Standing Bear Gymnastic Facility and Rehabilitation Clinic

Cyclone preparing DiGiorno in the Standing Bear Kitchen


Standing Bear Gymnastic Facility and Rehabilitation Clinic
Davenport Gap Shelter, Standing Bear Farm, then to Groundhog Creek Shelter 10 miles

No bears came during the night and it stayed warm. I had a rough time sleeping on the hard wood floor of the shelter but at least I wasn't cold. A bunch of people showed up and it was no surprise that everyone stayed in the shelter. I had hung up my tent to dry in the night so it wouldn’t be so heavy. Everything is basically wet.

We got out on the trail a little late ‘cause me and Cyclone were sufferin' from the 20 the day before. The GPS said we did 24. We gave the GPS a trail name. His name is now "George." A few miles later, we finally got out of the Smokies. We passed under the I-40 after a few miles and passed over a river and back into the woods. At about 4 miles we saw a funny fluorescent bear paw on the rocks. Somewhere in the dark recesses of our memories we recalled someone talking about the Standing Bear Farm; so, we decided to take a little trip up there (it said 200 yards) and we knew they had some Internet and other stuff (like toilet paper, cokes and DiGiorno).

Standing Bear Farm is kind of like a rustic hostel with minimal amenities; but it’s clean and neat and they do have resupply food, laundry and internet so I guess it’s not that limited. Standing Bear was started a couple of years ago by this cat, Curtis Owen who is also a Former Marine. We got along great after I heard that. We spent an eternity there and figured we wouldn't have a chance at making the 17 miles to shelter. We would have to stop at Groundhog Creek Shelter. We ran into Daniel and his sister Brittany at Standing Bear and a few others came by like HaHa. We ate DiGiorno and frozen microwave barbecue sandwiches, blogged and I bought new Croc knock-offs. I guess you could call them Croc-offs.

We got back on the trail and Cyclone decided to turbo up the hill, passing even the hearty Daniel. I don’t know what got in to Cyclone but he went faster than I have ever seen anyone hike up a hill like that. The trip was fairly uneventful except for the fact that I sweat about two gallons going up this bastard of a hill. Cyclone got in to the shelter about an hour and a half before me and Rolex; but my calf was all messed up and my kneecap was still acting funny.

I set up my hammock and we got some Internet service so I'm updating blogs. The sun is totally down and I can’t see the keyboard. I'm sitting at this picnic table as Cyclone tends the fire and Dixie Dawg is playin my guitar. Kansas brought marshmallows and we're roastin’ some s’mores and playing songs with Daniel, Brittany, Rolex, Cyclone, Me, Dixie Dawg, Kansas, a former Marine, his buddy, and two cats that just rolled in who will probably sleep on the floor. I have a headache from staring at this screen and I'm signing off...

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

20 miles and almost out of the Smokies

Not Davenport; but, an example of a fenced-in Shelter

Peck's Shelter to Davenport Gap Shelter 20 miles

We decided that we would make it a long one today. I had a great night's sleep for once and although I got a little wet, I was really warm and woke up completely refreshed. I took this opportunity to get out of bed at 6:00 and harass my brothers. We got out on the trail early and hauled ass. It was overcast almost all of the day and we started out wearing nothing but our rain gear and underwear. After the first climb, the rain gear came off. I hiked the rest of the day in my underwear and it was great. I'm going to climb every day like that. At the end of the day you just take them off and put on your regular clothes and you are totally dry. It was great!

We got in to the shelter and it had fencing and a gate door to keep the bears out or the humans in, one. There wasn't a bear hang and someone had a fire going already when we got there. We supped and I changed, washed my legs with a bottle of water and decided to stay in the shelter for once. Dan and Brittany were there, they don’t have trail names yet but we’ll think of something. They are brother and sister and they are doing the trail. That’s gotta be even tougher than three brothers. Then again, I’ve only just gotten to know what it’s like to have sisters so maybe it’s easier. Just kidding buys, I know how much you love that one…

It was a killer long day and my knee was doing this thing where it would randomly feel like someone chopped it right in the middle with an axe. I’m not sure if it’s really a problem or if it’s just a random pain but it doesn’t seem to have a reason. I can’t duplicate it by moving my knee in a certain way, it just randomly does it.

I left my Crocs at the former shelter and I'm really pissed about it. First of all, they were completely unique Crocs that I got when the company first came to San Diego. No one had Crocs like this, they were boat-shoe style Crocs with leather uppers and they kept all the pebbles out. Regular Crocs have low backs and whenever you’re walking to go get water, the pebbles and sticks and dirt get in. If one of you is reading this and you find my Crocs back at the Peck Shelter, please mail them to me at PO Box 12070 San Diego 92112. I want those bastards back, bad! Secondly, I don't want to have to run around in camp in my soaking wet, sweaty boots. I need to give my aching feet a rest.

I was pretty worried about bears as I crept out to hang the bear bag with Rolex. It was after dark and I know there are bears around; otherwise, they wouldn’t have a damn, chain-link fence covering the opening of the shelter! We eventually found a tree and I hung the line while Rolex kept his eyes open for Ursas Major, sweeping the dark landscape with his headlamp like a Stalag 13 guard on crack. I thought we were in a disco or something. It was like the grand opening of a downtown restaurant, Hey Rolex, there aren’t any bears up the trees, already!!! Just kidding, he was as emotionally steady as usual; blithe and unconcerned, except for the availability of cell reception so he could call his lady. I hope the bag is high enough...

David AKA "Jukebox"


Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com

Fire Tower Climb and Glowing eyes in the Night

View from the Shuckstack fire tower


Fontana Dam, enter the Smoky Mountain National Park 2200 ft up to rickety fire tower and on to Mollie's Ridge. 12.5 miles

We woke up in the hotel room and packed up. We had to get out of there quick or we were at risk for taking another Zero Day. We headed up to check out and get a big buffet breakfast at the lodge. As we were coming in for breakfast, all of our erstwhile cronies showed up from the trail to check in to the hotel (or at least get some breakfast). We all ate together and then we of the Brotherproof crew headed off to the post office to mail out some more extraneous gear and pick up a few last minute items from the general store before we caught a shuttle back to where we came off of the trail the day before. There should be a name for this. I’d like to call it the Punch Point or the Resumption. That’s it, I like it; “The Resumption.” I’m going to call it that from now on. “Let’s get back to the Resumption, Fellas!”

It didn’t rain yesterday in accordance with The Prophesy as ordained by our Lord and Savior, The National Weather Service and texted to our cell phones by the Father, our Dad; but, it felt like it might today. It was muggy as we hiked over the Fontana Dam and into the Smokies. It’s a huge dam and we got a lot of pictures and wasted a lot of time at the visitor center where they had an enormous relief map of The Smoky Mountain National Forest as well as the projects accomplished by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). We finally got out of the air-conditioned visitor center and someone pointed off to a barely visible fire tower on a distant mountaintop and informed us that we would be there in only 3 or 4 miles. It looked like an eternity both away and up. That’s what matters out here in case you hadn’t figured it out yet: Distance and Elevation. I couldn't believe we were supposed to be there in just over an hour. We were about to embark on a journey on the life-sized relief map of the Smokies. Scale of one foot = one foot.

In two day's we'll be at the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. At Fontana Dam we stood at 1700 feet, going to 4000 feet in just over three miles, then up and down several times over the famous “Rocky Top” and “thunderhead” to 6600 feet in a couple of days at Klingman’s Dome. Then we planned to resupply again in some town called Gatlinburg Tennessee. Today we would cross into the third state on our journey of 14 states. We hoped to reach the Tennessee/North Carolina Border today and follow it all the way through “The Smokies,” which also boasts the highest concentration of Black Bears in the World.

We made it up the legendary Shuckstack climb to the fire tower and precariously negotiated its rickety, rotten steps. We were there with the Walkens, parents of one of the thru-hikers we'd been seeing occasionally. After taking some pictures from what seemed to be a very unsafe perch, we then moved on. We had intended to get past Mollie's Ridge shelter; but by starting so late, it looked like we would have to settle there for the night.

When we got to Mollie's Ridge Shelter, it was pretty full and the ridge runner, Jim, was waiting on some reservations to show up. You have to make reservations to stay in the shelter in the Smokies. We planted our stakes out in the field and set up camp. I met some cool guys from Tennessee and we continued to see some of the same folks we’ve been running into for the past several days. We ate our usual meal and after dark, as I was going to my hammock, I saw a pair of eyes shining yellow out there in the dark. They were tracking me and I didn't like it one bit. I couldn't tell, from my headlamp, how big or just what the creature was but it moved like a cat and I shuffled out loudly toward it and yelled a little to get it to run away. It kept moving a little and then hunkering down. I thought I heard it hiss before it finally took off, I hoped for good. Later that night some thru-hikers came in and said they heard something running toward them and growling at them; which, would explain why the bastards were singing so damn loudly as they strolled in at 2AM.

David AKA "Jukebox"

Website:
http://www.brotherproof.com
Blog:
http://brotherproof.blogspot.com
Pictures:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Film:
http://www.youtube.com/wbaf1
Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/brotherproof
David's Website:
http://www.davidpatrone.com