Date: 2009-05-10
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We awoke to fog in the morning, but it cleared by 7:00. By the time I left at 9:00, there were no clouds to be seen and it was in the 40s.It was a perfect day for hiking! The trails were damp as the mountains drained off all the rain from the previous days, but since the forest is largely pine rather than broad-leafed at the higher elevations, there was none of the slippery muck in the trails that I had encountered earlier. The air was clear, the views fantastic and the scent of pine trees was a nice change. I took many photos, and, perhaps in celebration of Mothers Day, there seemed to be no gnats out and about!As I mentioned before, this hike through the Smokies is along the ridges. At times today the ridge was so narrow that it consisted only of the path itself, maybe two feet wide, with 60-80 degree drop offs on each side. I am glad I did not come through these parts in the rain yesterday!Early in the hike, I stopped for a while at Charlies Bunion, a large rock outcropping that is a popular stopping point on the trail. There was no one there when I arrived, but soon a fellow came running up. He is a 37 year old a trail runner and was doing a 31 mile run along the ridge today. Another trial runner, a gal, is doing the run from the opposite direction, and when they meet, they will trade car keys so they both can get home. Later in the day I encountered the gal part of this adventure duo and we chatted for a few minutes. She is in her early 40s, and does competitive runs of 100 miles at a time. She has also done the full 70-mile AT portion of the Smokies in 26 hours! Other than these two, I saw no other hikers as I moved along today.When I got to the turn off for the shelter, I realized I had not noted that the shelter was .4 miles off the AT and down hill the whole way. This meant that the entire .8 mile detour, and trek back up the hill in the morning, would not count as AT miles (bummer), but the alternative was to hike on another 5.2 miles to the next shelter (tenting is not generally allowed in the Smokies) so I took the side trail down the hill. I arrived at the shelter and found it empty, but soon Thimble and Time Bomb from Minneapolis rolled in. They are a young couple who have quit their jobs to do the AT before they get all wrapped up in career and family responsibilities. Soon after that we were joined by Fletch from Colorado ... http://www.trailjournals.com/fletch ... who was hiking in from Gatlinburg with a 75 pound pack filled with more food than one can ever imagine out here, plus a machette(!) which he uses to gather wood and make cook fires (most folks carry small stoves).We got a fire together in short order and all of us, except Fletch who stayed up to cook his dinner and tend the fire, were in bed by 8:00.About 9:00, after we were asleep, a noisy bunch of 7 hikers from the "Carolina Mountain Club" rolled in in the dark. They made a lot of noise and spread out their gear everywhere as they cooked their dinners and found places to sleep. Being now 11 folks here, with space for only 12, it made for a real mess. We four who were here first were absolutely amazed at how inconsiderate they were, particularly since they were part of a professional organization of some sort and actually had a "leader" who was guiding them! PhotosThe ATCharlies BunionWalking the ridge lineTrail runner out doing a 30-mile dayThimble and Time Bomb from Minnesota at Pecks Corner Shelter