Date: 2015-03-21
From: Mt Collins Shelter

To: Pecks Corner
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Well I met one of the rangers this morning as I came up from the privy and he was just coming by to check on the shelter and who all was there. Asked us for our permits and everyone had theirs but me and I told him mine had gotten destroyed in all that rain we'd had. I promised him it was in the thru hiker deposit box and he took all my info, no ticket as of yet so I think I'll be good to go. He was actually a pretty cool guy and had thru hiked back in 99 he said and just fell in love with the park.The sun was out and shinning today which made the hike out pretty good despite the cold start we had. I stopped around mid day when I was crossing a boar fence and decided to check my phone and I'm glad I did since I had 4G and was able to finally make soem phone calls. I stopped and talked to Mary for about an hour and then gave momma a call to let her know I was still alive and well to her relief. Four and Five passed by but I didn't get to talk to them much since I was on the phone but I caught up to them at New Found Gap.Not only were they there but 3 couples who were set up giving out trail Magic and Mountain Mama came and grabbed me as I came to the parking lot to let me know what all they had for us. I also stopped by Tennessee Pearls set up and grabbed some food and snacks even took a couple PB & Js to go in the hopes I'd get some extra miles. There were also a bunch of folks from town that were on a scavenger hunt and looking for thru hikers to feed which again I was grateful for as I left the gap with probably 5 extra pounds of food stuffing my pockets.The climb out of the gap went by quick with all the day hikers I passed on the way up and it almost felt like a race with all the people we saw out there i had this desire not to get passed by any of them and just about sprinted to the top of the hill. The only downside to it was that with some many people out I couldn't just stop and pee off the trail with out fear of being seen, and when I finally decided to relieve myself there ended up being a pair of girls who rounded the bend and we had an awkward but funny exchange.Everyone up there was going to Charlies Bunion which over looked the River and town of Gaitlinburg but I didn't care too much about a view of a city and thought it was overcrowded for my taste and pushed on skipping the outcrop. I ended up really happy that I'd done so cause on the back side of it was the real view of the valley untainted by towns and houses it was mountains for as far as I could see. I love the views like that it makes me feel like I'm really out in the woods and not so close to civilization. That night at the shelter was pretty full and we had a ridge runner in there with us who was checking permits again. I dodged a bullet that time and never got asked for mine I think mostly because I was in the middle of serious foot surgery. I've developed a nasty ingrown toe nail that got slightly infected after all those days of rain and nasty wet boots so I had to cut that puppy open and drain it. WOW did that hurt I had to go a little bit at a time so that I could get all that crap out but it feels so much better already. Really glad I brought such a good first aid kit, after today I don't mind the weight of it at all.