There will be rain

If the theme for Monday's hike was "enjoy the little things, then the theme for today's hike was perseverance.  

By the numbers, I hiked a total of 19.8 miles with 6.4 of them being new miles.  I could have made this a much shorter hike by simply doing an out and back on the trails I needed, but there would have been no fun in that.

Monday's hike ended with me hiking down Pretty Hollow Gap.  Tuesday's hike began with me hiking up Pretty Hollow Gap.  Not much had changed since the day before.  The water shoe was still in place and there was still quite a bit of mud at the top.  I did see two elk near the intersection with Palmer Creek Trail.

At the end of Pretty Hollow Gap I turned right onto Mount Sterling Ridge Trail.  I saw grouse, a deer and a fleeting glimpse of some wild hogs along this section of trail.  I had hiked this section before so I knew it alternated between rocky and uphill and flat and muddy.  

At the end of Mount Sterling Ridge trail I turned down the Mount Sterling Trail.  I had already decided to skip the sidetrip to the fire tower because I was hiking alone.  The fact that it was super cloudy made it an easy decision to stick to.  Mount Sterling was always steep, mostly rocky and often wet.  I saw two fellow hikers on this trail, the only people I saw on the trail all day.  Near the intersection of Long Bunk Trail it started to rain.  Not a washout, but enough that I had to dig my poncho out of my backpack.  

At the end of Mount Sterling I turned around and hiked half a mile back to Long Bunk Trail.  It stopped raining soon after I started down Long Bunk so I was able to put my poncho away for a bit.  The upper and lower reaches of Long Bunk were pleasant.  The middle half of the trail was extremely wet and muddy.  And just to draw attention to this fact, it started raining cats and dogs on me while I navigated the narrow, wet, muddy trail.  After the fourth or fifth time I stepped in mud over my boots, I was wishing I was on my nice comfy couch.  But all things eventually come to an end.  Soon after the rain stopped, I came to the Hannah Cemetery.  As morbid as it sounds, I always enjoy visiting the old cemeteries in the park.  

This gravestone was quite interesting.  There was an engraving on the back that I could not make out.

Two graves side by side had matching angel statues.

Most of this stone appeared to be professionally done, but the cross and tree seemed much more rudimentary.  

At the end of Long Bunk trail I turned left to do an out and back of the Little Cataloochee trail between Long Bunk and the road.  It started raining again on this section and I think if someone had came along while I was at the trailhead, I would have attempted to hitch a ride back to my car.  But alas, there was no one there so I turned around and headed back along Little Cataloochee.  I passed the Hannah Cabin during a particularly heavy rain shower, so I didn't stop to take any pictures of it.

The rain finally relented by the time I reached Little Cataloochee Church.  I had already planned on stopping for a bit since I had ate my lunch on the go during the rain.  At this point I had been hiking for  seven hours, two of them during the rain, with no breaks.   The church offered a beautiful spot to take a dry break.

I didn't take anytime to explore the Little Cataloochee Cemetery today.

The inside of the church looks as if it is ready for Sunday service.

On the wall to the side of the pulpit someone had put up a funeral card.  The death date was from May of this year.

After my break at the church, I continued up the trail to the Cook Cabin.  Across from the cabin are the remains of the stone foundation of an apple house.

Leaving the cabin, I made my way up and over Davidson Gap.  By the end of the trail I had forgotten all the rain and mud and was ready to plan my next hike.