Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 25, Sunday, 4/10 – I had to pack up my tent, so I was one of the last to leave the shelter this morning. Just before I was leaving, Story Time came into the shelter to cook breakfast. It was a cold night last night, and Story Time had tent camped. She must have been cold because she said her morale was low. She is literally the most positive person ever, so seeing her down was not going to fly. I gave her a Reese’s, she started dancing and was back to her cheery self.

Sprite and I were hiking together this morning. We passed Steady, who was camping in the shelter with us last night. She is an impressive hiker. She is 69 years old, and has hiked in New Zealand, Europe, and Hawaii. By the looks of it, her pack is heavier than mine, but that does not seem to slow her down. Based on her hiker registration number, she must have only started the hike around 5 days ahead of me. Inspirational.

Right before we made it to Max Patch, we all ran into Trail Angels. Topper, Ariana, James, and Pip had an unbelievable setup. They had burgers, hotdogs, chips, brownies, fruit, veggies, and much much more. Topper and Pip attempted a thru hike in 2005, so they knew exactly what thru hikers would want. Unfortunately, both of their hikes were cut short due to injury, but they made it quite far. James is 7, likes football, and plays baseball. I asked him if he wants to thru hike someday. He said he likes hiking, but not far distances.

After an unbelievably large lunch from the Trail Angels, we all hiked up to Max Patch. The views from Max Patch were amazing. I didn’t know what to expect, but I wasn’t expecting a 360 degree panoramic view. Anyone traveling to the Smoky Mountains should also make it over to Max Patch.

In total, we hiked 18 miles to 267. Genie, Liz, Willow, Sprite, and I are all stealth camping about seven miles South of Hot Springs. It’s nice weather, and we arrived to camp late, so we are all just sleeping under a tarp.

I tried to hang a bear bag tonight, broke a few branches, then tangled the bear line in some branches. The food bags are hung, but it’s a pretty sad looking bear hang…