Date: 2004-10-26
To: Gatlinburg:Travesty upon mankind!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Here's the thing about taking a day off, it gets boring with no one around. I know I've mentioned this before but it needs repeating. I had been letting my hair grow out while I've been hiking, and it had gotten almost down to my shoulders. Sitting alone at Farrell's again I go into the bathroom and decide to shave my face. Well, Farrell has one of those fancy electric shavers that I had never used before, so I decided to use it. It took care of my face in a few seconds and I was left feeling that I hadn't gotten the full experience. So, looking there in the mirror I jam that shaver strait through the hair on the middle of my head. Boy was it short! I kept going, until about half way through the thing ran out of batteries. So here I am, sitting at Farrell's house, half long haired, half bald, looking kind of crazy. When it finally charged back up Farrell helped me even it out to look as normal as possible with a lumpy skull such as I have.   The next morning, earlier than we're used to getting up, Micah Edquist dropped me off at Fontana Dam. Into the Smokies I go. The Trail thru the Smokies climbs up to a ridge near (Justis) Mountain and follows the ridge line through seventy miles of the park. The views that day were amazing (I say that a lot, but it's as true now as the first time I said it. The hike never really got very hard, but with a pack filled with food to last till Hot Springs, I was having a hard time going at it. About three miles from Mollies Ridge I met a guy sitting on the side of the Trail who had just quit. Now, he wasn't a thru hiker, just a weekend warrior out with some friends. He had hiked 4 miles in yesterday and had made it about another four when I found him. Seems he had been working on a computer program for some company for 6 months almost non-stop. Poor guy could barely walk. Up the ridge I met a friend of his who had already got to the shelter and was coming back to get his buddy's pack. It just goes to show how important it is to take care of your body, you'll be able to enjoy everything more, you'll have more energy, and you'll live longer.   I was planning on going further but by the time I reached Mollie's Ridge Shelter I was beat. So I went and got my water, cooked supper and watched the sunset behind the shelter. (see picture)Truly a womderful day.   The next day i got up early so I could make up the miles I missed. Usually this is a big mistake, anytime you start worrying about the miles it gets harder to enjoy what is all around you. Because of some magic in the Smokies, I was able to, enjoy the great weather, views, people, and nature, and still be able to make fast miles. (Over 3 miles an hour.) The day was bright, sunny and warm, and vies from places like rocky top were mind numbingly cool. Pushed myself extra hard towards the end and made it Double Springs Gap Shelter. Only one other Thru, a 16 year old named Johnny Flash, who had dropped out of high school to hike the Trail. Besides that there were about six other people who had hiked in from Newfound Gap.   A group of them are colleges students from out west who hiked one and a half gallons of liqour in for just one night. When they realized they couldn't drink it all they gave everyone over 21 a good bit of what they had. (I probably got 9 or 10 shots of b Southern Comfort because they saw my swollen knee and said I needed it more than them. Cooking breakfast the next morning I realized I was almost out of stove fuel, so I decided to head down into Gatlinburg, TN to buy some. Johnny Flash hiked with me that day, and just let me say that Johnny is one of the fastest hikers around. For the first half of the 10 we had to do that day, I was in front. After we reached CLingman's Dome (The Highest point on the AT) he got out in front, and there were points where I ended up jogging just to stay behind him. We reached Newfoundland gap and after some time got a ride down into Gatlinburg. Let me say one thing about Gatlinburg, after being in the woods for so long, going to Gatlinburg is an assault and offense to the senses. I headed down to a motel and got a room for the night, about a dozen other thru's were there too, it was a fun time sharing food and watching the thunderstorm, knowing we were not in it. More next time.