Date: 2018-10-16
From: Clingmans Dome/Smoky Mountains 

To: Spence Field Shelter/Smoky Mountains 
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: scattered clouds

It was my first day back on trail after going home and being off for 6 days. While I was home, Puddles notified me that she was going home to recover from her Fibromyalgia flare up. I¢m disappointed that she has to come off trail after coming so far, but she can¢t hike until she gets healthy. Being home gives her the best chance of recovery to get back on trail. I¢m confident she can get back and still finish this year. She¢s one of the toughest people I know out here, with everything she¢s dealt with since we started. I¢m not sure I would have stayed the course with some of the painful conditions she has had. All my best to her for a healthy return. Eddyman also decided to come off trail. I enjoyed spending time hiking with him earlier in the summer, and for a few days more recently. I will miss them both while they are off trail.My friend Christine and I had breakfast at a local restaurant and headed out. I¢ve known Christine since 1990. She has moved to Franklin NC since retiring, and has been very supportive of me the entire summer. I¢ve been looking forward to getting to the south so I can spend some time with her. She has offered to shuttle me around and help me get through the south. It was foggy at Clingmans Dome with no view. Christine walked the half mile up up to the dome and bid me farewell. I started hiking, and she then appeared from the other end of the loop of the trail, where she walked and met me on trail, before heading back to the parking lot. It was misty, which I don¢t mind hiking in. It sprinkled a little, but not enough to concern me. There was a 40% chance of rain with 1/10 of an inch accumulation forecasted. I had a 16.3 mile day planned. Based on my usual average speed, I figured it would take about 8 hours.The trail started off pleasant, and gradually became more difficult. After a couple hours, it began to rain lightly, then more heavy and steady. I attached my umbrella to my shoulder strap. Because it was 40% chance of rain, I anticipated it would stop at some point. With 6 miles to go, I stopped at Derrick Knob Shelter and had a quick snack. The terrain was getting increasingly difficult with rocks, roots, mud, and water. It was still raining and I briefly contemplated staying at Derrick Knob Shelter. If I did, it would give me a 22 mile day the next day, which I wasn¢t up for, and probably wasn¢t capable of, given the terrain I was encountering. I was still at a point where I could get to my destination of Spence Field Shelter with daylight remaining.One of the gear ties securing my umbrella broke, so I had to repeatedly adjust it with the small piece that was barely functional. To complicate matters, I felt off balance, like my equilibrium was off. Sometimes I would step, feeling like I would fall backwards or sideways.I continued on, and so did the rain. There were steep ascents and descents with little to no switchbacks. About an hour before sunset, I saw Thunder Mountain towering ahead of me. I knew it was going to be a big climb. The mud and water on the trail continued getting worse. I completed the climb, while it became increasingly rocky and dark. I put my headlamp on. Hiking with the headlamp made my balance feel even more off. I summited Rocky Top in the dark. I was hoping for a better view than darkness when I summited, but at this point, I was just ready to get air lifted off the peak and go home. The hiking was slow and miserable in the rain. Every step was unsteady.It was still raining and I headed down the rocky, unstable descent to get to the shelter. I kept trying to call home to say that I was quitting the trail, and would be home as soon as I could get off, but my calls didn¢t go through. I ate a protein bar while hiking so I could just hang my food bag and go to bed when I got to the shelter. I finally arrived at 8:40 and everyone in the shelter was asleep. I found 1 spot open on the 2nd level, but there was a puddle of water there from a leak in the roof. I decided to brush my teeth and hang my food bag before dealing with my sleeping arrangements. I took my food bag to the bear cables, which all had food bags hanging. I selected a cable with one small bag on it and unclipped the spring snap clip from the hook on the tree. I lowered food bag, put my bag on the hook, and pulled down on the cable. I then started to walk toward the tree with the cable to secure the snap hook. The cable pulled me back as it quickly stopped. I pulled on it and it appeared stuck. With my headlamp shining through the rain, I could see the snap clip was clipped onto the cable. When I pulled on the cable, I had inadvertently pulled the cable into the snap clip. There are several pull handles approximately every two feet along the cable, and I  could only pull the food hook up and down between two of the handles. The cable loop and pulley system was now non-functional. The snap clip was about 8 feet up, and out of my reach, and would only move between the handles. The food bags were not high enough to be safe from bears, so I needed to figure out how to get the cable out. I looked around camp for something to stand on with no luck. I took one of my trekking poles and reached up with it to push the clip open. The trick was to hold it open, while getting the cable out. This was rather difficult, since there was no leverage due to the cable being able to swing. I was using my headlamp, as raindrops fell on my face and into my eyes. After several attempts of trying to time the opening of the clip with pulling the cable out, I took the trekking pole and hooked it behind the cable while opening the clip. This gave me  more leverage to pull the cable out. After several attempts, I was finally able to release the cable. I pulled the food bags up and secured the cable. Now I had to figure where to sleep. The only dry place was crossways, between two other hikers, under the shortest part of the roofline. I set up my sleeping pad and quilt, banging my head occasionally on the rafters. I slid into my sleeping bag liner under my quilt, reminding myself not to sit up in the middle of the night, as the rafters were directly above my head. It was finally the end of one of my most difficult days on the trail. Tomorrow would be a new day...