Date: 2019-04-16
From: ClingmanÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Dome/Gatlinburg

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 3.2

Today we left Gatlinburg. We were going to do a long hiking day, but we got a late start. I felt really wiped, as I do every day. There¢s always so much to do in addition to hiking, and even walking around town is tiring. I woke up around 8:30/9. I spent some time writing my blog since I was a couple of days behind and I had left off on a bad note. Don¢t worry readers, Gatlinburg was a good break and meeting this clan of people helped tremendously. I got breakfast at the hotel. Loved the continental breakfast. I made myself waffles with butter, syrup, and Nutella. It was wonderful. Yes I know, not that healthy, but carbs can be good for long days of hiking! I took some cereal boxes to munch on and ate a yogurt and some orange juice. I read the newspaper about the Notre Dame fire. I was upset by it, as it was a tragic disaster and I tend to feel sad when history is destroyed like that. I visited Paris during my junior year of college and I stood outside Notre Dame and took a picture of its iconic towers, but I never got to go inside. I was bummed, but I was following the plans of two other girls I was with. I also wanted to go up in the Eiffel Tower. Two bucket list desires for Paris that I didn¢t get to do, and now one of them I¢ll never get to see as it originally was. I know, that¢s life. I¢ll never get to see everything the world has to offer, but it still upsets me. I also love churches and visited too many to count while abroad. St. Peter¢s in Vatican City remains my favorite, although going to Evensong in St. Paul¢s in London was special too. Church has been a big part of my life since I was young, and even though I¢ve had my doubts at times, it remains important to me. Holy Week was always special when I was in the choir. There were so many services it felt like a marathon, but the music and celebration on Easter was worth it. My dad is probably the most religious in the family, as he was raised Irish Catholic and it¢s strong in his blood. I am thankful he¢s sacrificing church to come see me this Easter. I¢m hoping God will be with us as we enjoy time together in Hot Springs. I texted Prometheus and he said the shuttle left at 1. I knew that was late, but I was down to do it since the shuttle would be free and convenient. I didn¢t feel ready to go. Prometheus and Hot Sauce had been talking about giving me a pack shakedown, or at least a food bag shakedown. I packed everything up because I knew I had to check out at 11 and the cleaning crew was making their rounds already. I planned to finish packing my bag up in the lobby. I headed down with all my stuff and Prometheus and Hot Sauce came to hang. They helped me with my food bag. I ended up having a lot of trash and just way too much trail mix. Before I came out here, I ordered trail mix from this place in California and I ordered four different kinds. I planned on two a resupply, but I haven¢t been eating enough of it. I really like all the mixes, but it¢s not the first thing I want to snack on and I haven¢t been hungry enough. They¢re all calorie dense so I should start eating more. Hot Sauce repacked my food bag in an efficient, organized way and I packed it in my bag. Unfortunately, at Amicalola when I got that pack shakedown, they told me to put my tent and food side by side, but Prometheus said that was making my bag tilt and putting too much weight on one side. He told me he would help me fix that later. I was so grateful to both of them for their help. I¢m still learning every day how to do this and what changes I can make, so I¢m thankful for any advice people have for me. We headed out to catch the shuttle, but when we got to the NOC (that store is a chain, which I didn¢t realize before), we found out the shuttle wasn¢t doing another ride up to Clingman¢s Dome. We met the driver, but he was done for the day. He did mention that a whole crew that morning had been talking about me and I realized it was Thunder Buddy, Tinder, and Wobbles! I was sorry I missed them, but excited to know that they were there! We were a bit frustrated not to have the shuttle ride, but decided to call an Uber, because in a populated town like Gatlinburg, that was possible. We used the time to go to the general store across the street. I really wanted some moonshine. I have never had moonshine haha, but I really wanted to try it. I was going to put it in a Gatorade bottle and carry that out, so I bought a Gatorade, and then two little bottles of moonshine. Prometheus stopped me from buying a big bottle. I guess I wasn¢t prepared for how moonshine would hit me and when I looked at the percentages on the bottle, I understood. We went back and called the Uber. Prometheus had some ice cream that he got at the general store. Our Uber ride was a bit long, but we got back up to Clingman¢s Dome. It was totally packed. There were so many people. And no more snow! It was so different from yesterday. It was overwhelming how many people were there. We went up to the visitors center to get postcards/stamps. I needed water and this friendly man gave me his plastic water bottle. There is no water up at the Dome, not even in the little bathrooms they have. They only have bottled water. It was so nice to have someone helping me out, but I would¢ve been okay to wait until the next water source had it been necessary. I had had a whole bottle of Gatorade after all! We decided it was probably too ambitious to do our long mileage day today given the time, so we headed out for the next shelter, which wasn¢t very far. I¢ve realized that heading into towns, it¢s almost better to plan a Nero both days because of the stress of getting into and out of town. We headed on. We met some nice people on the road up from the parking lot and they asked about our trip. We decided not to go up in the tower to get a view, since it was so crowded. We pretty much missed the view because of all the snow the day before. We connected back with the AT and continued on. It was a nice few miles until the shelter. I really have enjoyed this part of the Smokey¢s. It¢s been beautiful with the pine trees, fir trees and greenery. There was a cut pine tree at the top of the Dome and that smell was amazing. Just so you all know, pine tree scent is my favorite scent. I always have candles, lotion, and diffusers with that scent. This scenery was what I thought the Smokey¢s would look like! It was warmer today, but still chilly. It¢s windy and chilly everyday here. I want to get out of the Smokey¢s, as much as I love the nature now. The shelter was .4 off the trail. I don¢t like when the shelter is off the trail like that. Off trail is on trail! It adds mileage and is frustrating. When we arrived, there was room. There was a dad with his two sons and they were section hiking. For some reason, they left the shelter and decided to camp that night. I hope we didn¢t scare them off! Thru-hikers tend to be pretty open, as I¢ve noticed. We curse, joke, drink, smoke, change in public, etc. I¢m civilized I promise, but we definitely have a more open vibe. I think the father just wanted to experience camping for real with his sons. There was at least one other section hiker there and some thru-hikers. And I found Ball¢s Out! I had been missing him! He was my day one! Also I really feel open these days so if you¢re curious, his name is from wearing a pair of boxers that were a little too roomy and putting his leg up on a log while talking to some hikers. Not too bad honestly. Haha. He seemed a bit different unfortunately and wasn¢t as warm, but I still liked seeing him. Prometheus wanted to make a fire and I was so thankful. We went exploring for some dead, dry sticks, as things were still wet from the rain and snow. It was really cool where we went. All the down trees had moss all over them, so it was like climbing in a green jungle gym. I unfortunately stepped on a glass bottle that someone had buried. Luckily I didn¢t get cut, but I did break the bottle. That¢s pretty disappointing to see though. Is it that hard to carry your trash out? The planet is dying! It was a huge bottle, so there was no way I could carry that out. I covered it up as best as I could, with the top sticking out so people could see. Prometheus and Hot Sauce started a fire and then hung out and made dinner. I couldn¢t finish my Mountain House noodles, so Hot Sauce finished them for me. I had some candy though because I will always have candy! That sweet tooth! I accompanied Ball¢s Out, Prometheus, and Hot Sauce to the woods for their smoking activities and we had a nice time chatting. We then went to sleep. It was a very nice day today and I was happy to be hiking with Hot Sauce and Prometheus. Especially after such difficult days of hiking recently, it was so good to have an up. I was against the idea of a trail family because it may slow you down or change your plans, and as you¢ve all noticed, I¢ve jumped from tramily to tramily because of that, but sometimes it is nice to follow along with others and have that company. Little Debbie