The northern half of the Smokies is marked by dense spruce and fir forests and high-altitude ridge walks (a welcome relief from the endless climbs in the less-scenic southern section). The animal life is fairly similar, although by November the bears have migrated to the lower elevations, so there's little chance of a sighting; but we've still eagerly anticipated this section. Our shuttle is arranged with Elmer - a past thru-hiker and owner of a popular hostel in Hot Springs, NC; pulling into his place mid-morning to find the guys chatting in the kitchen. Here we meet Paul, our shuttler (another thru-hiker on a work for stay), who leads us over to the Hot Springs trailhead to deposit our car before climbing into his beat-up, trash-receptacle of a car for the ride to Newfound Gap. Paul ("Train" 2002) started his thru-hike this spring, but got bored with it in North Adams, pulling out to return next year (perhaps $$ was a factor too, having started the trail with only $500 saved up). He intends to go hiking in the Smokies today as well, hoping to see snow (which he's never seen in his FL childhood).

As we resume our woodland trek, the hard-frozen trail starts to soften, now beginning the mammoth descent towards the park's end at Davenport Gap. The conifers give way to hardwoods, coating the path with noisy, crunchy leaves that often hide rocks and roots underneath. Several Southbounders pass, including Walking Wounded (we've run into him somewhere before) and Driftwood; and later Phil gives us an enthusiastic report on Standing Bear Farm (along with an equally unenthusiastic report on Mountain Mama's, which most now hold in low esteem). Armed thusly, we forge on past Davenport Gap (end of the Smokies), following a beautiful creek surrounded by autumnal color as we desc to I-40. We cross under on Waterville School Rd, which we also know to be our destination for the night, although the trail architects have a cruel joke in mind for us. Instead of the easy roadwalk up to Standing Bear, they've chosen an incredibly steep trek up the adjacent slope, winding up and down for the next mile through a series of switchbacks before returning us to the road a mere 200 yards from Standing Bear. We follow the directions to the farm, finding it to have a quaint, outdoorsy look, although no one save one fairly tame Rottweiler senses our arrival.

After knocking on the door, Kurt appears, a bit surprised at our arrival, dressed in the coveralls / no shirt motif. He walks us through the facilities, all of which are outside (and we're already freezing, having sweated on the former climb and now standing around in our wet clothes). We're further disappointed to find that neither the bunkhouse or the cabin have electricity or heat, both very dark in the fading light, although we quickly choose the cabin, so as to at least have a bed. It's situated directly over a brook which Kurt says keeps some folks awake, though it sounds soothing to us; and we're now anxious to get some water heated for dinner and hot drinks; and get into some warm clothes. It takes a little work to get rid of the overly helpful Kurt, who insists on building a fire (even though we'll never go over to use it), and turning on the hot water for the outside showers, although with no way to warm up afterwards, we decide against these as well.