I wandered again to my home in the mountains

Where in youth’s early dawn I was happy and free

I looked for my friends, but I never could find them

I found they were all rank strangers to me

Everybody I met

Seemed to me a rank stranger

No mother nor dad

Not a friend could I see

They knew not my name

And I knew not their faces

I found they were all

Rank strangers to me

Rank Stranger, Stanley Brothers

It was time to walk the Standing Indian Loop again.

My 5th trip (March 2018):

27 mile loop slightly different than my previous trips , starting/ending at Rock Gap, Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina, USA.

Day 1 : 2pm-9pm, 16 miles, sunny and warm

: 2pm-9pm, 16 miles, sunny and warm Night : measured low approx. 40 deg F; rain in early morning; Beech Gap 4,460 feet

: measured low approx. 40 deg F; rain in early morning; Beech Gap 4,460 feet Day 2 : 8am-1pm, 11 miles, cool mist/rain

: 8am-1pm, 11 miles, cool mist/rain I walked southbound on the Appalachian Trail, passing many prospective thru-hikers about 100 miles from the Trail’s southern terminus in Georgia

I hauled 8.7lbs of gear; 3.5lbs of food (1lb too much!); and never more than 1L/qt (2.2lbs) of water at a time

Thank y’all so much for stopping by! Please check here for other hikes of mine.