OPEHIKES

A day of rest… well almost 24 hours of straight sleep if we’re being completely honest. I head out the door of laughing heart hostel and make my way across town to wander back off into the wilderness. My stomach still a little upset from whatever it was that hit me, which I suspect to be food poisoning. I had zero appetite for anything, drinking water even felt unsettling. The climb up lovers leap was a bit of a struggle, slower pace but managing the hike none the less. The views at the summit, looking back to hot springs were astounding. Looking over the town that I had just spent nearly 3 days in felt awesome.  The day, much like every other, pointless ups and downs and the trail that skirts around the tops of most mountains. I left before the sun had peaked over the horizon and planned to stop by night, the only real way that I’d get some miles in feeling the way I did. The hike was spent mostly alone, though I can’t complain, visiting Whiterock and Fire Scald Knob had definitel...

Woke abruptly at 3 in the morning to the sound of thunder in the bunkhouse at Standing Indian… turns out, this was just the elusive Mike (the dog guy) who wasn’t in the bunk next to me when I went to bed. I woke up early the next morning and gathered food from the hostels pantry for a resupply and took off to climb some mountains. Snowbird being the biggest out of my two day stretch to Hot Springs, it was a good warm up first thing in the morning, 3000 feet up over 4 miles, my legs were on fire.  Mid afternoon and making my way over Snowbird, I stumbled down towards Brown Gap where I had planned on taking a “pack off” break and eating lunch. The downhill was graded rather nicely and it made the walk a little more enjoyable. As I reached the gap I noticed a wooden sign placed off the side of the trail, us hikers usually stop to look at the wooden signs because they tell you where you’re at, what attractions/features are close by, etc. This one happened to read “Trail Magic Ahead”. O...

A night in Gatlinburg well spent. Dozer, 109 and I emerged from the hotel early in the morning and wandered into town for a quick bite to eat. We had planned on stopping at the outfitter for a few items and a shuttle out of town but we arrived entirely too early for that. Sitting on the stoop to the NOC, dialing shuttle numbers appeared to be unsuccessful. Meanwhile a man in an old pickup truck pulled into the parking lot, eyeing us down he knew for sure that he found a handful of hikertrash. “Y’all heading up to Newfound Gap?”, we certainly were. A brief conversation and we were all piling in and on our way. Dozer, thinking quick made sure to snap a picture of the license plate before we left.  We arrived at Newfound Gap 15 miles later and what felt like an hour long car ride up the mountain. The man provided some sodas and snacks as trail magic and we set off to complete the second half of the Smokys.  The weather for the next few days looked promising, no rain or heavy wind...

I started my day at the Fontana Hotel, it was still pretty early and I was excited to grab some breakfast. I stumbled my way out the door and down to the reception area to see what was on the menu…  individually wrapped muffins and a shot of orange juice. It’s not much, but I’ll take it! I finished eating, grabbed my backpack and made my way towards the shuttle that was provided by the Hotel. Yashua drove me back down to the Marina where I left off as to not miss an inch trail. I stepped off towards the dam, following the edge of the water for roughly two miles, eventually reaching the famous “Hilton” shelter that was erected next to the lake. Checking it out for a brief moment and taking a moment to talk to three other hikers Tink, Double Time and Mike (the dog guy). I ventured down the roadway towards the Dam that was currently under construction, gazing up into the Smoky’s where the peaks of the mountains were completely isolated by clouds. The rain had started to pick up and I ...