If you’re on top of Max Patch with sunny, clear weather to take full advantage of the 360° panorama, then there’s nothing left to be said: you’ve had a great day. And we had a magnificent day!

As soon as we came out on the lower slopes, we knew we’d lucked out in the weather department. We could see all the way back to the Smokies, plus Snowbird Mountain (with its FAA tower) where we’d been yesterday, and Bluff Mountain where we were going today. We ate an early lunch on top, and then took a quick nap in the sunshine. It was hard to pull ourselves away, but we wanted to do enough miles today for an early afternoon arrival into Hot Springs tomorrow.

We were passed by all the young machos with whom we have shared company since the Smokies: Badger, Trooper, Jiffy Pop, King of the Hill and Hotwheels. They too wanted to get a great distance under their belts today, so they could be at the Smoky Mountain Diner in Hot Springs in time for breakfast tomorrow. It’s truly a fact of the trail: when you get a bunch of thru-hikers together, invariably the conversation turns to food. We’re all starving from burning ~6,000 calories a day, we’re all sick and tired of GORP, oatmeal, and granola bars; and we all want home-cooked meals that include meat, vegetables, and fresh bread. And we talk about it incessantly!

The afternoon route was mostly downhill to Lemon Gap, which was fine by us in the heat of the day. We ended the day with two tough climbs: up Walnut Mountain, and most of the way up Bluff Mountain.

Tonight we share a spacious, flat campsite with only one other person, a bearded (and quite the beard it is!) section hiker named Roger. We’re in bed early tonight, even for us and as we write our journal entry, we can hear an owl calling and the moonlight graces our little portable traveling home. A distant thunderstorm puts on a show better than any fireworks display, and we enjoy the sight and sound once we realize it’s not heading our way…