Date: 2017-10-28
From: Icewater Spring shelter

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 2.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The wisdom of yesterday's impromptu marathon was apparent this morning, when the rain bucketed down from just before dawn.One of the groups in the shelter had left at 3.30am -- around three hours before first light -- and presumably to beat the rain. Another left right at dawn, and managed to time their departure to EXACTLY the arrival of the heavy rain. OK, Happy Feet and me took their newly-freed places on the sleeping platforms, alongside Sriracha and 2am, and quickly concluded that there are few pleasures more enjoyable than watching torrential rain from the inside of the shelter. Admittedly we knew that we'd have to go out into this at some point but we opted to let the future versions of ourselves worry about that and in the meantime we'd revel in knowing we aren't the ones sloshing our way along a flooded trail.Of course two members of Team KRT were out in this and were on their way to us from the shelter about seven miles back. We felt a little bad about that, but then went back to enjoying the ability to watch the rain outside from the warm and dry environs of our sleeping bags.After we'd enjoyed several hours of pleasant indolence, Dirt and Sweetblood rocked up at about 10.40am. They were pretty wet but being able to keep moving was enough to keep them warm enough, which is why they headed on after a couple of minutes at the shelter. This was our cue to pack up and follow them.By that point, our decision to defer to our future selves was paying dividends because the rain had tapered off to a nuisance drizzle. My umbrella, which I'd been carrying since Harpers Ferry and which had so far worked as the perfect rain deterrent, was enough to keep me dry as we headed over the top of the ridge above the shelter and then down to Newfound Gap.What was surprising was how many people were out, given the miserable conditions, in the short three-mile stretch between our shelter and the road and it took me a while to realise it was the weekend. What made a greater impression was how poorly equipped many of these hikers were, with one -- young, white male, of course -- carrying no pack or rain jacket and wearing a cotton T-shirt. Once at Newfound Gap, we regrouped and found Jamey, Sweetblood's dad, who had driven up from North Carolina to do trail magic for her and the rest of the extended Team KRT. Soon we'd squeezed into a white van and were driven down through absurdly pretty autumn colours towards the distinctly unlovely town of Gatlinburg, where we had lunch, went to a Walmart to buy supplies for the next day, and then went to a lush mountain home Jamey had booked on Airbnb.And boy, was it lush. It was one of those trophy holiday homes for which the US is famous, featuring five bedrooms and a games room and open fire places etc. It was really nice and I'd be tempted to say we're not going to leave the house, but we can see a hot tub on the deck...Life is good.AT fact of the day: We weren't just buying supplies at Walmart. As today's photo shows, we also bought Halloween costumes to hike in for the next few days. Can I beat my record in 2010 on the CDT, when my tramily successfully trick-or-treated for beer?