4/27-238 miles
I was hit a couple of times by grape size hail. I tried to stay under the pine trees for protection but even then it hurt. Some of the guys that got hit had bruises.
The next day, many of us were so sick of the Smokys that we hiked 18 miles to a place called Standing Bear Hostel, three miles past the Park. I got a bed in the bunkhouse for $15, which included a shower and laundry. The laundry was a washboard in a tub and an electric dryer that smelled really bad. They have a small selection of food and I resupplied for the next section.
I’ve met a lot of interesting people on the trail. I hiked most of the Smokys with a 73 year old German lady. We had about the same speed and would leap-frog each other every now and then. We stayed in the same shelter each night and I learned some of her history. She came to Quebec when she was 18. She has hiked both the AT and the PCT in sections, and also the Camino (??) in Spain two times. She loves to hike and her husband likes to stay home; it works out good.
I also ran into Brooke, the girl I met way back in Georgia. She is 24, fresh out of college, hiking solo on the AT. She is a fast hiker and will probably go ahead of me soon. I seem to meet up with the same crowd every few days. It’s funny how it works.