Date: 2004-05-14
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 26.4
Weather: overcast clouds

On the morning of May 14 we set out for the summit of Clingmans Dome, the highest place on the entire Appalachian Trail at 6,643 feet above sea level. It was only 2.9 miles from the shelter. Perhaps it was the distraction of our conversation as we hiked but the trail never got hard on its way to the summit. It got rocky. The forest began to resemble the Boreal Forests of home but the slope remained gentle. The weather wasn¢t great but it wasn¢t nasty either. It was cool, damp and gray. But that¢s good hiking weather. Adam was just ahead when another hiker appeared, southbound, out of the mist. He was probably in his early 20s too. His boots jumped out at me. ¢Are those Limmers¢, I had to ask, and yes they were. He was in fact from New Hampshire though these were off the shelf boots not customs. We didn't talk for long but he liked his boots and I was missing mine.The summit of Clingman's Dome was of course in the clouds and despite the fancy observation tower, afforded no view at all. We found some other hikers standing on the end of the paved road at the foot of the huge spiral ramp to the tower. Of course there has to be a road to anything that is the tallest. We took photos for each other. These guys were just starting on a small section hike. We went to the top of the tower just because we could, in spite of its being socked in. It¢s a strange thing to put on the top of a mountain. It looks more like it belongs at a world¢s fair or something. It looks like a flying saucer on a pedestal. Very odd.In the next 4 miles down, I got ahead but stopped at the side trail to Mt. Collins Shelter. The Shelter was 0.5 off the trail. That of course meant lunch part 1 would be enjoyed on a log at the intersection. Some older folks camped at the shelter came up and visited for a bit. Then Adam showed up and left while I was still eating. That ego thing gnawed at me gently. Calm down. It¢s not a race. Just eat. It was still cool. There had been some sprinkles. The trail was rocky, rooty, wet and slippery. There were a couple of guys sort of arguing over a map down to the left off the trail in some steep, thick, wet under brush. What a strange place to stop. The trail was sidehilling here. It was almost as if they might have fallen from the trail down to there. It didn¢t seem like a good time to strike up a conversation. Besides, my feet were bounding down the trail. Why stop.The trail roughly paralleled the summit access road though the road had switchbacks unlike the trail. Occasionally there was the sound of a car on the road or maybe even a glimpse of one over the trees. At least once the trail stumbled out of the woods to the side of the road. Adam was there eating and talking to another hiker but these feet just rolled on by with but a brief howdy.There was a strange set of ramps to get over a fence. This seemed quite out of place in the middle of a National Park. A short distance later there was another one but this time there was a sign. Apparently this fence was to keep the wild boar out of and preserve this unique beech forest. Cool.A mile and a half from that last road encounter landed me in Newfound Gap at US 441. This was the first time a road with traffic actually made me hesitate. This is the only pass with a highway in Great Smoky National Park. The trail crosses at the top of a hill on a banked curve. Wow, crossing was uncomfortable for this now somewhat seasoned thru-hiker. I actually ran across in fear. There really hadn¢t been any traffic on a road since NOC and even that didn¢t compare. Across the road there was a big turn out with lots of cars, tourists and interpretive signs. There were a couple of packs leaning on a tree with some grungee hikers nearby. One of them was Bud. They asked me to watch their stuff while they went to the restroom down the nature path a bit. This was a strange intersection of tourist and trail folk at 5,045 feet. People from around the world were posing for pictures by signs, kiosks and a hazy view. They were fresh from their air conditioned vehicles in fresh clean clothes. Then here we stood, the raw, naturally dirty thru-hikers. To me it seemed that they were out of place here, not us. One or two put it together and asked if we were hiking the trail.The other guys had returned when a woman came over and offered a ride into town. She explained how she had just dropped her husband, a Northbounder, off for the trail. She had started the hike with him but had to quit after a few days due to an injury. She was providing support for him now. By now Adam had arrived. Bud was considering taking her up on the offer of a ride into town. We were encouraging him. He confessed that his full trail name on his first thru-hike had actually been In-Town-Bud. Seems he rarely passed up the opportunity to go into town. She mentioned there was an outfitter here in Gatlinburg. A bit of silence transpired with some glances between them. Bud recounted a poor encounter with the outfitter. The woman admitted that they weren¢t very thru-hiker friendly. We were all stunned that a trail town outfitter wouldn¢t cater to our type. The woman explained how she dealt with an outfitter in Harpers Ferry and had gotten great advice and gear from them. She spoke as though they were the only folks a thru-hiker should ever consider. Some where along the line here, another thru-hiker strolls in from the other end of the parking lot as though he had come from the road not the trail. He said to me, ¢bet you never thought you¢d see me again.¢ Wow, it was Alexandre and he was right. We had met way back on my third night out at Low Gap Shelter. He was still suffering from knee or foot issues. He had walked the road from Clingmans Dome to avoid slipping and hurting himself further on the wet, rocky, rooty trail. This was probably a good choice.Now the conversation took an odd turn. The woman noted Adam¢s pack and praised it. She may have made some positive comments on some other gear in the group. Then she questioned the size of my pack. Of course she couldn¢t really know its size because it had a pack cover on it and there was a weightless Ensolite pad strapped to the pack under the cover. She asked who had made it and seemed befuddled that she didn¢t know the company, Wild Things. She made the false assumption that my pack was heavy. Then she attacked my water bottle and carabiner rig suggesting that I was some sort of neophyte. And why didn¢t I have a bladder hydration system. Well I was trying to stay calm but she was unrelenting and really got to me. I finally had some sharp, curt words with her and just started hiking. It was unbelievable. The whole experience really rattled me. It rolled around in my head from time to time for days. I just couldn¢t figure out why anyone would treat me or anyone else like that, especially on the trail. Of course she wasn¢t on the trail. She may have been close to my age. Perhaps she was feeling inadequate because I was having such success where she had not. It just might be that she had just found out that I had started on May 2nd. I just don¢t know. I just had to get away from her.Three miles of climbing later I stopped at Ice Water Spring Shelter. It was about dinner time. This was a nice shelter. There were three guys there. We had the normal conversations. One of them said his wife had just dropped him off at Newfound Gap. I cringed inside and felt sorry for the guy. Though it may have been as late as 5 or 6pm, this was not the shelter for me tonight after all it had only been 14 miles. I needed someone to commiserate with and it wasn¢t going to be these guys. This became my lunch part 2.One of Adam¢s favorite places is along this section of trail, Charlie¢s Bunion. He had told me about it yesterday. It is a wonderful rock out crop, cliff and crag. This was a great place to hang out and watch the clouds. It wasn¢t long before Adam showed up. It was nice to share this place with him. This was a cool crag. The views were outstanding and the rock was comfy. Ok, so the rock was lumpy and there was not a level spot on it anywhere. That didn't keep this hiker from finding a place to recline for a while. The result is a near 360 degree photo shoot. This had to be our compensation for the blind summit of Clingman's Dome. Besides this was all nature. We ate a bit before pushing on.Adam, having witmessed the run-in with the woman in Newfound Gap, validated my take on the situation. That was reassuring. Hiking with him the rest of the day distracted me form thoughts of her. This was a very good thing. We walked some beautiful ridge lines. In places the ridge was a knife edge. The trail danced on the top. Oddly it was wooded but so narrow that there would only be trees on one side of the trail at a time. The other side would be so steep that the tree tops would be at our knees or feet. This was what I call mountains. There were rocky crags and peaks. The weather had cleared from the morning. It was just gorgeous hiking well above 5,000 feet.At 21.2 miles we came to Pecks Corner Shelter. Well, actually, the trail to the shelter. The trail along the ridge had been gorgeous though not easy. We were feeling good. It was only about 6pm and the shelter was a whole 0.5 miles doooown the side trail. Round trip would be a whole mile. The sun wouldn¢t set for a couple more hours and the next shelter was only 5.2 miles away. This was the logic or should we say rationalization that we faced almost daily. So, needless to say, we hiked merrily along. Tri-Corner Knob Shelter was our new destination for the night. No Sweat. OK, maybe just a little. The trail continued with knife edge views and remained fairly challenging. There were at least two 6,000 foot peaks to be climbed in this stretch and plenty of rocky outcroppings. The sun was getting low, OK, it was setting. We were going down for a stretch. Adam was maybe 30 feet ahead when I started to have trouble with my footing. It was like the wind was blowing my feet around only there was no wind. Then I realized it was lightheadedness. Rather than waiting for the crash on this steep section of side hill, my butt quickly found a seat on the uphill side of the trail. I called to Adam that I was taking a snack break. He stopped. After eating and drinking a little bit, I let him know what had just happened. He was more than receptive to my request that we stick together for the rest of the day. Not that there was much day left. In fact it got dark pretty soon after that. My condition was greatly improved but still tentative. We still moved at a good clip but somewhat slower after dark. After a while there was a feeling of desperation welling up within me. It was only about another 10 minute when we found the shelter. What a relief.It was a short side trail to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, another good old stone shelter. This one was about to be renovate. There were bear hoist cables, no chain link fence, a tarp over the roof and a big pile of timbers and lumber nearby. The trail approached from the back of the shelter. We rounded the corner at about 9:30pm to find a full 14 person shelter. Blast. There were maybe 5 or 6 folks still awake play cards, reading or writing. This was the first full shelter of my hike. At 26.4 miles this was by far my longest day, Adam's too, not to mention we had crossed the tallest peak on the entire trail. This was not the day to have to pitch a tent after dark. Oh well.We pulled up on some rocks and logs in front of the shelter and made our dinners. First things first, fuel the furnace. With rational thought returning, we agreed to simply sleep on the ground in front of the sleeping deck. It was still covered by the roof. We hung our food on the cables and our packs over our heads along with all the other dangling gear that we really couldn¢t quite see. We were of course the last to go to sleep. It was a good day and we both felt great about our accomplishments.