Date: 2016-03-17
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: DerrickKnob Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

I took my time getting out of the shelter today. I was the second to last to leave. The last guy out was Spaceman, a guy I had met while eating dinner around camp the night beforeAs I set off on the trail, I wasn't even wholeheartedly sure that I was on the AT. The haze of the morning can lead to hikers going the wrong direction and sometimes missing turns where the AT veers into other trails. There are a ton of other trail systems that lead through the Smokies, and I thought for sure I had wound up on one of those. It must've been close to 3/4 of a mile before I saw my first white blaze. It was old though. Just the outline of the white paint was visible on the decaying bark of an old tree. One would think that after paying to have a permit to hike through these hills, they would be a little more well put together. All of the hikers joked about this every time we saw a fallen tree across the trail. Money well spent!Another problem with the smokies was the fact that we were being forced to carry that permit with us at all times. If a ranger stopped us and wanted a look, we had to provide proof that we had paid to be there. The last thing everyone was up in arms about was that we were being forced, by park regulation, to sleep in the shelters. If a day hiker came through, and wanted to sleep in the shelter, no matter what time it was, we had to give up our spot. But, if the shelter was full, we could tent anywhere. Most people come out here to avoid fines and regulations. The smokies definitely left a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths for this. As I walked over the hills I noticed a few fires off in the distance. After checking the news on my phone, I realized that they were controlled burns commissioned by park staff. They were coming from two opposite ends of the park and emitting massive plumes of thick, gray smoke that filled the sky for miles around. I made it to Rocky Top at lunch. There I found Handles, another hiker I met last night at camp. He was wrapping up his own lunch and smoking a rollie cigarette in the sunshine. We talked for awhile, and after a brief moment of terror due to my misplacing my stove, I began making my own meal. Handles bid me happy trails and worked his way down the hill. As he left he began singing "Rocky Top" by the Osborne Brothers. I could hear him singing all the way down the hill. From the view I could see Fontana Lake and dam looking like they were impossibly far away. It was hard to imagine that I was there just less than 24 hours ago. In fact, I could look out over the small section of the Smokies that I had conquered, and pick out every little hill that I climbed. Having this sense of orientation is rare out here for me. Back home, I know every hill inside and out, here not so much. Spaceman came over the hill and we had a quick conversation about the terrain ahead. I took off to the trail and ran into him again about an hour later. We hiked for awhile together as he told me about his 5 deployments overseas in the Army. There are a lot of vets out here on the trail. They all seem to have the same reasoning for being out here, to just clear their heads. With the amount of thinking and meditation we hikers do on a regular basis, I understand why it helps. I've never been to war, but I make a point to thank every vet that I meet out here that has. The trail has a way of bringing people with all sorts of backgrounds together. We ran into Handles again after that. He was smoking another cigarette on a fallen tree. He explained his hiking theory to us; wake up early, take your time, stop an hour for lunch and stop a lot to smoke cigarettes. It's kind of amazing how many people smoke out here. You would think that would be the last thing on everyone's minds as they ascend the mountains, but apparently it's the first. The three of us made a plan to do some night hiking together so we could grab a sunrise view the next morning. When we hit the next shelter, 13 miles into our day, we explained to our group of fellow hikers that we were going to keep going. Some said we were nuts, some said have fun.Spaceman stayed behind so he could hike through the night alone. Handles and I walked together as we tried to solve the problems of the universe. It's fascinating to me how emotionally in depth some trail conversations can get.We came into camp that night at 10:30. We quietly moved in and made a point to not wake everyone up at the site. We set our alarms for 6:15 and agreed to hit the trail by 7 to grab the sunrise. I fell right asleep desire my aches and pains from my first big mile day.