Date: 2005-03-31
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Miles hiked today : 13.8Today I was up at 7:00 a.m. and on the trail by 8:00 a.m. It rained throughout the night, so the morning greeted me with a view of the inside of a cloud, which remained the rest of the day.The climb up to Clingmans Dome wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated and I found myself on the observation deck minutes before 10:00 a.m. Unfortunately there was no view due to the clouds.I started back along the trail and after about 15 minutes, I ran into Joe who was backtracking to Clingmans Dome. He'd gone about a mile down the trail without seeing a blaze and wasn't sure that he was on the trail. We returned to the area near Clingmans Dome and briefly explored a side trail before determining that the poorly marked trail that we'd just been on must actually be the AT.After about 0.5 mile, I spotted a faint blaze, which Joe had missed and then shortly after his earlier turn-around point, Joe spotted another blaze. Sure enough, we were on the right path. The downhill was a sketchy combination of ice patches and mud pits, with a liberal distribution of tree roots and stones.Joe usually hikes faster than me, so he was out of sight before long. I reached the turn-off for the Mt. Collins Shelter at 12:15 p.m. and kept going. Not too much further, I ran into a ridge-runner, Shatter, who was out scouting the trail and educating people about the importance of not cooking in the shelters, as well as "leave no trace" ethics. I asked him about the lack of blazes near Clingmans Dome and he told me that there was no standard for placing blazes and that they were mostly for hiker convenience. He also mentioned that there are very few blazes in the Whites up north.Somewhere between Mt. Collins Shelter and the upcoming Indian Gap, I hit the 200 mile mark on the AT. Whoo!Continuing on toward Indian Gap, Joe caught up to me, which caught me by surprise, as I'd thought he was ahead of me. It turns out that he'd hiked the 1.0 mile round-trip side trail to the last shelter. We both reached Indian Gap around 2:00 p.m. and high-tailed it to Newfound Gap, arriving at 2:45 p.m.Newfound Gap is on the NC/TN border and is very busy with tourists. I noticed that Joe and I were the target of a couple photographs while trying to hitch to Gatlinburg.It took about 15 minutes to get a hitch. Finally, Mike, a day hiker that we'd passed on the way to Newfound Gap offered us a ride in the bed of his truck to Sugarland, two miles shy of Gatlinburg. We graciously accepted his offer and the chilly wind in the bed of the truck turned into warm air as we descended further down the mountain. I was surprised when we passed through Sugarland. It turns out that Mike decided to take us the extra two miles. I really love it when people do that. We thanked him and set out in search of an outfitter and a buffet.We soon found The Happy Hiker outfitter, which had a very friendly staff. One of them, Mr. Fixit, does repairs on Friday night at Trail Days and told us to stop by the Granite Gear booth and he'd take care of us.After the outfitter, we walked over to the main strip and it was much like a carnival. There were stores selling airbrushed t-shirts, old-time style dress-up portraits, a couple of Ripley's museums, and so much more. We only walked about 0.5 mile down the street before coming to Shoney's, which offers a dinner buffet.Joe and I both ate too much, but everything was so good. I was happy to have a big salad before getting some hot food. After dinner, we walked to a small grocery so that Joe could resupply. I bought a root beer, but was too full to properly enjoy it. It was still good though. While Joe was resupplying, I checked my voicemail and had a message from Holly. She's a few days behind me and is having fun. I was especially glad to hear that last part.We walked back to the road and quickly caught a hitch back to Newfound Gap. The driver was Marion Berry, who makes jewelry and sells it on the internet. With him were his wife and daughter. Interestingly, when they first pulled up, Marion told us that his wife didn't want to pick us up and asked if we'd be okay. I told him that we'd get a ride eventually, then he told us to get in.The drive up the hill was restricted to 35 m.p.h., so it took awhile to drive the 15 miles. Of course, it would have taken much longer to walk it. During the drive, Marion told us about a 2004 thru-hiker he'd met today who was out with miscelaneous supplies, as well as fruit for the 2005 thru-hikers. We reached Newfound Gap and after fielding some questions from tourists and posing for a photograph, we were back on the trail by 6:45 p.m.I knew that with 3.0 miles to hike and an elevation gain of 875 feet, that we'd probably be doing some night hiking. I didn't have to turn on my headlamp until just before Sweat Heifer Creek Trail. Unfortunately the evening fog caused my headlight beam to reflect somewhat, so its effectiveness was reduced.The trail itself was good and there were no major ice patches which would have been difficult to navigate in the dark. The mud, rocks, and roots were also at a minimum. The conditions made for a fast hike, even in the dark, and we arrived at Icewater Spring Shelter at 8:05 p.m.Besides Joe and myself, Yardsale is here tonight, but all the other faces are new. One of the hikers here is the 2004 thru-hiker that Marion had told us about. His name is Moonshine and is here doing Trail Magic. It appears that I'll be having an orange for breakfast!Bedtime at 10:00 p.m.