Date: 2007-06-04
From: Gatlingburg, TN

To: Green Corner Rd
Miles today: 30.6

Hi All:I'm doing a "zero" day in Gatlinburg, TN. I'm in a hotel with hot water, and a soft bed, a real change after 19 days on the trail (today is day 20). This trip is every bit as difficult as I imagined. The bears are about what I expected, but the rattlesnakes have been a much bigger factor than anticipated. I personally have not encountered one directly, but everyone around me has. A bite in the wilderness can be quite serious. A copperhead or rattlesnake bite needs immediate attention, if not a loss of limb, and in some cases even death are certain.What really makes a journey such as this a real pleasure are the folks you meet along the way, after all, it is just a long walk in the woods. For example, I have been spending time with a couple that sold their farm and are hiking the A.T., "Promise Keeper" (P.K. from now on) and "Oorah". "Oorah" is ex-Marine and P.K. promised to hike with him!Yesterday, I was atop Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the A.T., 6,643 feet. It was socked in with clouds, couldn't see a thing. A wonderful family I ran into offered me a ride to town, but I wanted to hike the 8 miles down to the road below, so when I came back to the trail on Tuesday it would be easier to hitch a ride back to my departure point.I had not seen P.K. or Oorah for two days, and ran into them there. They had been at the parking lot at the Dome (it has a road, like Mount Washington) and had encountered a former thru-hiker of the A.T., Travis, and he offered them a ride to Gatlinburg. They were not going there, but suggested that I might need a ride, I had to resupply. This wonderful fellow, Travis, and his wife proceeded down the mountain road and waited for me at the road crossing at state rd. 441. In the meantime I hiked the eight miles to the road crossing, not even aware they were looking for me, I hadn't heard about them. They spotted me, hours later, and gave me a ride to Gatlinburg, I was speechless!A few nights ago, I was in a shelter, the Siler Bald Shelter. Oh, before I forget, there is more than one Siler Bald and more than one of many of the places I mention, it seems each of the southern states have places with the same name, but this one was in Tennessee. Anyway, the shelter was packed, there was a family with an 11 year old daughter, three graphics arts engineers, a writer from a Louisville paper etc. It was a cross section of Americans. It was cold (we were at around 5,400 feet), windy, lightning, in general, miserable, yet everyone there was in good spirits. There were NO complaints. We were all of course very uncomfortable, our feet and backs hurt, we were tired, yet they all chose to be there. It actually made me proud to be an American, to know that there still are some out there that have that kind of fortitude and to some degree, bravery. Hiking this trail in places is very demading and there is some degree of danger, yet here they were, it was a wonderful experience.Since I am making this entry from a library, my time is limited. I would love to answer all the guest book entries, but I just wouldn't have the computer time. I DO read them and love them. If I can get to a private home with a computer along the way, I will post some of the photos I have taken. Most libraries just don't allow file access to load the pictures. Bummer.I have lost a fair amount of weight. This is not good, but was a fear I had before I left. I may try to carry more food, if so, I may have to start "bump" mailing the radio I am carrying. We hikers mail "bump boxes" ahead to a mail drop where we can pick up the box further down the trail, eliminating having to carry more weight than necessary. I may have to make room for more food.So far I have hiked 203.6 miles of the trail, approaching 10%. Somewhere along the way I will try to figure out how to make the silly miles counter on this journal work, it won't just let you type in the miles, it "automatically" computes it, and I have not been successful getting it to work.Take care all...Dennis, "K1YPP" North bound, Flip-Flop hiker, 07'