese's cups and an apple pie later, we ambled out for our downhill to the hostel. We think tonight will be another super cold one so we bought a couple bunks with wood fire.
In 3 miles, we'll be in The Great Smokey Mountains we we gain altitude and stay there. If we are going to get snow, it's going to be now.
Decision time too. There is a big hiker feast in Hot Springs (where we left yesterday) on Thanksgiving. We can arrange a shuttle back but it would mean a couple things: 2 low mile days followed by an almost zero on Thursday. We would get home almost two days later. More on this later…
Miles remain : 241
Completed : 1,947.7
Closed miles due to forest fires : 80
Potential completion date : Nov 30
Closed miles due to forest fires : 80
Potential completion date : Nov 30
35°47′10″ N 83°6′6″ W
Elevation : 1,810
Low tonight : 26°
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