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We awoke late, and made coffee and hot chocolate. We still had some banana nut bread, so that that was breakfast, as it was pretty heavy and we were eating heaviest-to-lightest. On the agenda for the day was a nice day hike up a ridge to a place called High Rocks, 5 miles each way. Jordan was less than enthused about these additional 10 miles of walking -- up a ridge no less -- but she was willing to give it a shot. Walking without 50 or 60 pounds on your back is really rather pleasant, we found. We had packed 4 liters of water, lunch and a few other basic hiking items, so we were lightly burdened, and the woods were grand. The time flew by -- even the hike up the ridge. 
The Smokies are like a cross between the Sierras and Hawaii. The variety of flowers and trees and insects is actually astounding. The pics don't at all do it justice.
However, before we had reached the top, it began to sprinkle, and then to actually rain. We donned our 'emergency ponchos', which the ladies model below, and continued walking upwards. The higher we got, the harder it rained. Soon, we began hearing thunder very loudly and nearby. The prospect of walking uphill, into hard rain, with lightening strikes waiting for us up on the ridge top, did not sound good at all. So, with something like a quarter mile left to the top, we turned back, a bit disappointed but glad to be out of range of lightening.
After we had walked down only a short distance -- maybe a half mile of walking or so -- it stopped raining and we took off our ponchos. We had many wet creek fordings on this hike, as evidenced below. A 'wet' fording is one wherein one must walk into the water, instead of making use of a log footbridge, or by hopping from exposed rock to rock. With no pack on, a wet fording is no big deal -- you can go carefully barefoot, or carefully in Tevas, or carefully in full hiking boots. We opted for the barefoot mode, as the water was not so cold here as to immediately numb the feet.
Snugly back at camp, with all our hatches battened down in preparation for rain. We were given 4 rolls of travel toilet paper as kind of a joke before we left Santa Barbara by our friends the Edmundsons. We'd been carrying them around for nearly 3 months, so decided to use them on our backpacking trip. We took all 4 of them, even though there were only 3 of us. Well, it quickly became apparent that these rolls of toilet paper weren't going to be adequate. We began rationing TP. The girls got 2 squares for peeing and we all got 8 squares for pooping. Do not try this at home. There is an element of risk involved in doing your morning's morning when you only have 8 squares of toilet paper with you. If this seems indelicate to discuss, imagine how the trip might have been for us if we had been forced to use leaves (which we weren't). We could earn bragging rights if we used less than our ration. OK, enough.
Dinner that night was pesto pasta with white beans and sun dried tomatoes, with an extravagant half cup of red wine, and peanut brittle for dessert. More cards and Bryson prior to sleep. |
