Date: 2011-04-14
From: (23) Double Springs Gap Shelter

To: (24) Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Had a fun hike today to the top of Clingman's Dome, which is the highest point of the AT at 6,643 feet. The woods in the Smokies have transformed into dense pine, and many of the larger trees appear to have fallen under their own weight in the saturated soil (leaving me to have to climb over them!). The path was lined with patches of snow, and i would later learn that the rain storm from my first day in the Smoky Mountains had been a snow storm higher up.Around 1:00 i reached the Newfound Gap road crossing, where I waited for Arrow and Bubbles (we had decided the night before that we would go into Gatlinburg, TN for the night and split the cost of a motel). The three of us met up, but then had to separate to hitch into town. I had no luck thumbing it, which i blame on all the tourists who don't know about the AT and a hiker's need to resupply. I decided i would have more luck in the parking lot. Earlier, several tourists of the Great Smokies had approached me (gawking like kids looking through a toy store window) and asked me about my adventures in the "wild". Inspired by this, I struck up a conversation about the AT with a middle aged couple who were eating lunch, and then suggested that they aid me in my quest by giving me a ride into town. It worked like a charm.To me Gatlinburg was a wonderland. The best i can describe it is that it is like walking down a boardwalk on the beach, with lots of shops, laser tag, haunted houses...you name it! The streets were full of people and attractions to the point that it was almost overwhelming for someone who had spent the past two weeks drinking from streams and pooping in the woods. (Gatlinburg is also the town where Bryson and Katz from "A walk in the Woods" got off the trail and skipped to Virginia).Bubbles, Arrow, and I got a room at the Grand Prix Motel which we split 13$ apiece. It was actually a very nice motel, and I had my first shower since Neel's Gap so long ago.We hit up the town. We ate a mess of food at a place called Bennett's, walked around taking pictures of attractions, resupplied our food, and even ran into White Blaze (who we later lost when he didn't make it to the Trolley in time, i felt awful because he had paid for me). It was overall a great town and a refreshing experience when compared to life on the trail.The last thing we did before bed was wash our clothes, which turned out to be an adventure in its self. Together we only had three quarters, but needed a forth to pay for the dryer. I went to knock on White Blaze's door (same motel) to see if he had one, but i had the wrong room. The door i knocked on was opened by a European girl (Swedish?). There was nothing strange about this, but behind her was a man about my age standing completely naked with his hands on his hips. They had their own laundry hanging to dry and lucky for me his privates were hidden in the most comical way possible by a shirt sleeve."Uh..." I said. "Is White Blaze here?""Who?" said the girl, in an accented voice."White Blaze...he also goes by Where In The Blazes...?""No" she said."Uh..." I said, "do you have a quarter?¢"Ya!" said the man. He started to move away from the cover of the shirt sleeve, but then stopped because the girl was already grabbing their change purse. I had been spared the grace of his genitals."No" said the girl."Oh...well thanks anyway".The door shut. Without hesitating or taking a second to establish what the heck had just happened, I took a big step to the left and knocked on the next door, but White Blaze (who was up to something and wouldn't open the door ha-ha) did not have a quarter. I continued this door knocking pattern until someone gave me a quarter, and then i dried our clothes. The End...