Date: 2007-04-14
From: 203.6

To: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

      Today is Saturday, April 14th... I had to look at a calendar because I have lost all sense of time out here. Kevin and I (and our group of friends) are in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We took an unplanned detour into this town to get out of the Great Smoky Mountains because of some really nasty weather. When you are at such a high elevation as you are in these mountains, you really need to have the appropriate gear for really cold temperatures. Rain is a nuisance, but rain at 5-6,000 feet with heavy winds and cold temperatures makes for miserable, dangerous hiking. I am happy to finally have a few moments to update everyone on our whereabouts and latest adventures. Here's what's been going on:    Last Sunday we got some really great trail magic from Jelly Bean and Bare Bear, fromer thru-hikers from last year. They surprised us in the late-morning when we hiked into Stecoah Gap, North Carolina with hot cheeseburgers, hotdogs, cold sodas, candy, etc... Jelly Bean even gave Bailey and Maximus tennis balls to play with because she is a dog lover just like us. They were wonderful and it just goes to show how many great people there are out there, just trying to help us out. The only bad thing about this trail magic was the climb we had right after stuffing ourselves. My tummy was cramping in the worst way as we hiked a mile straight up out of the gap. It was a tough climb after eating so much!   Skipping ahead to Tuesday, we hiked down to Fontana Dam, North Carolina where Lida O'Neil from Loving Care Kennels picked up Bailey (and Maximus) for a mini-vacation from the trail as dogs aren't allowed in the Smokies. I must admit, it was really hard to see her go with a stranger. Lida seemed really nice though and even brought us pizzas and cold drinks when she came to pick up Bailey and Maximus, our friend Dan's Chocolate Lab. Bailey seemed very comfortable with the whole situation because she jumped into the backseat of Lida's car and fell asleep on a quilt while we were chatting. I did shed a tear when the car pulled away because Bailey's my girl and it's hard to imagine her not by my side, especially out here where she is literally at my side all day. Kevin's hiking speed is still about 100 yards or more behind me, so Bailey is right there next to me all day. She's still be limping on her back left leg sporadically so I am anxious to see how she's doing when we meet up with her later.       After Lida left with the dogs, our group of 8, still together and having more fun than should be allowed, shared pizza and drinks with a large group of hikers, thus making more friends. We met another group called "The Maine Train" with a bunch of other Mainers, which was really exciting! There were also three easy going guys our age from Texas and a ton of other people in the shelter that night. We slept in the shelter known as "The Hilton" because it was pretty nice and there were showers roughly 1/2 mile away. You really learn to appreciate shower opportunities out here! We fell asleep to a symphony of snoring with 20+ people in the shelter.      The next morning, Wednesday, brought fierce winds and ominous grey skies as we slipped out of the shelter around 7 am. When we got to the road there were trail angels waiting with hot pancakes and ham from the group "Hikers for Christ". The same three men brought us trail magic for dinner the night before and we really appreciated them for taking the time to be so kind and generous to us smelly, hungry hikers! After breakfast, our group of 8 (minus the dogs) walked across the Fontana Dam, headed for Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the biggest mountains yet. We half-jokingly said it felt like we were going to war, armed with trekking poles and large resupplied packs covered in rain gear and gazing at the darkening skies and looming mountain peaks. The first climb was tough and seemed to take forever, especially given that we had a 17 mile day planned. We climbed Shickstack Mountain, which had been rumored to be pretty tough, but I loved the hike. The only hard part about climbing was not being able to see any views from the top because of the foul weather. It made me think about Bill Irwin's motivation when he climbed the trail with his seeing eye dog, Orient. I have an immmense amount of respect for someone who did this as a blind individual!               After 7 or 8 miles, mostly uphill, we ran into one of the park's ridge runners, people responsible for patrolling the park, making sure people are complying with the parks many rules and regulations. He was helpful because he informed us of the 100% chance of rain for both afternoon and nighttime hours, as well as a temperature drop into the 20s and 50+ mile per hour winds. He told us the shelter we were headed for was full and so was the one after it so we sped up our pace and made it the last 4 miles to the nearest shelter, Mollies Ridge Shelter, before the rain came down. Kevin gathered enough fire wood for the whole evening before the rain fell, so we were warm and dry and very grateful. The winds howled all around us all night, accompanied with booming thunder and torrential downpours. Several hikers came in throughout the afternoon and we crammed over 20 people in the shelter built for 12. No one should have to be stuck outside in weather like that. We all shared a slightly cramped and dreary evening, brightened by laughing and sharing stories.   Thursday, the morning after the storm, brought sunshine and renewed spirits. Because our 17 mile day the previous day had been shortened by the rain, we used the great weather to hike 19 miles. The first 6 miles went by extremely fast over flat ground and gradual climbs. We were all really excited about how fast we had done the first 6, only to be surprised by the climbs the next 6 miles brought. However, we finally got some spectacular views from Rocky Top (5,441 feet) and Thunderhead (5,527 feet)so the hiking was totally worth it. This was a wonderful day in the Smokies and we were happy to have put in high mileage. We ended up staying at Double Spring Gap Shelter that night, at an elevation of 5,507 feet. It made me scratch my head to think that the Smoky Mountain shelters all seem to be at really high elevations, instead of down in the sheltered gaps and valleys. This means that it gets cold, cold, cold and really windy. Because of the cold and wind, I didn't get a lot of sleep that night, not many of us did. When you hiked nearly 20 miles and then can't get a restful sleep, it can be a bit tiring. I'm guessing the longer we're out here, the better we'll get at simply falling asleep, no matter where or when.       When we woke up yesterday (Friday morning) the ground was covered in a thick, crusty layer of frost and temperatures were in the mid-teens, not considering the wind chill. I used the privy (outhouse) and was worrying my butt might stick to the seat it was so cold! No worries, it didn't! After taking forever to pack up our gear, due to the cold and our stiff muscles, we trekked on. I hiked most of the morning alone because the excitement of climbing Clingman's Dome made me quicken my pace. Clingman's Dome is the highest mountain on the entire Appalachian Trail at 6,643 feet. I climbed the roughly 3 1/2 miles to the top pretty quickly and was surprised at what an easy climb it was. AT the top there was an observation deck that you could climb and get some incredible vistas of the mountains all around, a complete 360 degree view. I stayed at the top for a while, all by myself, and marveled at how beautiful it was. Of all times, this was a pretty emotional moment for me and it made me miss my brother terribly. I think part of me thought that I could escape grief by disappearing into the woods for 6 months, but I am learning that it's not an escape, it's just taking a different path and learning to see things in a new way. This experience is something that goes beyond all others and I am so grateful to be out here.    After climbing Clingman's and taking a moment to allow myself to miss my brother, we started the downhill climb, only to see the skies start to darken over our heads. We all stopped to quickly throw on rain gear and put our pack covers on, then attempted to walk a bit faster downhill. The only problem with this was that the trail was crusted over with ice and was slick, making quick movements vitually impossible. Luckily, the weather didn't turn out to be as terrible as it initially looked, but it was still windy and very cold. We stopped near a shelter after waling 7.5 miles and contemplated visiting Gatlinberg because of the weather forcasted for the weekend. Eventually we all decided to go for it and hiked roughly 5 more miles to Newfound Gap and got rides into town.       The silly thing is, now that we are here in town, the weather has improved and we are kicking ourselves! Granted, it is wonderful to take a shower and sleep in a warm bed, but the weather today is perfect hiking weather! Oh well... it looks like the storm will hit us tomorrow when we hike back out. Grrrr! Another ironic experience was that we saw our first black bears! What is funny is that we didn't see them until we were in a car on our way to town! The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is said to be home to the highest concentration of black bears in the U.S. and it seems odd to me that we were in a car when we saw a mother bear and two cubs. We have seen lots of signs of them in the mountains, their scat is all around and there are scrapings where they were peeling the outer layers off logs to get to the grubs and other yummy bear food.       What's next? We're leaving here as early as possible tomorrow morning and hiking back into the Smokies and should be out of the park within 2 1/2 days. Once we're out, we get our dogs back (hooray!) The next town we'll be stopping in to resupply is Hot Springs, North Carolina. We are expecting some mail there and will stop in long enough to get it, then we'll hike back out again. In case you're wondering which state we're in... the Smoky Mountains seem to form a boundary line between North Carolina and Tennessee, so we keep bouncing from state to state along the ridgelines.       I guess that's about it for now... I will be sending my memory card along to Kevin's sister, Sarah, so she can help me upload them as there never seems to be enough time for me to do it out here. So, hopefully you'll be able to see my pictures soon!       Until next time, Happy Trails everyone!