Date: 2004-04-07
From: Newfound Gap (Gatlinburg, TN)

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

Day 254.7.043:40pmToo exhausted to write yesterday. Finally rolled into Gatlinburg around 8pm. Long, long day, of slogging through the elements. Crossed the 200 miles point, as well as summitted Clingman¢s Dome. Quite the achievements. Ended up being the longest day as of yet, both in duration and in distance. 10 12 hours of hiking, spanning 18 miles. Hard miles they were, too. Mud, ice, snow, slush. The trail never really got ¢nice.¢ Feet were soaked through and through -- wrung my socks out when I got to town. Now they¢re getting washed. Thank goodness. I¢ve finally identified the odor I resemble after 3 or 4 days out -- rank. Not a particularly pleasant aroma, even for me. Can only imagine what others think. But, despite the smells, it kinda nice not dealing w/ deodorant or any but the most base of personal hygiene. Til 100 years ago, no one fussed over all this crap, makeup and the whole nine yards. Shaving is overrated. But, back to yesterday. Hit the trail just after 8. Wanted to get an early start, ended up getting a rude awakening. Finally roused myself around 7, after I saw Cuppa Joe stirring. Tried to discreetly work my way around Sweetleaf and Mumbles, who were still warmly ensconced in their bags. (Sweetleaf made the comment a few days ago that we resemble grubs, all tucked in our bags and lined up so orderly -- an apt description b/c that¢s how I feel, burrowed in against the cold.) We were on the top level of the shelter, and I was furthest from the ladder. Well, I made it to the ladder well enough, went down the first 2 steps. Reached for the third. My stockinged foot (didn¢t put sandals on to stay quiet) slipped. I scrambled for a handhold w/ my left hand. Let go w/ my right to grab onto¢¦nothing. Ended up flat on my behind. Fortunately only a 2 foot fall. Nothing bruised but my pride. Woke me right up though. Effective wake up call, that¢s for sure. Got the blood running too, from blushing not exertion. Well, I gathered the shreds of my dignity, told everyone to go back to sleep, and cooked up some breakfast. Oatmeal. Hmmm, haven¢t had that before. Just every day for the past 3 weeks. Don¢t know if I¢ll be able to look at oatmeal again after I finish. Rather impressed that I got from a dead sleep to the trail in under an hour though. Had all day to myself on the trail, up until Clingman¢s. I¢ve come to discover that I relish the solitude. I look forward to it, having my alone time. It¢s nice to have company and companionship at night, but I really enjoy clearing my head during the day. That¢s not to say I dislike hiking w/ others. I do enjoy the conversations (when I have enough breath to carry one on), but there¢s something so peaceful and calming to be alone w/ your thoughts. Just you and the woods. No outside influences or distractions. That¢s why Clingman¢s was so disconcerting. Mobs. Hordes of people, walking the 100 yards from their cushy SUVs to get their pictures taken at the tower. Not to detract from the views up there. Spectacular. 360 degree panorama. But, there were no other thru-hikers to share the experience w/. Tried to talk w/ some of the folks there. Just wasn¢t even close. That intimacy, that bond which we all share. Missing. I can¢t imagine how tough it¢ll be when I¢m off the trail. Probably why so many hikers move to be near it. Or just hike the darn thing again. And if Clingman¢s was bad, Gatlinburg is an order of 1000 more overwhelming to the senses. Tourist trap. Kitch galore. GatlinVegas, someone called it. People everywhere. Obese, overweight parents dragging their obese, overweight kids from fast food to funnel cake. Now, I know I¢m not skinny as a rail myself, but I¢m keeping active, and busting my rear while doing it. These people get in their cars to drive 2 blocks from their hotel to McDonalds. Disgusting. On a happier note, I saw that Inglewood, CA defeated Wal-Mart¢s push to escape the zoning laws everyone else has to obey. Little guys 1, Evil Empire 0. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless. The rest of the news seems quite depressing. Glad I don¢t get it everyday. Living in the woods has many advantages, that being one of them. Back to the trail -- reached Clingman¢s just before 2pm. Made pretty good time, considering the state of the trail. Took 3 spills yesterday, aside from the tumble in the shelter. All slips in the mud and snow. Turtled on the last one. Landed flat on my back, except w/ the pack on, I wasn¢t flat. Managed to flip myself onto my side and pull myself up after a minor struggle, and a few choice words for my pack. Some new blisters, these on my Achilles¢. Somehow, either my boots expanded or my feet shrank. Whichever, they kept pulling up on the rising slopes. Which basically means -- all day. Actually, the climb up the Clingman¢s wasn¢t bad at all. Gentle slope. Getting up Mt. Collins, on the other hand¢¦ By that point, I was sick and tired of the PUDs, which have definitely progressed to MUDs. Looking forward to a little flat land in VA. At least a couple hundred miles of it. Dingle told me an uplifting tidbit. Said from all reports of other thru-hikers, it never gets any easier. Your body adjusts so that you can do more, go further, but it doesn¢t come any easier, w/ any less pain. Something to look forward to over the course of the next 2000 miles¢¦ Have run into a lot of familiar faces here in Gatlinburg. Stayed at the Microtel last night, which George and Jennifer, the newlyweds from Kentucky who picked me up at Newfound Gap, were nice enough to drop me off at. Don¢t recommend it. The staff wasn¢t very helpful, or accomodating, or knowledgeable of the city. Staying at the Grand Prix tonight. Hiker hangout. Same price too. Boo Boo greeted me at the door. Chased him and Krispy Kritter around town -- Grand Prix, Happy Hiker, library. Finally got on the trail around 1:30, I think, along w/ Fire Marshall and Bear Tracks. Pegasus was heading out this morning too. Ran into Grizzly Dave at the outfitters. He¢s pretty competitive about this hike. Needlessly so, IMO. The only person you should be out here for is yourself. If you¢re hiking someone else¢s hike, or just hiking the mileage, then you¢re losing yourself, your identity, and the whole purpose of being out here. Seeing Jon really brought that message home to me. Sure, he¢s driven, and motivated, and works hard, but at what cost? And what benefit? So that he can destroy his health, so that¢s he isn¢t able, physically, to enjoy his retirement years, reap the benefits of his toil? I see of lot of myself, especially who I used to be, in him. And I don¢t want to live my life like that. Ever. It¢s just not worth it. If you¢re always living, working, for tomorrow, then you never get to live for today. A sacrifice I¢m not willing to make. Which is why I need to slow down and savor every moment out here. I would¢ve liked to sit up at Clingman¢s for a couple of hours, but the crowds, and my desire to get to Newfound Gap, prevented that. An ideal spot to meditate. There¢ll be thousands more, I¢m sure, but I need to slow down and appreciate them. I tell everyone -- Maine¢s not going anywhere. Now, I just have to take my own advice. Easier said than done. And, I need to take more pictures. Of people. The scenery¢s breathtaking, and shooting it is all well and good, but you can¢t capture a hundredth of it on film. People, on the other hand. They¢re what make this experience. So, new goal is to shoot people. Speaking of which -- to continue the list of hikers in Gatlinburg. Bear Behind¢s been writing postcards all day. Pirate¢s reading a Ludlum novel. Mumbles wandered in around 11. Cuppa Joe¢s hobbling around like a lame horse. His Achilles really kicked in yesterday. He got a lift off Clingman¢s. Hey, even I was tempted. Would¢ve made the day a lot shorter. Thought I spotted Slow Walker a bit ago. Not sure. And there are more of us, I¢m certain. And more to come tonight. Called home and checked e-mail. Nice to touch base. From mom¢s update about the word on the street (via trailjournals), everyone¢s been miserable the past few days. The weather and treacherous trail¢s been taking a toll on us all. At Derrick Knob, everyone who trundled in made the same comment -- the hike was hellaciously hard, the longest 10 miles yet. And absolutely all of us were absolutely certain we¢d missed the shelter. Though, just as obviously, none of us did. But, we all slogged through it. And are stronger because of it, or some such BS. We all feel stronger, at least. And it days like those that create the bonds b/t us. Now we can say to each other (or any other hiker) -- Remember that day, in the Smokies, hiking in the snow and mud and ice. And they¢ll say -- Yep. And that¢s enough. That¢s what your days and memories are full of out here. Papillion made a comment that he¢d never remember or be able to recreate fully any given conversation from the trail, but they¢d be quite inane and meaningless to anyone outside of the trail. Quite true, too. Even trying to explain things to G & G, and even mom, was really hard. Until you personally experience it, even in part, until you haul your butt up one of these mountains, it doesn¢t have the relevance, the significance. Maybe it¢s just that I don¢t have the ability and agility w/ words to convey the sense of the trail, but I feel that it¢s more than that. It¢s not even the words we hikers exchange that bond us together. It¢s the underlying knowledge that we¢ve been through it all, together. Well, now I¢m rambling fully into the touchy-feely realm. I¢ve droned on for pages, epically, in my journal (which still isn¢t half-full yet. Thanks to Charny and Karen for it.) Rain in the forecast for tomorrow. May wait til afternoon before heading out.