Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 106 – Hello North Carolina
9th November 2023
Cosby Knob Shelter (1967.3) - Mt Collins Shelter (1995.6)
Daily miles: 28.7
Total miles: 1983.1
It was so warm in the shelter last night I was sweaty. I only had to blow up my mat once. Neptune (who I was next to) said he had to blow his up twice but I didn’t notice him and he didn’t notice me. Once again I intended to leave at 6:30am and didn’t leave until 7am
Honestly today was great. This morning I was hiking on my own and the trail was all misty and beautiful with the trees and the moss. The hiker train passed me and left me behind on the uphill and I thought I was going to be alone all day, but Thigh High and Robin Hood caught up to me and I ended up walking with Robin Hood for a while which was nice because I hadn’t really chatted to him properly yet. We hiked to the shelter together and I wasn’t going to go to the shelter but then I heard voices and it turns out everyone was there.
Sunrise
Privy
Looking down on the shelter we stayed in last night
It’s going to be a good day
The trail is so nice
Trying to keep up with the hiker train
Trail maintenance
Here comes the mist
There might be a view here
Too misty
The mist has its own charm
Thigh High and Robin Hood
The Smokys are just so pretty
Hiking with Robin Hood and his cool backpack
Hanging out at the shelter
Choas
There is no water for ages so everyone was eating their lunch around 10am. I ate my leftover pizza, chugged a bottle of water on the advice of my friends and then carried out a bottle.
The rest of the day was a mix of hiking with people, with Sidequest for a while then with May Queen and Sidequest. Then we picked up Neptune for a while. And Thigh High. And Safety.
Sometimes we would go uphill and I would get left behind and then I would find them sat on a rock enjoying the views and I would be caught back up again.
That trail though!
Love the moss
The Smokys are the most visited national park
More than 13 million visitors in 2023
Hiking with Sidequest
I took way too many photos today
Photo by Safety Inspector
Neptune is having some problems
Me and my 7 year old backpack
Views across the Smoky Mountains
Views across the Smoky Mountains
May Queen, Safety Inspector, Sidequest, Neptune (and Cal behind the trees)
Something was funny
Views across the Smoky Mountains
Hiker train
Moss and rocks
Enjoying the views
The view we were looking at
We took a side trail to Charlie’s Bunion and we found everyone there on the rock so we all had a sit on the rock.
Side trail to Charlies bunion
Jet and Cal
Hikers on a rock
Toe enjoying her chips
Scrambling to Charlies Bunion
Puff Puff on Charlies Bunion
The clouds are quite threatening!
Hikers on a rock
We stopped to get water at a piped spring, it was so warm this morning that everyone got really sweaty and damp and then the weather cooled, but our clothes didn’t dry out so whenever we stopped hiking we got cold really quickly so we had to keep moving.
We then descended to Newfound Gap where the Tennessee / North Carolina state line is and we got some trail magic from some tourists who took our photo. They gave us fruit and snacks. And he wanted to take our photo to inspire his son who is doing the trail next year.
Hiking with Jet
Goodbye Tennessee, hello North Carolina
Love this crew
We then all grouped together to do a road walk to the shelter. We had done our dues on the trail today and the road walk didn’t cut off any miles, it’s just easier and faster to walk on the road.
So me, Toe, May Queen, Cal, Sidequest, Safety, Thigh High, Late Start, Jet and Lemonhope all walked together. Robin Hood was just a bit behind us. Neptune is riding the red line.
Road walking
Road walks are better as a group
Headlamps locked and loaded
Trying to beat the dark
We had about 45 minutes on the road before it got dark and then we got our headlamps out and did some shadow dancing from the lights behind us. Sidequest had some music playing and we all had a bit of a party road walk which was very fun. The shadow dancing did make me feel slightly motion sick!
We hiked fast along the road, got to the junction of the trail and hiker trained it to the shelter. We arrived en mass to spoil Howard and Hendrix’s peace and quiet, but we were happy to see they were the only ones at the shelter so we all piled in. We rolled in just before 7pm
I was starving and ate my noodles that I have been carrying for quite some time without eating, and I had a hot chocolate.
Then the priority was to lay down and rest my weary body. Everyone has been really funny tonight and there had been some good banter flying around
My feet have a bit of a throb on and my body is getting very tired.
