Date: 2010-04-09
From: Mt. Lookout Shelter

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: few clouds

Ah, a spring day in the Great Smoky Mountains - it brought with it rain, wind and hail. That along with what the ridge runner had predicted, 3 feet of snow on the ground.   Tonight finds Jerry in the safe and warm Grand Prix Motel in Gatlinburg . (I know that motel. Back in ¢03 when our daughter Clair was hiking the trail and I was doing some trail magic at Newfound Gap, I met L.T.   After she enjoyed some of the magic, I drove her and a fellow hiker into G¢burg and dropped them off at this motel. I¢m happy to say that was not the last time I saw L.T. She became friends with Clair and ended up marrying a fellow hiker. We attended their wedding in beautiful NH on a very wet day. They now have a beautiful little girl.)After visiting the local outfitter, walking the streets and being amazed at the number of people they are headed out to dinner. They = King Krawler and Jay B. Have a good night you all.Addendum from Jerry at the Grand Prix Motel: The past few days have been a roller coaster of extremes. On Wednesday I hiked from Spence Field Sheler to Double Spring Gap Shelter. The weather was wonderful. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and the hike provided exquisite views of the mountains. As the sun rose, the shadows crept along the valleys below. I passed over numerous "balds" on the tops of the knobs, and the photo ops kept forcing me to stop and pause to take pictures. There were lots of Spring Beauties growing in clusters beside the path, each radiant and lovely, whispering "alleluia, alleluia, new life, new life, spring is here..." There were lots of leaves for trout lillies, but no flowers yet, surely in a few days they will be in bloom. When I got to Double Spring there were a number of fellow hikers I hadn't seen for a number of days, so it was like a little "reunion". Many decided to get up early the next day for sunrise at Clingman's Dome, but the weather forecast was not encouraging. Throughout the night the wind roared, a continually changing creschendo blowing the tent so hard I thought it would lift me off the ground. I got up around 5 am and started hiking around 5:30 in the dark. The closer I got to Clingmans's the colder and mistier it got, and I started to see snow, then was walking through snow. Clingman's was totally socked in, no view at all. I met up with Jay-B and King Krawler there and we started the hike to Newfound Gap. The trail was covered with snow (photos to follow) and it was difficult, treacherous, and exhausting hiking. And then, the rain started, a cold, wind-driven rain that seemed to keep picking up. We got to a turn-off for Mt Collins shelter, and decided to head for the shelter rather than continue to the Gap. We were too exhausted and cold to make the added 4.5 miles in the rain. So, we hiked a half mile off the trail and reached the shelter, where we peeled off the wet clothes, got into dry clothes, and crawled into our sleeping bags to warm up for awhile. The rain continued to get worse, with lightning and thunder, so our decision was justified. As the day wore on additional hikers came in, including Veto (Larry) and Gwendolyn (aka, Robo-hiker). We had wet clothes hanging all around the shelter. That night it got pretty cold, down to the high twenties, but we were warm and safe in the shelter. In the morning , the sky was clear, the sun was bright, and we were able to hike slowly out to Newfound Gap. All the slushy snow had frozen, making the footing treacherous, but we made it ok. We are now at the motel, showered, fed, got our laundry done, and our spirits restored. Ready for a good night's sleep.