Date: 2012-01-29
From: Newfound Gap

To: Tri Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: clear sky

When I went down to the office to checkout, I found that Erik from Walk in the Woods was already waiting to shuttle me up to Newfound Gap. On the drive up he impressed me with his knowledge of a biodiversity project going on in the Smokys and listened to his advice on making a slow start each day to let the joints warm up before stressing them too much. He reminded me to take frequent breaks to reduce the lactic acid buildup in my muscles. I made a mental note to develop the habit. There were some cars parked at the Gap when we arrived, but I didn't see any people. The morning was quite chilly, but not bitter, thank goodness. I began my climb up out of the gap. Soon I ran into areas where the water flowing down the Trail had turned large sections of it into inclined skating rinks. In some places the ice was an inch or two thick and completely clear, showing the rocks or leaves at the bottom of the pools. In other places the ice had frozen with many ripples in the surface. Either way the footing was treacherous, and it was slow going. As I made my way up I ran into various hikers who had been out for the weekend. All reported that it had been quite cold. I thought to myself how happy I was to have been in town. One hiker, Fizz, asked if I was Second Stage. (I'm beginning to feel like a rock star!) We chatted for a few moments and then went our separate ways. I passed the trail to Charlie's Bunion, but since I had heard that it was a very narrow knife edge path, and given my fear of heights, I decided to skip it and simply admire the Bunion from afar. The AT here wasn't as narrow as I had feared it would be, and there was no ice in this section. My fears about this spot did not come to pass. I had pictured myself having to cross a narrow, windy, ice stretch while quivering in terror. Up here on the ridge it was quite windy, but it had a much different feel from a few days before. This time it had a more playful feeling about it, more like a large, overexcited dog running around than a ravening beast. The wind let me know it was there, but it didn't push me around on the Trail. I paused for a break in the lee of the ridge in the sunshine. It was warm enough that I needed to take my jacket off. Once I rounded the shoulder of the mountain, though, and stepped back into the wind, I had to put the jacket back on quickly. Still it was very pleasant. The views from the Trail were magnificent from the ridge. With the sunshine and much easier path, it felt worlds away from my experience just a few days before. Hiking was fun again and didn't feel like a struggle. I reached the turnoff to Peck's Corner Shelter at 2:20, and paused to consider. I had planned to stay there tonight, and Cosby's Knob tomorrow, then out of the park the next day. But it was too early to stop on such a nice day! So I headed on to Tri Corner Shelter, racing the setting sun. Again, I was completely alone at the shelter. The water source here is very convenient and is piped. I worked on camp chores as the last of the light went and the stars began to shine. I knew the temperature was forecast to be well below freezing so I had to make sure I tended to everything properly. I ate my dinner while looking up at the stars, then hurried into the shelter to get warm in my sleeping bag. After 15.7 miles it didn't take long at all to fall asleep. Day 5 in the Smokys was a really good one.