Date: 2004-04-23
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: light rain

Gatlinburg Tn. is a strange fusion between Disney World and Los Vegas-only much, much trashier than either.We woke up at 6:15 after a night replete with mice scratching and plenty of snoring. Needless to say, it was not the most restful sleep but the impending night in town was enough to propel us out of our beds.A note about sleeping in shelters-the first rule of sleeping in a shelter is have your earplugs handy. Everyone snores. I repeat, everyone snores. I don't know if we all snore at home, but on the Trail it is a universal truth.The second rule of shelter living is leave all the pockets of your pack open. Mice, not the smartest creatures, actually seem to go in open pockets rather than bury through the pack fabric. It's better to let 'em have what they want then have 'em go in on their own.More lessons later.We got to Newford Gap (road to Gatlinburg) at 9:30 and immediately got a hitch from a nice couple with a huge truck. The ride in was beautiful and served to set the tone for our town visit.Right when we got to the motel Red was waiting for us with 2 boxes of Krispy Kremes and a bottle of Coke---heaven. I ate 5 doughnuts and began making plans for lunch.We ended up at the local brew pub with the hiker appetite in full force. I ate a half a large pizza and a pound of wings all washed down with a liter of lager. Herein lies the problem with towns---the simplest things serve to make your in town experience so good, making leaving exponentially harder.With silly full bellies, we set out to run the usual town errands. We got a hitch to the post office where I picked up my bounce box and then ran across the street to the supermarket for a resupply.The shopping went well although 7 days of food is definitely too many as the pack will surely be heavy tomorrow.It was on to our next feeding at the Texas Grill. I had prime rib with mashed taters and beans. To top it all off was the requisite piece of cheese cake. I was ashamed by the amount I ate but tomorrow it's back to the pasta sides and tuna.Off to bed now and back on tomorrow.Much love to all, "T"fROM THE AUTHOR, LOATH TO BE NEGATIVE i APOLIGIZE TO ALL IN ADVANCE.THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS INTENDED FOR ALL THRU HIKERS AND CONCERNS THE GEAR SHOP THE HAPPY HIKER IN GATLINBURG TN>I am not usually one to write nasty letters, but I was so disappointed by their service/attitude that I urge the ownership to take after the long lure of hiker friendly outfitters along the Trail and treat the hikers with a measure of respect.In an unfortunate turn of events the MSR stove Blue and I were carrying went on the fritz and required a new cable wick.In a situation familiar to all thru hikers a part was needed and time was short. The 2 guys at the happy hiker were unwilling to help and were unfriendly and even went so far as to be completely nasty.The Happy Hiker is the only gear shop in Gatlinburg and relies heavily on the patronage of thru hikers. It would make sense that knowing where their bread was buttered they would go out of their way to provide the necessary service.My suggestion to them is to work harder on their relationships with the major gear manufacturers so that replacing parts is not akin to moving mountains.I apologize once again for the negativety but would hope that this will help in improving their focus on service lest they lose their unending customer base.