Date: 2019-04-15
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: ClingmanÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Dome/Gatlinburg
Miles today: 4.6

This morning was cold! We woke up and the trees were covered in ice and snow. Our bear bags were frozen and my carabiner was totally locked. Prometheus was a champ and used a lighter to loosen it and get my bag off. My sleeping pad had slid under his last night and I was moving around a ton trying to get it back, but ended up half on his. He was really sweet this morning and put his sleeping bag on top of mine to keep me warm. I was pretty cold, but the body heat of the shelter and my SmartWool did a good job all night. I had put my wet clothes in the foot of my sleeping bag to dry them out, but it never quite works. They were still damp. Prometheus was boiling water and gave me some hot water to use for my hot cocoa packets. He was a trooper and kept everybody¢s spirits up even though it was freezing out and everything was still wet from yesterday. Imagine putting on frozen, soaking hiking boots. It was a morning. There was a serious concern of hypothermia with all the wet gear and freezing temperatures, so I actually hiked in my sleep clothes today. I took a while to get going out of my sleeping bag, but I got going as Naners and Prometheus did, and we headed out into the cold!Today was the first time I saw nature I was in love with. All of Georgia and some of North Carolina was bare and monotonous, but today I saw pine trees and snow and it was gorgeous! We got to the first shelter and I used the privy. My muddy bum was thankful because not every shelter here has a privy. TMI, but I also want to mention that my bum gets muddy because I have trouble squatting to go to the bathroom because my legs are sore and I end up sitting. I promise I¢m clean about it, I just sit in the dirt. Prometheus and I are going to make an inflatable toilet seat someday haha. But to all you folks back home, I want you to know I¢m clean, just can¢t squat well these days because it hurts! I do have a pstyle, which is essentially a female penis, but it is amazing because you can stand and go. I was sweating a lot and my legs were freezing. I had actually slipped and fallen earlier today, first fall of the trail! But it was really funny because I slipped on the mud and kind of slowly fell to the side. It didn¢t hurt and I didn¢t actually get any mud on me. Prometheus took a pretty great picture of me. I had been leading so far that morning and I was nervous because I¢m not that fast, so I wanted Prometheus and Naners to lead from here on. I lagged behind a bit, but they stopped and waited for me and were truly wonderful. I stopped to take pictures too because it was really so beautiful. We climbed for a while and finally reached Clingman¢s Dome, the highest point of the AT and the 200-mile marker! It was so exciting! There¢s a tower at the top and I walked up and met Prometheus and Naners, but it was so cold. The walkway was slippery and there was ice crusted onto the railings. I made it up and there was no view, but sometimes the snow and fog cleared with the wind and there was a view. It was too cold to stay up there longer. We headed down the road to the parking lot. There were a lot of people walking up, despite the weather. We saw Joe and he said the shuttles were stuck because a tree and boulder had fallen across the road. We saw it later when it had been cleared. The wind was definitely strong enough the past few days to have knocked over trees. I saw one post in the Facebook groups I¢m in that showed a tree right across the AT. I remember hearing the cracking sound of trees on that super stormy day. Crazy stuff! We took pictures and tried to figure out a hitch/ride situation, but then a shuttle showed up! We were up on top of some rocks getting cool views so we had to scramble down. We hopped in the shuttle and it was so warm! We picked up the Kentucky boys and their pup and continued on. It was a long ride down, but it was beautiful. There were a ton of scenic overlooks and I wished I could¢ve stopped at all of them. We arrived in Gatlinburg around 3pm and went straight for Cici¢s pizza. I¢ve never been there, but was pumped for food. I had two full large cokes and pizza and it was delicious. I plugged in the Hampton Inn to my phone because that¢s where I was staying, but a 20-minute walk later I found out there were two Hampton Inns in Gatlinburg and I had walked to the wrong one. Oh well! I got to see the whole town so it was fine. I walked back to the other one and checked in. I went up to my room and charged my phone and laid out all my cold, damp clothes. I took a long shower and it felt so good. After, I went for a walk with Prometheus. We were going to go on the Gondola, but everything at the top was closed so we decided not to. He went to do laundry and shop and I walked around. I didn¢t need to do laundry since I¢ll be in Hot Springs with my parents soon. Someone was asking in the comments about why I plan my hike like that and I just wanted to answer and say that my parents are meeting me in Hot Springs and they needed a rough schedule so they could purchase flights and hotels. I also want to have some outline of when I¢m going to be places for people I may see later and for my job when I return. I don¢t need to plan my whole trip, but I need to have a sense of when I¢ll be places. I personally like having a plan. And I don¢t really want to hike this forever. I¢m already having stresses and struggles a few weeks in. It¢s a long journey and I don¢t want it to take much longer than needed. I am still enjoying the little things and learning and growing from this every day, even if I don¢t enjoy everything about it. Hike your own hike! Gatlinburg is cool. I know there are people that don¢t enjoy those tourist towns, but I really love exploring and experiencing everything. I was definitely in a different world than CT, as there were people wearing confederate flags as t-shirts, but it was still cool. The town had so much to do. It would be easy to spend multiple days there. I was so tempted by mini golf and laser tag and the ski lifts. I know you can do all of that at home, but it still looked fun to do with my new friends. I didn¢t end up riding the chairlift, but I wanted to. Chairlifts scare me a bit because I haven¢t been skiing much in my life and I fall off every time I get to the top. I definitely want to learn someday when I have the money and time. I mainly didn¢t ride this one because of time. It was almost 7 and I was hungry. I spoiled my dinner a bit because there was a Ben and Jerry¢s and it was only open until 9, so I had it first. It was delicious! I love me some chocolate ice cream and chocolate waffle cones. As I was eating it on a bench, Nate walked up! It was so good to see him! He told me he ended up night-walking the other night and I apologized for not meeting him. He asked to get dinner and I said yes. We headed to Smoky Mountain Brewery. I had spotted it earlier and I really wanted to go. There was a 30 minute wait. We checked out some of the other restaurants, but ended up going back. We went to the bar and I sampled some beer. We met another thru-hiker who started March 1st and said he was taking his time. We finally got a table and headed over. I ordered hot pretzels and beer-cheese dip and chicken fingers and French Fries. I couldn¢t finish it all, but I brought the rest back to my hotel. I had the best dinner with Nate. We really opened up to each other about our situations and breakups and he almost started to cry, which made me tear up too. I love how you can connect with people like that on the trail. I felt like Nate and I had each other¢s backs. We had a great time. Mountain Laurel and Chad showed up and we yelled their names, but they didn¢t hear, so I went over to say hi. We left and I took my leftovers to my hotel. I got back to my room and decided I wanted to get in the hot tub. Why not? It was late, but it was still open and it sounded amazing. I invited Prometheus because I enjoy his company and I had the leftover food to share. He came from his hotel and we hung out in the hot tub for a while. We opened up a lot to each other and it was really nice. He¢s been through a lot and we related on so many things. A few kids showed up and jumped in the pool and then the hot tub and they were a little annoying given our conversation, but they left and we stayed for a bit. We went in the pool and back in the hot tub. Prometheus took my leftovers because I knew I wouldn¢t eat them. I really don¢t enjoy leftovers, especially microwaved. But sometimes they¢re good. It depends. I¢m a picky eater so I¢m picky about that. I headed back to my room and dried off. I passed out almost immediately, with a fair amount of planning still to do. I did some of it for my mom and logistics, and then I fell asleep. There is nothing like a hotel bed right now. I laid on probably five pillows and it was amazing. My thin sleeping pad does not compare at all! It was a great day with great people and I was so happy to be warm and dry and see a cool town! Back on trail tomorrow!Little Debbie