Date: 2006-06-13
From: Newfound Gap

To: Newfound Gap to Siler's Bald Shelter
Miles today: 12.5

June 13, 2006 Newfound Gap to Siler¢s Bald Shelter (12.5 miles)After a day off the Trail spending time in Gatlinburg, I headed back to Newfound Gap to finish the Smokies. On the last curve before we reached the parking lot, a cute, fat bear cub scurried across the road, over the curb and disappeared down into the woods. He was heading in the same direction I would be hiking. I was hoping I wouldn¢t meet his mom!I forgot to mention that a few days ago at Peck¢s Corner Shelter, Joe and Natasha were talking about a military plane that had crashed in the Smokies on a training mission and the wreckage was supposed to be near the Trail. As I was hiking the next day, I caught up with Joe and Natasha and they had found the wreckage and had climbed down the hill to check it out. I saw it from the Trail. There were numerous pieces scattered over the impact area. I will have to check this out on the Internet when I get the chance.Okay, back to today. I put my pack on, said my goodbyes, crossed the road and headed into the woods, down the Trail. It sure is hard to say goodbye.The Trail went down and then was mostly flat for awhile. I really noticed the smell of the evergreens in some areas. The varied species of evergreens make for different smells and today the ¢new¢ smells were very noticeable.   I met several hikers coming from the Mt. Collins Shelter. They said the shelter was still the old style design with a chain link fence across the entrance to keep the bears out. The park is gradually removing the fences and remodeling the shelters into the open design. I asked a ranger about the change and he said people were caught feeding bears at the shelters through the fence. HOW DUMB!! Can you imagine how much danger that created for other hikers coming later?This area of the Trail must really be surprisingly wet in the spring. I saw many man-made water control features along the Trail, mostly to divert the water off the Trail and down the hill. There were also numerous raised areas on the Trail to help the hiker navigate these areas when there was high water. However, I was lucky and the Trail was dry except where there were springs. I began to climb towards Mt. Collins and Mt. Love. I passed the trail for the Mt. Collins Shelter, which was located a half mile off the AT and continued on up Mt. Love, which is 6446 feet high. Of course, shortly after that, I began my LONG downhill walk. Through a break in the trees, I could see a taller mountain in the distance with an observation tower looming at the top. It was Clingman¢s Dome. Clingman¢s Dome is higher than where I was at the time BUT I was going downhill. No, no, a thousand times, no. After what seemed like forever, the downhill portion ended and the uphill began. The Trail to Clingman¢s Dome was steep and rocky. I met Ralph, a 64-year-old hiker going from Fontana Dam to Davenport. His hiker buddy had gotten sick on his way up from Fontana and had to leave the Trail. So, Ralph was hiking alone. We took pictures of each other and I continued my climb to Clingman¢s Dome. The Trail got steeper and steeper as I neared Clingman¢s Dome. Then I met several people hiking day hiking down who were just curious about the Trail. They were easy to recognize ¢ no packs, no water, casual shoes and they smelled good! It certainly is easy to spot the long-distance hikers! When I got closer, I could hear voices, see the tower and the people who had hiked up from the parking lot. At this point, the tower was covered with fog/a cloud and there really was not a view. I was somewhat of a celebrity for 10-15 minutes. Everyone wanted to know about the Trail. Some had really good questions and some, well¢¦.what can I say? One teenager was bragging about walking all the way from the parking lot without stopping (about a half a mile). He declared that he had incredible stamina. I considered telling him to hike the 8.3 miles back to Newfound Gap, but decided to keep my mouth shut. Several took my picture and a few offered to take my picture with my camera. I hope they turn out!Hiking on, I stopped at an overlook for lunch. I was surrounded with fog! I called Ris« down in Pigeon Forge and she informed me that it was bright and sunny and wasn¢t going to rain until Saturday. How come it was sprinkling on me?? I put on my rain gear and sat there in my own little cloud and had a light lunch. When it was time to move on, I removed the rain gear, put my pack back on, and then put the rain gear back on over my pack, and headed on down the hill. A couples miles on down the Trail, it had stopped raining enough for me to take off the rain gear. I tucked it back into its own little pocket and hung it from the front of my pack in case I should need it again. I met two young men on the Trail that were camping in the park and had decided to hike down to Double Spring Gap Shelter just to see what an AT shelter looked like. I passed said shelter and found out that it was not the best example of an AT shelter. It still had a bear fence across the front and was very dark. It looked more like a cave than a shelter. My hike continued on to Siler¢s Bald Shelter where I planned to spend the night. I arrived at Siler¢s Bald around 4:00 o¢clock, completing 12-1/2 miles in 8-1/2 hours. Not too bad. I was at the shelter for two hours alone and thought I would be there by myself for the night, but then Dennis and Dakota arrived. Dennis is 60 years-old and 12-year-old Dakota is his son. They are very impressive thru-hikers, hiking 15-19 miles a day. Dennis commenced telling me about some of their adventures. Two years ago they climbed 30 Adirondack mountain peaks, all over 4,000 feet high, in just three weeks! Last summer they went West for two months and one of their adventures was hiking the Grand Canyon, rim to rim (21 miles) in a single day! Dennis knows they are both getting older and his son will be leaving home in six years or less, so he is concentrating on building precious memories. I say GOOD FOR HIM! After we finished our dinners, we hung our packs on the bear cables and got ready for the night. The shelter was supposed to be full, totally reserved, but there were only the three of us in a place built for 12 people. I think people reserve space in the shelters because there is no charge and then only show up if they feel like it. There needs to be a better plan. Shortly before we went to sleep, heavy fog rolled in and we couldn¢t see much outside the shelter. About an hour later, I heard a noise, woke up, and saw a man with a gun standing at the open side of the shelter. Not the way I wish to awaken. He was a Ridge Runner, a park employee, who lives and camps in the woods Monday through Friday whose primarily job is hunting and killing the wild boar who are damaging the backcountry. He also posts bear activity signs and in general patrols specific sections of the park. The wild boars are not native to the park and do a lot of damage with their rooting behaviors. When he kills a boar, he takes blood samples for testing for disease and then just buries the carcass off the Trail where bears and coyotes soon finish the remains. He told us several stories and in general entertained us for the next hour by answering questions and talking about his life experiences. Then, we all went back to sleep and he just sat in the shelter because the fog was too heavy for him to do any hunting that night. I woke up later in the night to visit a tree, and I was amazed that it was then totally clear. The moon and stars were shining brightly. I thought to myself, ¢Tomorrow will be a glorious day.¢