Date: 2008-04-18
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Little Tennessee River
Miles today: 9.6

Friday, April 18, 2008Mollie¢s Ridge Shelter to Little Tennessee River, 9.6 milesToo many bugs out yesterday evening for playing (or sitting around listening to) guitar music. Perhaps we'll hear Lizzie and her guitar another time. We hope so.Graybeard gives us a demo on the proper use of bear cables. We ask him about the lack of privies in the Smokies. They¢re unable to get in with mulch, he says.Leisurely breakfast today. Claire gives Caboose Mrs Smoke's recipe for oatmeal-molasses bread. Frodo and Gouda chow down lentil stew. Goodbye, Graybeard, we wish you well on the PCT. Please say hello to Irish for me, says Grey Feather. Say hello to Billy Goat for me, say I.Start 8:45. Sunny. Temp high 40¢s-50.Hello to NOBO¢s Pinenut and Pogo. Pinenut¢s sun-sensitive and likes the gloves I¢m wearing that I got in Florida this past winter for the FT. Where did you get those? In the make-up section of Walgreens.Hello to NOBO¢s Mary Poppins and Professor Longjohns. Oh Mary, we could use that umbrella of yours right now. Sorry, that umbrella is spoken for.Hello to NOBO¢s Mike and Peepers.10:15 Doe Knob. Graybeard told us we couldn¢t get a cell signal here because Shuckstack is in the way, but we will be able pick one up at Birch Spring Campsite. 10:40 I stop to wait for GF and M near Greer Knob. I¢m probably a mile north of Birch Spring Gap. I get one bar on my phone, enough to get through to Purple Rose, who is en route. We agree that if the Dam¢s open, we¢ll walk across and meet her at the Visitor¢s Center. If not, she¢ll meet us at the Power Station on the north side of the Little Tennessee River.Meet Half Ounce, a NOBO who has pared down gear to a bare minimum.Hello to NOBO¢s Bear Bait and Pony Boy. Pickle. Colby and Chewy (?). Slightly.Hello to Cool Breeze and Ru, brother and sister. I met Cool Breeze at Sparrowhawk¢s 2005 ALDHA presentation about the Finger Lakes Trail.We meet NOBO¢s Time Cop and his twin brother Danger Snake, from Michigan. Hiking 25-30 miles a day.Stop for lunch at the former shelter, now a campsite, Birch Spring.Hello NOBO¢s Bellman (?), Burrass, Repack. Hello Pilgrim (?). Thor and Always Fine.Woods are greening. I left the Yak Trax off today because they were blistering the tops of my toes. I did slip and fall once descending dry leaves over wood steps, no harm done.NOBO¢s Johnny Thunder and Orion, hiking with their friends, section-hikers Harvest and Scout.NOBO Peregrine Trail Dancer from Maine. She dances down the trail.NOBO Ohm from Wisconsin.NOBO¢s Travis and Kari.Some tiny sarvis tree saplings in bloom. Red, orange and yellow buds have appeared in the tree canopy above.Getting¢ warm.NO bear in ANY of these hollows.NOBO¢s Sam, Keychain, Boat, Y2K. Y2K so named because he¢s carrying food a family stocked up on in preparation for shortages (that never materialized) in the year 2000.NOBO Rolling Thunder because he snores. He seems to be on the brink of heat exhaustion. Do you need water? No. I keep pressing him about how much water he has, he pulls out his platypus and it¢s empty. I give him a little less than a liter, all I have left. I tell him to ask Memere and Grey Feather for more, because I¢m thinking they'll have enough to spare.After I leave him, I second-guess myself. Maybe I should have stayed with him. There¢s been such a flood of NOBO¢s so far I expected more and thought they¢d be overtaking him and could help if he got into trouble, but since he left me, I haven¢t seen a soul.I hear a calling sound. No one. I hear another. Purple Rose!!! She¢s hiked a LONG ascent to meet us!!! Big hugs!We¢re sitting there waiting for Memere and Grey Feather to catch up and I¢m telling Purple Rose how worried I am about Rolling Thunder and wondering if I should go up a ways and look for him, when he comes into sight, descending towards Fontana.He says he ran into Grey Feather and Memere and they told him he was getting heat exhaustion. The trail will always be there, they said. Don¢t try to push on, return another day. He¢s taking their advice. Grey Feather and Memere join us and we hike out. They're pooped. It¢s hot, in the 80¢s I think. The 5 of us plus packs squeeze into Purple Rose¢s car and she drives into Fontana Village.We consider staying there along with Rolling Thunder, but the place is full due to a weekend event.We drive back to Gatlinburg, via Cherokee, where we stop at the Tribal Grounds and all get smoothies and other high-calorie creamy beverages. Drive to Clingman¢s to Grey Feather¢s car. What¢s under her windshield wipers? Her mittens! Someone must have found them and guessed who they must belong to.On the way from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, a ranger has stopped traffic for a large bear trapped in green space between road switchbacks. We get a good look. Feeling sorry for the bear, he/she must be terrified by all the commotion, camera flashes, being hemmed in, etc.Our original motel is full, but we find another just as good across the street. It has 2 sinks and a balcony, a little more room than the one we were at. We're taking it for 2 days. It¢s worth a lot to stay in the same place more than one night because we don¢t have to pack everything up. We can leave most everything in the motel and just make day-packs.Purple Rose and Memere rummage through the stuff in Grey Feather¢s car for the Johnny Roventini bell-hop hats and white gloves. Takes a while, but they find them, put them on, and grab 2 bell-hop carts. To unload what needs to go up to the room, it takes 2 carts 2 trips. (!!!) It¢s too late to shower and get to the Alamo, so we descend on that poor place still wearing our backpacking clothes. A trail town, I suppose they're used to that. Oh, those prime rib sandwiches, filling, delicious, and reasonably priced too. Mary Ann again waits on us. She¢s really good. Tells us a lot about the local area. She says just about everyone around here is related to Dolly Parton, who comes from a big family.