Date: 2010-04-20
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Double Spring Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

April 20, 2010 ¢ Day 15 - Tuesday"Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater."   ~EpictetusThe park wants all hikers on the AT to stay at the shelters while in the Smokies. All overflow must camp close to the shelter. I do understand the need to keep the traffic regulated to minimize ecological damage in one of the most used national parks in the country. Shame on you if you are stealth camping in non-designated areas. One of the policy changes I noticed has to do with shelter use. Before the change, part of the shelter space was reserved for thru-hikers. Now, if section hikers who have reservations come in, no matter what time of day, or night, thru hikers must move out to accommodate. I am simple man, or in this case hiker. What's wrong with first come, first served? I've heard stories that the park changed this policy because section hikers don¢t always carry tents or tarps. Anyone hiking here in the mountains without some form of shelter shouldn't be allowed on the trails. Please don¢t misunderstand me, I have nothing against section hikers. There are times when I hike that I am one, too. It's the principle of the topic. OK, time to get off my pulpit.The morning started off with rain drops hitting the tin roof of the shelter around 4 in the morning. Clouds started rolling in making white soup for visibility. Rocky Top and Thunderhead were shrouded in fog and a light rain. The wind was tolerable for my umbrella and I was a happy hiker. When the winds suddenly increased and the temperature dropped I knew I was about to get into serious weather. No sooner do I get my rain gear on when the skies opened up.One point, somewhere on the trail above me, I heard the sound of wood snapping. I look up and immediately took a defensive position as a 5 foot branch the size of a thick arm came crashing down. How close was it you ask? Small branches brushed me on its travel with gravity towards earth. It's not often an event makes me change my shorts; consider this as one of them. After thanking everybody and everything under the sun for protecting me, I continued up the trail. I will tell you this, for a short while, every time I stepped on a twig and it snapped, my heart skipped a beat.Truth and I had been hiking in the rain most of the day. When we reached the shelter there were 5 section hikers and one thru hiker already settled in. I quickly got my gear squared away, made dinner, got out of my wet clothes and jumped into my sleeping bag located on the upper sleeping deck. Truth did the same thing and was next to me. Just before sunset Truth looked up from his reading and couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the pouring rain a group of 4 section hikers coming in from the north were without rain gear. Soaked to the bone three of the hikers were in intermediate stages of hypothermia. Truth looks up again, shortly after the section hikers¢ arrival, turns to me and said ¢I see two more hikers coming in¢. ¢No, I see 4. You¢re not going to believe this, there are 6 more hikers coming in from the rain from the north.¢ All girls, 19-25 years old, with a Youth Leadership Program from Canada were also in various stages of wet to soggy due to improper rain gear, or no rain gear at all. A few of them were also in intermediate stages of hypothermia. Remember, Truth and I were in our sleeping bags on the top sleeping deck watching the events unfold during all this. Truth and I began directing people from our ¢box seats¢ to help those with hypothermia by getting them out of wet clothes, putting on dry clothes, getting them in sleeping bags and making them something hot to drink. After an hour or so everyone was tucked warmly in their sleeping bags falling asleep to the rhythmic beating of the heavy rain drops on the tin roof.If not now, then when? KrispyKritter GaMe 2010