Appalachian Trail: Day 29
Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. All the gear mentioned in this post was purchased by me at retail prices. I have no affiliations with any of the companies or brands mentioned.
Thanks to the long day yesterday, today got to be a bit shorter and made it farther along. It was only a 10.4 mile day.
I set off from Cosby Knob Shelter a bit late. I felt a little slower, but I still made decent time. I even took the extra 0.6 miles off trail to head up to the Mt. Cammerer Fire Tower.
That blue blazer trail was a heck of a hike. More rock scramble in places, but the view was amazing. You could see a near 360 degree clear view from the tower. You could see the various towns and roads down in the valley below too.
The rest of the day was mostly downhill to get out of the Smokys. A small dirt road marked Davenport Gap and the end of the Smokys. I then climbed up and over the next mountain just to get to another road.
This next road was the start of the road walk that took me over the Pigeon River Bridge and then under I-40 before climbing up a staircase back into the woods.
As I was passing under I-40, a lady in a car stopped to ask if I needed a ride, but I declined and told her I was hiking the AT.
The staircase lead up and over another mountain and down to a gravel road which I walked the 0.2 miles up to Standing Bear Farm where I hung out with some fellow hikers, did a small resupply to get me to Hot Springs, and then spent the night in a bunk.