Date: 2003-04-14
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Icewater Srpings Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: few clouds

I had a wonderful day today. There wasn't a ton of hiking involved, but lots of trail love. We left Mt. Collin's Shelter around 7:30 and trucked it on toward Newfound Gap (the location with the road that would take us in to Gattlinburg). I thought the terrain would be tough with lots of downhills, but it really wasn't all that bad. When we got there, the plan was to hit Shoney's around 11:30 for all you can eat breakfast buffet, followed by lunch. All didn't go as planned; that wasn't such a bad thing though. In fact, we missed breakfast there all together because we go so much trail magic along the way. This was my first trail magic asside from other hikers' kindness along the way (the use of Pirate's bug spray at buggy Hawk Mtn. Shelter, extra granola bars and such from Hopeful's drop box at NOC, etc). From the shelter, we traveled about 3 and half miles down to Indian Gap where two women from the Retired Citizens of the Smokies were giving out some hiker lovin' - turkey/cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, brownies, oatmeal cookies - just a plethora of everything good! We must have lingered for at least an hour.On the way to Newfound Gap Sprout and Hopeful moved ahead; Last Minute and I stuck together. The terrain was pretty level but my kneww was still uncomfortable. As we finally approached Newfound Gap Last Minute said, "What do you want to bet that Sprout and Hopeful are in the back of some pickup truck waiting for us so we can all go in to Gattlinbur?" Well, he wasn't too far off with his estimate. We got there to see Sprout and Hopeful in the back of a pickup, along with another trail angel - Warren. Ah, twice in one day! Warren, a local trail maintainer surprised us with donuts, sodas and moon pies! Then he took us down to town! How Awesome!He dropped us off at the Happy Hiker. I bought a knee brace and the guy there showed me some hiking pointers to keep my knees feeling better and an exercise to increase the strength of areas above and below my knee that take the impact on the downs. I successfully used my cell phone in a town (generally they're too low in the valley to get service) to call Jessica. I arranged to meet her this coming Saturday at Max Patch. I also called Momma to let her know I'd made it through the snow ok. We went on over to Shoney's for the all you can eat lunch buffet. Sprout, Hopeful, Last Minute and I had a grand time dining together. We all did dessert and had the staff at Shoney's announce Hopeful's birthday over the P.A. system. What a kicker! Then we did a spot of expensive grocery shopping. Gattlinburg is not an affordable place to resupply. Though I spent a bit more than I had intended, I feel like I've got enough food to get me to Hot Springs. By this point it was getting late - nearing 6 p.m. We walked to the edge of town, near where we'd been dropped off, and tried to get a hitch out of town. For 20 minutes or so the cars just kept whizzing by. One guy was willing to take us about 1/2 way, but that wasn't the best option for us. As I neared exaspiration, James, a ridgerunner who had stayed the night with us at Derrick Knob Shelter, pulls up in his truck. Yes! This was a great day. The coolest part about him giving us a ride back to Newfound Gap was that he didn't have to do it. In fact, it was out of his way. How cool is that? All of it is just amazing, how much love and kindness that I've seen today. Hopeful, Sprout, Last Minute and I all hiked close together for a majority of the day today. We played the name the artist game, wher eyou think of an artist whose first name begins with the last letter of last name of the last artist named. Then we tried it with food. We also dipped our fingers in some other topics of conversation - religions, moral right, emotion and it's connection to physical. It's neat to see that the more we hike together, the more our conversations evolve. We're really starting to challenge one another more and to learn more about oursevles. I'm so glad I've got this great bunch of hiking friends.