Date: 2014-10-17
From: Clingmans Dome

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 8.0

When I planned a fall hike on the A.T., I considered two options. Plan A was to start at Fontanna Dam where I had to end my hike ahead of schedule this summer, and hike into the Smokies to Newfound Gap where I started my hike in 2013. Plan B was to start in Tennessee near Roan Mountain where my 2013 hike ended and head north. I went with plan C, which was spending several days at my mother's house in Tellico Village, TN helping her get ready to sell her house, doing a couple day hikes in the Smokies with my wife, and hiking 8 miles from Clingman's Dome to Newfound Gap as a day hike. Eight miles is only about 0.3% of the A.T. but 8 miles is better than zero miles. The most grueling part of the day was getting to the trail. Traffic was backed up for about a mile before Clingman's Dome. I was tempted to get out and just start hiking, but after my wife agreed to drop me at one end and pick me up at the other, I couldn't jump out leaving her stranded in a traffic jam. So we edged our way to the parking area where I hopped out and hit the trail. The parking lot was a carnival of activity; crowds of people milling in all directions and speaking a multitude of languages. It made me anxious to get on the trail and away from the crowds. There was a 0.6 mile connector trail to the AT. When I reached the AT and saw my first white blaze it was liking coming home, which is strange because I was several hundred miles from home and I had never even been on this section of the trail before, but it still felt like the same trail because of a silly white blaze. It was the most crowded section of the trail I had ever been on. The crowds made me miss the solitude of other parts of the trail and made me wish I had my tent and pack to keep on hiking away from the crowds and far away from the parking lot. But I only had time for a day hike and I planned to enjoy it to its fullest. The sky was sunny and the air was clear and the views were spectacular. Looking across the mountains to Gatlinburg, I thought it must be the largest city I had seen from the trail. I have read several books by through hikers and I had always imagined what it would be like to hike up into the Smokies, arrive at Newfound Gap after many days in the wilderness and hitch a ride into the craziness of Gatlinburg. As is often the case, my reality was nothing like my imaginings. Instead I had driven through the. Raciness of Gatlinburg to get to the trail this morning and would return to the same craziness in the evening. Yesterday we did an eight mile hike to Ramsey Cascades and it was actually more of a remote experience d because it is in Greenbrier, the opposite direction from Gatlinburg. Although it was not what I had imagined, I was still hiking the AT to Newfound Gap and it was glorious. The trees at that altitude had already lost most of their leaves, increasing the number of times you could see the surrounding mountains. After an hour of hiking, the crowds had thinned out, I was more alone in the forest, and I was surprised how far away the tower on Clingman's Dome looked when I got a glimpse of it. After several miles I came to an odd site, a fence on the ridge of the mountain...in the park. There were odd metal grates to walk on to get across the fence. I read that they were to control the movement of thesis hogs and to protect the beech trees from the hogs. I wasn't sure if they kept the hogs in or out because i didn't see any hogs on either side of the fence. Not that I wanted to run into any wild hogs. The hogs were introduced into the Appalachias from Europe and were originally confined to hunting clubs, kind of like the dinosaurs in Jurrasic Park were originally confined to the island, but this was nonfiction. It reminded me of what I had read about someone introducing starlings to the United States inCentral Park because they were the only bird that Shakespeare wrote about that was not native to the U.S.. That certainly worked out well. Or the pythons that were brought into Florida as pets and escaped to theEverglades. That seems to be working out really well also. They are devouring the native animals of all sizes at an alarming rate. The plan was for me to meetmy wife at about 4:00. At 3:30 the trail brought me to a small parking area and trail head with a sign that said Newfound Gap Road 3.3 miles. I panicked because I was making such poor time. I decided to stop enjoying the views and hike faster. The trail was descending so I could hike at a good pace. I flew by two young couples and felt quite pound of my pace... Until I hit a stream costing. That seemed odd so I checked the trail book. There were no stream crossings on this section of trail; I had made a wrong turn. I had to hike all the way back up to that trail head. The two young couples had also turned around and I would have felt proud about flying past them on the uphill climb as well, but I felt more foolish to have to stop and ask them what trail I was on. When I got back to the crest, I noticed another sign next to the one I had read. It pointed 90 degrees from where I had hiked and it said, Newfound Gap 1.7 miles. Without my little side trip, I would have arrived right on schedule. Oh well, not everyone gets to enjoy a stream crossing while hiking the crest of the Smokies. All in all, an outstanding day.