Day 21

Miles: 17.6
Total Miles: 254.4

Today we made it out of the Smokies in the most beautiful way possible. The cold last night combined with the strong winds and little precipitation made all the trees glossed with a layer of inch-thick ice. Once we'd reached the roads further down we were greeted by trail magic in sodas and Little Debbie snacks. We made it the 10 miles downhill to the Standing Bear Hostel in no time at all. The hostel was just a resupply for us as we pushed up out of the gap. They had all the things hikers could want at pretty decent prices and we only need two or three days of food to get through to Hot Springs.

We hiked up the hill out of the gap around 2 pm and I actually got cell service for the first time in nearly a week. I was so involved in my phone conversation with my parents that as I hiked up the hill I didn't notice the baby Copperhead that I literally stepped over right on the trail. I quickly hung up the phone and made sure to pay much closer attention to where I was walking for the rest of the day. We hiked down into a grove of huge Poplar trees to the shelter and called it a pretty successful day.