Date: 2016-03-18
From: Mount Collins Shelter 

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept pretty poorly last night being surrounded by two people. I woke up abruptly to sunlight and everyone else getting packed up, and Thor and One Feather already gone (I wish I'd known, I would've spread out). I spoke more with Chloe, who was a French major. I packed up quick as I could, trying to beat the crowds out. Timeout wasn't around. He had been planning to stop in Gatlinburg to replace his shoes, which are falling apart. The morning was clear and the hiking was mostly downhill to Newfound Gap, and I motored. I took quite a long break at Newfound, because I had reception, so I posted my journal and texted my parents. The crew from Double Spring was there, about to head to Gatlinburg. Apparently they call themselves the Rat Turds. Hmm. I took a photo next to the NC/TN line sign and pushed on. It wasn't hard hiking but I struggled for some reason up the next miles to Icewater Shelter. I met a hiker named Butter who seems rather shy n reserved. The next bunch of miles were incredibly cool. First off there was Charlie's Bunion, a huge rock outcropping with great views of the surrounding cirque. The next set of miles is known as the Sawteeth, and weaves up over a narrow ridge falling away incredibly steeply on either side. It was only a two foot corridor at times and was super cool. When the wind blew from the sunny south side of the ridge, the air was sun baked and hot, but when it blew from the shady northern side, it was cold and fresh. This was the first day in a while I hiked in my leggings; the temp was low up at the peaks! I came up on a meadowy area, and who should I see but Timeout! Apparently his wife is coming to meet him in Hot Springs to bring him a new pair of shoes, so he called off the trip to Gatlinburg. I also ran into Hot Rabbit and Bald Eagle, a thru hiker son and his father who is meeting him from Newfound to Davenport Gaps. The trail wound up and down with great views almost the whole time. Eventually I came to the turnoff for Pecks Corner Shelter, and filled up water with Timeout, and Hot Rabbit and Bald Eagle. Another hiker also pulled up, Learning Curve, who had taken the photo of me at Newfound, and had caught up. He gave me some Sour Patch Kids. Whaddaguy. We pushed off for the final five miles and three hills of the day, and Learning Curve proved to be the first hiker that moves faster than Timeout and I do. The climbs were tough and long over to Tricorner Knob. We passed a large group of who must be Amish kids led by a man with a huge beard. They all had the same shirts, pants and hats. It was a bit surreal and was the subject of much later discussion. The shelter is much the same as the others in the smokies, with two wide shelves of bunks, but it also has a water source extremely close by. We loved that. Timeout and I arrived much the same time and found Learning Curve setting up his hammock. He is named that because he tried to hike the AT last year with no prior backpacking experience and had to be taught just about everything. We fixed dinner and soon more day hikers showed up, as well as Hot Rabbit and his father. Then the rest of the crew who has stayed in Gatlinburg with Learning Curve showed up. There was King Arthur, with whom I sang many show tunes (and the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody, again), Judge, Seam, and Scum. It got very chilly and Judge made the first fire in the shelter chimneys that I've seen. It drew the fire far better than anyone had expected. Seam brought a huge amount of wood, that hero. Everyone hung out inside the shelter and while a few went to bed, Curve, Rabbit, Scum, Seam and I sat around tending the fire and keeping warm. It was a lovely way to end the day