How in the world can we continue to climb “up” when we are already “up?” Seriously? Are you kidding me? I can almost reach up and touch a wheel of the helicopter transporting items to Mount LeConte, and we continue to climb even higher into the clouds!
The day begins with rain, but as we waken to break camp, the rain begins to slack off and we scramble to break down and pack up as quick as possible (without our morning coffee) only to climb into the clouds.
Our goal today is to skirt the rain (if possible) and get as far away from the Norovirus (discovered in The Smokies) as we can! In other words… we’d like to hike over 13 miles today and exit the Smokie Mountains (which would mean that we would literally hike through The Great Smokie Mountains in only 6 days… not bad for a couple of older hikers, huh?).
The challenge is that the higher we climb… the terrain of the trail becomes more and more rocky… hence A ROCKY WALK IN THE CLOUDS!
Now while you might think, “Oh… how nice… an all natural foot massage!” Think again! Every step is like someone is pounding your feet with a sledge hammer!
The cool thing is that no matter what the terrain is… rocky… muddy… roots… wet leaves… or just a creek of rain water… we are advertising for the company that supports us and us them!
I wonder though if our Hiker Stinch is a good representation? Maybe not… but ya gotta admit that Slipper’s pack is nicely appointed (that’s Realtor talk for… “looks pretty nice or cool”).
