Date: 2014-04-29
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Gatlinburg,TN
Miles today: 4.6

The wind was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli. The rain finally came last night and it brought along with it some wind. It was consistently blowing between 50 and 60 mph with gusts blowing even harder. You knew people weren't sleeping that night because there was not one person snoring. It was pitch black but you knew everyone's eyes were glued to those tarps that were covering the front of the shelter, they were being whipped back and forth all night making a thunderous noise every flap in the wind. We all were thinking, 'Are those things going to hold?'. Luckily they did.   Morning came along and my first two thoughts were I hoped that the people who tented last night still had tents and my second thought was I hope all out food bags were still there as they were on the bear cable dangling in the wind all night. In the end, all was well. It was still rainy and windy in the morning and we just sat in the shelter for a bit. Yogi was talking to two guys who were doing a three day hike and were heading home today but had to pass through Gatlinsburg, TN for some gas. We were going to go into town to resupply and Yogi got us a ride into town for free, the kid has skills.       So we packed up real quick and Yogi, Delaware, Inspector Gadget, myself and the two hikers set out to get to the parking lot at. Clingmans Dome as quick as possible. We had a great pace and battled the wind and the trail which now became a river, there were a few slips and spills here and there but we all made it safely. We squeezed into the kids SUV and were on our way to town. Along the way l, they pulled out a jar of moonshine that we all took some swigs of (except the driver of course) to warm ourselves up. We got into town early and the first thing we did was go to an all you can eat buffet and stuffed ourselves with delicious breakfast, the thru hiker appetite is in full effect now.   After breakfast, they dropped us off at the Grand Prix motel which is a hiker motel and we got a nice room for only forty dollars. We went to an outfitter nearby to look at some hiking supplies, I bought a few dry bags to separate my food a bit more,I'm trying to be a bit more organized as the trip goes on. We then took a stroll through town on our way to the grocery store and it's definitely an interesting town. It's like an Easy coast Las Vegas without the gambling, very touristy and the main attraction is Dollywood which we decided not to go to, there's always next time. We stocked up on food which I went overboard yet again, there's so much food that I get overwhelmed and they had new flavors of Knorr pasta sides that I had to buy them and try them out.   When we got back to the motel, more of the gang had arrived and was staying for the night so we all got some beers and hung out for a bit. Delaware and them went on a walk and I stayed behind to try to organize my meals and pack better all while watching the Mets beat up on the Phillies. The weather is supposed to be crappy tomorrow as well but we don't want to take a zero day so depending on how bad it is will determine how far we hike in. Hopefully the weather will break and we'll get have some time getting to the shelter before we get soaked. It seems like the South and the East coast are getting battered this week with intense weather. Looking forward to that sunshine in the few days