Date: 2010-04-13
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Ice Water Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: broken clouds

The Professor is absolutely the loudest snoring machine ever! World record potential! Sounded like a sheet of Tyvek in 200mph winds! Like a baby Wildabeast crying for it's mother as it's swallowed alive by a crocodile! He warned us! He said, "The next time you see a GSMNP Ranger, poke him/her in the eye." Apparently, he got a ticket ($150) for camping when he could have stayed in a shelter.I set my alarm for 4:50am. When it went off, it startled me. I turned it off and made more noise than the alarm itself. We thought Conan and Backwards were going to make the sunset run to Clingmans dome, but they didn't wake up with us. So we left them behind. I guess it was to early. It was soooo cold out! The skies were nice and clear though. We had no wild animal encounters, unfortunately! We hiked through snow ankle deep. There were lots of blow downs and limbs from the ice/wind storms over the last month. We could see the lights from Gatlingburg burning bright on the horizon. When we got to the overlook, it was just in time to see the pale red colors creep across the horizon. The blue mountains looked like the backs of ghosts watching to see what we'd come all this way for! We ate granola and watched as the first sliver of the sun peaked over the end of the earth. 100% perfectly clear!! We took photos and bundled up. The cold winds cut right through our jackets. It's so hard to believe that we could see Standing Indian Mtn. from here!We hiked down through Red Spruce and Fraser Fir forests like we'd never seen. Lots of knee deep, packed snow left from the March storms. Dark and cool forests here. Lots of large trees up-rooted and laid over with dirt as large as a minivan. Multiple trees caught in the root balls. One even had a large sofa sized rock stuck in it's grasp. Met Lonewolf 55. He looked like Robert Redford. We took a break at Indian Trail gap. I shared my home dehydrated bananas! They were a total hit with Spring Kat and Mat! We kept talking about what we were going to eat in Gatlinburg! Spring Kat told me about a mountain in Peru that I'd like to try one day.We rushed to New Found Gap. We were very eager for a ride! We took picture at the NC-TN state line. I was working the crowd for a ride to Gatlinburg. Before to long, we had a ride half way down. There were tourists blocking the highway on the way down. They were taking pictures of a Black Bear 20ft from the highway. We got another ride for the other half of the distance to Gatlinburg from a guy who lived 1 mile from the AT in Virginia. He drove a blazer with a gun in the dash board. The blazer only had 2 seats in the back. There were 3 of us. It's a good thing Spring Kat is a skinny fellow, because I had to squish my way into a seat. Very uncomfortable, but worth it!We passed the 200 mile mark today!!!!!!We got to town and walked straight to the Smokey Mtn. Brewery! Ordered a salad, coffee, Philly cheese steak sandwich, and macaroni and cheese. Asked for the Mayo. She gave me a whole bottle! Biigggggg mistake! I ate at least half! Conan and Backwards came while we were charging our cell phones and resting/making plans for the rest of the day. We talked about The Professor's snoring. We were tempted to stay in town, but wanted to press on. Spring Kat loves Pop Tarts! Haha. I really want to tell him how fake that food is, but he loves it so much I don't have the heart to tell him. He ate one of Matt's on Clingman's Dome and he hasn't stopped talking about them since. The do have 600 calories though. Spring Kat broke his reading glasses and needed to go to the pharmacy. We decided to find his glasses and a market. I got peanut butter brittle, pretzels covered in white chocolate and peanut butter, crackers, and ice cream drum-sticks. While I was eating ice cream, I saw a kid in a jeep staring at us. So, I threw my thumb up and asked for a ride. He waved us into his Jeep! Wow, how about that! We had a ride back to the trail immediately! He was a pizza delivery guy, but went out of his way to help us! He's from TN and has been to Bonnaroo! Aroooo! The rear end of his Jeep must have been malfunctioning because every time we went through a curve, the whole body shifted to the left or right. Click, thunk...with every turn! Scary!We got back to New Found Gap, and used the privy. Spring Kat was waving us towards him when we got out. I thought someone was asking for directions. Nope, turns out, it was TRAIL MAGIC! Jerry, a thru-hiker this year was taking time off with his family! They were giving free food to hikers passing by! I had homemade cookies! I had the 2 greatest cadberry eggs of my entire life! I had been talking about how wonderful Cadburry eggs were the entire day! Ask, and ye shall receive! They were wonderful people! More affirmation of the greatness of human kind! Matt introduced himself as, "Fun Dip". So it's official, he has a trail name now! He was trying to pine off that sugary packet on me for three days. We made it to Icewater Shelter!Rabid was there. She got her name because she uses to much toothpaste! Haha, nice! The Wildmen are doing a fire tonight! Such a wonderful day!