Feeding Hungry Hikers

From Helen:


Mark carrying Jay's pack into camp

Mark and I spent Friday and Saturday hiking to meet Jay and Sarah at Mt. Collins Shelter and then hiking back out to Newfound Gap with them. Our purpose, besides enjoying the outing and seeing Sarah and Jay, was to bring them Krystal Burgers.

Helen packs Krystals
in the bear vault

We packed in 30 Krystal Burgers. Twenty of them fit in our bear canister. The other 10 were strapped to my pack in a white plastic sack so that the Krystal logo couldn't be seen. We weren't as worried about bears following the scent of the burgers as we were about other hikers trying to slip a burger out of the sack if they saw what it was!



Jay on Krystal burger #10. Blair in the background

 


Sarah eating green pepper from her Krystal box



 When Jay and Sarah realized we actually had 30 burgers they asked if another hiker, Blair, could join us in the feast. We went to a spot out of sight of other hikers at the shelter (No sense in being cruel after all.) and chowed down on burgers, fresh green pepper, and carrots. We had a wonderful meal together. Yes, the Krystals were cold after being driven 40 minutes and carried uphill for 5 miles, but they hit the spot, especially for hikers living on couscous, ramen and granola.



Pancake Pantry - starting on the second plate

The next day we drove Jay, Sarah and Blair into Gatlinburg for yet another feast. We somehow managed to fit 5 backpacks, 8 trekking poles, all of Jay's restock food plus his suitcase that we had brought, and 5 people into the Prius. Ok, we had to hold backpacks on our laps, but we all fit! Pancakes were the current desire, and we found the Pancake Pantry and ordered to our heart's content. After that it was back to Newfound Gap to get Jay on the trail for the rest of his day's hike. We had come down 5 miles that morning, and Jay was slated to hike 6 miles further to his next stop.



Two days later Mark and I were hoping to see Jay again and restock his food once more. On Monday night he planned to be at Standing Bear Farm/Hostel http://www.standingbearfarm.com/ off of Waterville School Road. Jay actually arrived at Standing Bear by 11:30AM! He said as he's been hiking the miles just seem to fly by; either the terrain is getting easier or he's getting more fit or more used to it. We bribed him into staying at the hostel with the promise of pizza, and on our way there stopped in Newport to order two larges, made to order - one for Jay, one for us.

 

Laundry day at Standing Bear Hostel

Jay is looking and feeling good. He led us around the hostel; it is rustic, charming, peaceful, and full of character. (Can't miss the wall of the shower made of different-colored empty beer bottles in the shape of the AT symbol. Look on the website for a photo.) We walked down the gravel road to the crossing of the AT and looked at the abundant beautiful wildflowers among healthy patches of poison ivy along the road. Eating pizza in the great outdoors was wonderful; it was a beautiful, breezy, just-cool-enough evening. The hostel has two friendly dogs in residence. Both came to beg pizza from us, without success. But they managed to cart off one of Jay's empty chocolate milk bottles to parts unknown.



Jay and Helen protecting pizza from the Standing Bear dogs



Every time we see Jay we want to slough off the routine cares of city life and don our packs and start hiking. Following his journey has been a wonderful way to enjoy getting out in the woods.