Sunday, June 5th

Standing Bear Farm Hostel (241.5 mi) to Deer Park Mountain Shelter (271.7 mi)

Hiking Miles: 30.2

Total Ascent: 7,955.7 ft

Total Descent: 7,351.7

Total Grade: 504.3 ft/mi

Steps: 69,321

I got up in darkness at 4:20 AM, made some cold oatmeal and instant breakfast in the bunk room, and ate it before heading out. I walked down the stone gravel road with my headlamp illuminated to start today’s hike and reached the trailhead at 5:09 am. However, shortly into the hike, my headlamp died leaving me in shear darkness, so I quickly switched to phone light. It was a bit eery but not scary, quite peaceful actually. Soon after when sunlight broke through the trees, I turned off my phone light and slid my cell phone in my pants pocket.

There was a lot of uphill climbing this morning; I met one guy on trail who swiftly passed me without trekking poles (he was a light-weight ultra pack hiker who carried the minimal amount of weight possible). I met him again at the FAA Tower at the top of Snowbird Peak.

Later in the morning, I passed a young lady whose trail name was “Restless” (self-named) because she always kicked her feet in her sleep. I met her again at the top of Max Patch at 11:15 am when we both stopped for a lunch break. I also ran into a group of folks on horseback as I approached a utility road that crossed the trail.

The trail to Max Patch was peaceful, a pleasant climb.

When I reached the summit, it was time for me to take a break and just take in the views. This was a popular, scenic spot where many day hikers stopped to totally enjoy the beautiful 360-views. While I rested and waited for Stevie, I met a couple who were day hiking. The man had a cool camera and he was taking several photos. His wife was totally impressed that Stevie and I were thru-hiking the AT, and she asked if we could take a photo together.

Stevie left Standing Bear Farm at 7:10 am and reached the peak of Max Patch around noontime. This meant he made up 1.5 hours on me over a 5 hour stretch (He’s FAST!!). While at Max Patch, we video chatted with Teresa, and also talked to two brothers who were hiking just that day – and they were funny. 

Once back on trail, we decided to hike another 9.9 miles beyond the shelter we originally planned to stop at whereas it was still early. At that shelter, we met a 78-year old gentleman that in his younger years hiked 21K feet up Mount Everest. So cool!

As we were headed towards the main town in Hot Springs, NC, we met another hiker sitting on a rock and who had stopped to eat. He was pondering whether he should hike another 8 miles into town as well (and stay at the Laughing Heart Hostel), or stop for the night along the way. A few hundred yards later, the highlight of my day happened. A mid-sized stocky black bear came barreling downhill and swiftly crossed the trail path twenty feet in front of me (going right to left), and continued down a steep hill. I was so shocked but excited to have seen my first bear on trail! He must have been running from something; he was taking down small trees in the process. Moments later I caught up with Stevie who had heard some bounding noise and thought perhaps the hiker we saw might have fallen. But it was a much bigger rumble than a fall to the ground.

Our second half to the day was much easier hiking wise, having a few bumps and swift downhills. When we finally reached the Deer Park Mountain Shelter, we hit our FIRST 30-mile day on trail! We were only 3 miles from the town in Hot Springs at this point (it was 7:30 pm) and we pondered whether it was worth pushing to the hostel. We were concerned about vacancies. We had very spotty service, and if we could reach the Laughing Heart Hostel (or perhaps another place, we also wanted to know if they had cable so we could watch the second half of the Celtics-Warriors (Game 2 of the Finals) playoff game. We were able to call Teresa to see if she could help with checking hostel availability and sports coverage. Laughing Heart was our only option but they had no television. So we decided to pitch our tents and camp for the night, especially whereas we were tired and our muscles were stiffening up.

We ate dinner and sat by a roaring fire started by a barefoot hiker (who hiked 3 miles without shoes). Close to the fire, the man was trying to walk across a log (as a fun challenge) while maintaining his balance. He fell a few times before finally succeeding. Tonight was Stevie’s last night carrying the bear can because our plan was to ship it home once we hit the post office in town. The hiker we met on trail just before the bear sighting also stayed and tented next to us for the night. Unfortunately he snored loudly so it was going to be a very restless night for me. But I was still pumped that I saw my first bear and that we hiked a 30-mile day!