Date: 2004-04-10
From: Gatlinburg

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Journal Correction - In my trail tidbits I mentioned that the rhododendren wood was toxic. Pappa John did some research and found that it was not. Seems this one of those trail myths that get spread around every year. Help! I have been sucked into the Gatlinburg Time Trap and can't get out. Since my last update my foot has been getting better each day. Not enough for me to trust it on the trail yet. I am really hoping to get out of here Sunday afternoon and shoot for a 4 mile trek to the next shelter after Clingmans Dome. I can only take so much foot resting! Thursday the 8th was spent in the room with little movement. Sweetleaf had the room next to me and I asked her if she could pick some things for me at the store, like food and drink. She saved me from the slow death of starvation and dehydration. It was also her birthday so Happy Birthday Sweetleaf. About 2 in the afternoon she told me that Sox,Skirt, and Dingle had rolled in. I still couldn't walk well enough to get to their rooms so I told her to say my hi's and I would catch them in awhile. I never did see them that day. Most times, when you get to town you are only in for the night so you have to get all the "required" town stuff done in a short time. I was going to try to catch dinner with them but as the time to leave approached I realized that I still did not want to chance the walk so I passed. When I got up Friday morning I realized right away that things had taken a turn for the better. I could limp along with the best of them and put pressure on the heel. I went down to the motel office around 10 and I heard someone calling my name. It was Dingle and Skirt. I told them that Sox,Bear Behind,Mumbles,Scholar, and Sweetleaf had already headed out. They still had things to do before leaving and since checkout was coming they put there stuff in my room. We talked for a bit it was decided that Dingle and I would head to the Post Office and grocery store while Skirt took care of things at home base. It is pretty easy to get around Gatlinburg. They have a trolley system that gets you just about anywhere for .25 a ride. Gatlinburg is an assault on the senses! Everything is geared for tourists and I mean everything. Shop after shop, attractions left and right, and motels evrywhere. While on the trolley we found out that 30,000 some odd marriages take place here a year second only to Las Vegas. I also found out today from one of the merchants that the population of the town was about 4000. Heck, we saw that many people on the streets. Like I said ..tourists are this town. When we got back Dingle sat outside and wrote postcards. Skirt and I just talked. We talked about a lot of things and it made the afternoon fly by. By the way, she got her trailname because the skirt she wears has been handed down to her from 2 previous thru hikers. Pretty cool history. By time everthing was all said and done it was to late for them to head out that day so I told them they could crash in my room. We ate, watched TV, talked about books and movies, and just had a good time. After being cooped up for the last couple of days it was great company! Saturday morning resulted in even more improvement for the foot. Skirt said she had noticed the improvement. They got ready to go and I told them to pass the word..Cuppa Joe is returning to trail duty. I am going to take it slow for the first little bit so the next updates will probably come on Friday. I also got my first batch of pictures burned to CD and I am sending them to my brother so he can post some of them.Signing out for now.