Date: 2005-09-16
From: Siler's Bald Shelter

To: Newfound Gap (Gatlinburg, TN)
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

I slept OK despite the other people at the shelter. I was awakened only by a couple of rip-roaring farts.   I will have to remember to buy earplugs in Gatlinburg.I got up earlier than everyone else and spent twenty minutes in the Zen-like exercise of watching my water bag fill, then filtered it, had breakfast, packed everything up, and was about to head on my merry way when it started pouring.   I pulled out my book (still "A Walk in the Woods") and read for two hours, then decided to brave the rain before the trail became a muddy bog.As soon as I left, I wished I had gone earlier. The chill air was pleasant, and my Frogg Toggs rainwear and backpack cover seemed to be working fine.   The odd reflective, cloudy light made all of the plants seem especially green and lush, and there was hardly any mud. (I later learned that it hadn't rained in weeks.)   I enjoyed it more than hiking in good weather. The only problem was the heat I generated inside my rainsuit going uphill toward Clingman's Dome.   I eventually just took the jacket off and got wet.Near Clingmand's Dome, there were some beautiful vistas with mountains below popping in and out of the clouds.   Clingman's Dome itself was 50 degrees, rainy, and very windy, but I could still see a large part of the trail I had just walked. I had some non-hikers take my photo, ate my last peanut butter fudge outmeal square, and decided to continue down the trail 7 more miles to Newfound Gap. I'm glad I did. The weather cleared up within an hour, and the hike was easy and well-maintained.   Every so often a fluorescent ribbon marked a trail problem, e.g. "add one step here" or "clean the culvert," and I found it funny since there were no such messages on the worst parts of the trail in Georgia and southern North Carolina.My songs for the day turned jolly: "Whistle While You Work" and "Zippity-Do-Dah." I unsuccessfully tried to teach myself to whistle as I walked along. The trail followed Clingman's Dome Road, so civilization was almost always within earshot. When I got to Indian Road Gap, I thought it was Newfound Gap, and the additional two miles I had to walk unduly frustrated me. Newfound Gap was, by AT standards, a madhouse, with dozens of cars and motorcycles out for a Friday afternoon ride.   A bunch of bikers quizzed me on long-distance hiking, and I half-considered asking them if I could hitch with them, but thought better of riding without a helmet. I hitched with a middle-aged couple from Ohio, the first people I tried asking for a ride.I almost dreaded Gatlinburg's disruption of my natural idyll, but at the same time, I enjoyed it. It may be the "Gateway to the Smokies," but it's the epitome of artificiality, hype, and commercialism. And it gets more visitors than Great Smoky Mountains National Park itself.Defining Features of Gatlinburg----------1. Very overpriced motels. $71 was the cheapest I could find. 2. Kitschy names. I stayed at the Best Western FabulousChalet, there were many "old fashion candy shoppes," and I ate at Fanny Farkle's Family Fun Parlor. 3. Funnel cake, cotton candy, and corn dogs¢¦for prices like $5!4. Museums that have nothing to do with the environs. Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not, a haunted house, Star Cars, the Guinness Book of World Records, the Aquarium of the Smokies, etc. 5. Crowds mesmerized by taffy-pulling machines6. Airbrushed t-shirt shops 7. Malls disguised as quaint villages8. Aerial tramways. (Two of them, leading to an amusement park and a mall.) 9. Mini golf, in normal, hillbilly, Davy Crockett, and pirate variations. 10. Timeshare presentations with barkers11. Overblown variety and music productions showcasing Appalachian cultureGatlinburg also showcased some negative Appalachian stereotypes. I heard someone say into her cell phone, "Is Daddy drunk again?"   Obesity and all-you-can-eat restaurants are also rampant. (Though I admit I ate a breakfast fit for a fat lady the next morning myself...)It has been an interesting curiosity, but I'm ready to go back to the national park.