Date: 2023-07-16
From: Derrick Knob

To: ClingmanÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Dome
Miles today: 10.0

Day 22 - Christmas in JulyToday feels momentous.  We reached the highest point on the AT (Clingman¢s Dome), we passed the 200 mile mark and we came to town. We had a great night in the shelter last night and out of 13 people there were zero snorers.  No mice, no bears and no snoring is the AT shelter trifecta! We did our morning routine (heat water, bring down food from bear hangs, brush teeth, pack up bedding, breakfast of oatmeal and carnation instant breakfast packets, put daily supply of snacks in pouch pockets, etc.) and said goodbye to all of our new trail friends as we hit the trail. Today was an easy day with ¢only¢ 10 miles of climbing. We also were motivated because we would be picked up at 4:30 and shuttled to a town, Cherokee NC. At this point we¢re all pretty weary and beat up. Lots of bruises, scrapes, rashes, bug bites, blisters, chaffing and such.  I was recently stung by a hornet AND a bee on the same ankle. It seems their poisons created a toxic mix that caused my ankle to swell to the point that I now officially have a ¢cankle¢ and it hurts. The prospect of a bed and hot bath sounds great. This morning while at the shelter preparing to leave our oldest son told me with a completely straight face, ¢Dad, I think today I¢m going to wear clean socks AND clean underwear¢.  It¢s nice to see our kids making good life choices. A few days ago our daughter turned around while hiking and said with a smile on her face ¢Daddy, I stink¢.  Ha!  I loved that she could recognize that fact and be totally fine with it and wanted to share it. So our hike today was pretty straightforward, lots of climbing, but the last 3 miles were the best yet!  The forest completely changed into a Spruce - Fir forest. There was a cold breeze and the smell¢¦. Our youngest son yelled at one point, ¢Daddy, it smells like Christmas!¢  And oh how it did. If you closed your eyes you could¢ve been sitting in front of a crackling fire wearing a sweater with gifts wrapped under the tree. It felt like Christmas in July. After an hour or two of refreshing scenery and tears from 3 kids (it was a LOT of climbing) we reached Clingman¢s Dome. The highest point of the entire AT.  There were hundreds of tourist walking up a steep, paved sidewalk from the nearby parking lot when we popped out of the woods. Everyone stared as we walked by, both because our young kids with heavy packs were passing them like they were standing still and we looked so dirty compared to everyone in their brightly colored and freshly laundered clothing.  We saw one other unwashed hiker with a large pack and made a beeline to set our packs down by her. She felt like our kind of people. We took the obligatory family photo at the top of the observation tower and then headed down to find our shuttle driver. We got picked up in the knick of time as a true deluge of rain began to fell moments after we shut the car door. Once again, we narrowly escaped being caught in a downpour. We made it to our hotel, showered, put on our semi-clean camp clothes and walked to a Mexican restaurant. It was great. Then we ordered 5 dishes of friend ice cream and sopapillas and ate until we were stuffed. Back to the hotel to do laundry and crawl into sheets on a soft bed. Clean, full, safe and half way through the Smokies. So thankful!