Date: 2020-06-17
From: Double Springs Gap Shelter

To: Newfound Gap / Gatlinburg
Miles today: 10.5

It was just as cold last night but it didn't bother me as much. But I turned back and forth trying to make my lower back comfortable. Finally around 3am I let some air out of the sleeping pad so my hip could sink in more. Sunshine later said he thought I might be crazy enough to get up and start hiking at that hour. Fat chance. I wasn't leaving that warm sleeping bag until I had to.Yesterday evening after arriving at the shelter I started cold soaking some rice (cilantro-flavored, mmm). I sent my stove home to save weight, so I'm experimenting with my options. It wasn't ready last night, and this morning it still had failed to soak up the water. Completely inedible. Apparently heat is key for rice absorption. Hypothesis rejected!I started climbing up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokies and on the AT, and second highest east of the Rockies (after Mt Mitchell in North Carolina). Above 5500 feet the forest dramatically changed. It became primeval. It looked like a boreal rainforest, a dark, rich tapestry of shadowy hemlocks and lime-green moss and lichens covering fallen trees and boulders. Ferns dominated the understory. A heavy mist permeated the forest, building to a bluish gray in the distance.Clingman's tower has a wide spiral ramp leading to a 70 foot viewing tower. It put me just above the trees, and more importantly just above the cloud I had been walking in for 24 hours. Gazing out over the top of the clouds, with glimpses of mountains underneath, felt like a dream. Few tourists were up at the tower given the early hour and poor visibility. One family with several daughters made yoga poses as their mother clicked away. The AT runs around the summit. I summited from one side and descended from the other, reconnecting with the AT but missing several hundred yards. It sounds trivial, but on my section hikes I was a "pass every white blaze" purist and such an act would have bothered me enough to have to return to finish it. Having walked every inch once, I now feel free to hike however I feel in the moment.The eight mile walk down to Newfound Gap was through more primeval forest with cool, moist air. I felt as awake and alert as I ever have. Truly invigorating. Countless steps formed from roots, logs, and stones. I began to feel my pace accelerate. The struggle I'd felt climbing Clingman's Dome was replaced by new energy.At Newfound Gap the parking lot was full and tourists swarmed despite the fog. Met a thruhiker named Danny from New York City who started just a week ago and has been blitzing up the trail. It's been colder than any of us expected, but he doesn't even have a puffy so he was tempted to start hiking at 3am to cover the forty miles to get out of the park. But he'd run out of food so, like us, he wanted to get to town.After 15 minutes of hitching at the exit from the lot, after numerous cars and trucks had turned out, mostly headed in the wrong direction, an SUV with two women stopped. "Are you serious?" the older woman driving called out plainly. I assured her I was indeed and just wanted to get to Gatlinburg. She and her daughter were extremely kind to accommodate all three of us. They turned out to be a couple we'd passed on the way down the trail. Thankfully we were polite (as always, of course!)We wound down the fifteen miles to Gatlinburg, passing a massive number of cars parked along the side of the highway near every trail access. For a Wednesday the park seemed inordinately popular. I later found out midweek recently was unusually popular, presumably because so many families are out of work and out of school early. Plus the park recently started closing the popular Cades Cove loop road to all but bike and foot traffic on Wednesdays. In any case, the Smokies are back in business in a big way. In Gatlinburg we immediately hit the outfitter. I found Injinji toe socks to replace the pair I melted. Sunshine found a sleeping bag liner to keep from freezing at night. Having swapped out his winter sleeping bag for his summer one a few days ago, he was not a happy camper in the early morning hours the last couple nights.Danny was good to go. He carries what looks like a daypack and, as mentioned earlier, doesn't even carry a puffy, let alone a liner or toe socks. We had lunch (or is it "dinner" here?) at the Smoky Mountain Brewery. There are gestures towards social distancing here but life seems very normal and the crowds seem undimmed. I had a big meal of steak, chicken, potatoes, mac n' cheese and a gallon of iced tea. Guess I needed some protein.I hit up the Days Inn for a room and got a hiker rate of just $50 for a remodeled room with two queens, which Sunshine and I split. Cheaper than many hostels! Resupplied at Old Dad's General Store (hits too close to home!), which mostly consisted of more Fritos, Cheerwine (a regional cherry-flavored cola), and RC Cola which I thought no longer existed but is better than Coke.By far the highlight of my day was a video call with my wife and kids. Seeing their faces and catching up with their lives back home helps me keep perspective on this journey and stem some of the homesickness. I do miss them, and I hope it helped them as well to see Dad and know how much I think about them. Sunshine met a friend from Tennessee for dinner and I veged, trying a Gouda cheesesteak from Hot Diggity Dawg (quasi-blasphemous to a Philly boy) and walking around the Branson-like manufactured entertainment of Gatlinburg, contrasting so sharply with the natural wonders of the Smokies looming above us.