Date: 2007-04-24
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Clingmans Dome
Miles today: 11.1

Woke up at around 6 AM to rain splattering against my tent. Just a light drizzle then a hard rain. That and my knee had kept me up most of the night despite the large doses of Ibuprofen I had taken during the night. I didn't feel any swelling but it was stiff and sore.When the rain let up a little bit I got up and walked around, stretching the knee out as much as I could. I was hoping that it would get better with a little exercise but as I will discuss later, it did not.Packed everything up and fixed breakfast (same old oatmeal and coffee), packed up the tent and got on the trail by about 0830 in a light rain. I really dislike walking in my rain gear and opted to just use the jacket - figured that it was warm enough that I could get my shorts wet and not have a problem.My goal was Double Spring Gap Shelter - that was only 7.2 miles, so I was thinking of heading to Mt. Collins shelter, only another 6 miles but with Clingmans Dome in the middle. My knee was already complaining (both of them, actually) so I was not sure just how far I would get.Ran into a pig hunter just before the Silers Bald shelter. He is a park employee and spends his time hunting the feral pigs in the park. Every now and then you can see the damage these varmits cause when rooting around for food - they clear wide swaths of ground cover. He said some of the pigs go to 300 pounds! Very interesting guy - I spoke with him for about 20 - 30 minutes before shouldering my pack and heading back on the trail.Got to Silers Bald shelter at around 2, had lunch and rested my knee. Made the decision that if it did not get any better soon that I would bail at Clingmans and see if I could find a place to rest it up. Josh and Sarah caught up with me there and we talked for awhile. Josh worked some magic on one of Sarah's boot to see if he could stretch it out a little bit. He has been working at an outfitters for awhile and they are planning on opening there own outfitters when they finish the trail - hope they do as I think that they would be good at it.About an hour later I was at Double Spring Gap Shelter and was more than ready to bail at Clingmans. My knee had started swelling by now and was not responding real well to drugs. Met up with a couple of southbound hikers at the shelter including some more students from Wisconsin. Josh and Sarah came in just as I was heading out for Clingmans Dome.From the shelter to Clingmans is about 3 miles of continious up. The trail is good and well graded, just up. When I finally got to Clingmans I knew that I needed to go off trail. The knee was not better, and to continue on was to keep fooling myself. This was to be a dream, not a nightmare.Long story short, I hiked down to the visitors parking area and thumbed a ride into Gatlinburg and got a room. The older couple that gave me a ride were very nice and asked a lot of questions. I decided not to let on that I was going to be going home - mainly because I was still having a tough time dealing with that statement myself.Once I got into Gatlinburg I called my wife and daughter. My son-in-law would be coming over the next day and drive me back to Black Mountain and eventually the airport for a plane ride home.More later.