Thursday, May 28, 2009

Completing the Smokey's

Sonshine made it back to the Smokey's. She felt a bit cheated on the views in the Smokey Mountains because of the rain and fog. The shelters in the Smokey's fill up fast because of the many day, weekend and section hikers. Everyone has to obtain a permit to stay in the shelters. Due to the bear population only thru-hikers are allowed to camp around the shelters in the Smokey's. In recent years the Smokey Mountains National Park (SMNP) has hosted more than nine million visitors annually. Another way to experience the Smokey Mountains is to rent horses and ride through. Sonshine will be putting this on her list of activities she would like to go back and do at another time. The SMNP is home to the most diverse forest in North America, the park includes more than 100 species of trees, 1,570 species of flowering plants, 60 species of mammals, more than 25 different species of salamanders and 2,000 varieties of mushrooms. Sonshine would highly recommend that you take a trip to the Smokey's once the weather gets warmer to check out the wonders that it has to offer.

Upon completion of the 72 miles in the Smokey Mountains National Park, there is a hostel about 2 miles outside of the park called Standing Bear Hostel. The hostel is a 100 + year old farm that the owners Curtis and Maria have turned into a hostel. The fire at the hostel was very nice and relaxing after a week without fires. Sonshine met many new hikers here, some had been at the hostel for a few days, working in exchange for staying there. Sonshine was told that Curtis and Maria were planning to host their First Annual Standing Bear Farm Hiker Party for the next day.

Sonshine decided to stay the next day to enjoy the party at the hostel. Curtis and some other hikers roasted a whole pig over a fire most of the day and Maria, who also owns a restaurant in town with her Mother prepared the fixings to go with the pork. There was a local band that came to play and the rain held off long enough for them to get set up on the porch of Curtis and Maria's house. (See pictures for photos from the party.) There were about 100 people who came to the party: current hikers, past thru-hikers and people from town. After an hour or two, the party turned into more drinking than eating, so Sonshine went to bed.

It is very unsettling to witness all of the drug use that goes on near towns. Many hikers will go into town to get drunk or carry out alcohol with them to the first shelter on the trail. Many hikers smoke cigarettes as well as abuse other legal and illegal drugs. Sonshine sees more and mores, why the Lord lead her to the mission field of the Appalachian Trail!

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