Date: 2008-04-24
To: Icewater Shelter
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Awakened again at 5:00 a.m. by the Appalachian bird choir, The weather was good and it made for an early start. It was a good hike, after a few miles we emerged from the woods and came upon a busy US 441 at Newfound Gap. It was strange in actually having to wait for traffic to pass before we could continue. There were cars, motorcycles, buses and RV's. We were only 15 miles from Gatlinburg Tennessee so the tourist traffic was thick.Amid the wandering sightseers, I found a tree to hang my tent to dry. There was a drinking fountain with a spicket that stood on the sidewalk. I decided to wash up and shave without stripping. There were a lot of curious spectators. I'm sure it was like watching a homeless person go about their life? I sat on a stone wall and just took in the moment.Freckles was able to get a hold of her friends. They were at Clingmans Dome today, but now would rush here with the promise of killer trail magic!Having heard this, it was a unanimous decision to for go the miles and focus on the smiles.We moved away from the tourist flow of traffic to a large grassy area within the parking lot. We kicked back, boots off and laying on our packs, enjoying the leisureness as we waited for them to arrive.This set the tone for an awesome day of trail magic. First, a man came up to us with a box of "Moon Pies". He was the owner of "Back Country Mountain Tours"and just out of the blue chose us to bestow his generosity upon?As if that wasn't good enough, another man came by a short while later carrying a cooler. He said in New York where he was from, they take care of the homeless people. At that point he gave us ice cold pop! Can you believe this? No where else have I ever experienced this type of thing? It is a head-scratcher trying to understand why people do the kind things that they do? There is definitely a divine connection when you are hiking the AT!Still getting over this, now Tracy, Chi Chi & her daughters arrive.Try and imagine the look on our faces when they spread out 3 pizzas, beer, soda, chips, lunch meat, bread and a whole lot of other goodies?Slowly in disbelief, we began to feast. The ravinous appetites turned into an almost feeding frenzy. Unbelievable? The effort to make this happen, the sharing and generosity of Chi Chi & Tracy was heart felt. This a testiment to the fine ladies they are and the friendship they share with Freckles. I got a real kick out of Chi Chi's daughters Sara & Jamie. They went exploring as kids do. So I tagged along to make sure they stayed out of trouble. Reminding me of my daughters when they were younger, we talked, I read them some of the tourist information signs at varios lookout points along the sidewalk. But mostly, I just got to be a kid again for a while, myself. So much for the 15 mile day that was planned? This was far better.It's ok to enjoy what good fortune comes your way. This is after all, "a trip of a lifetime". I could not have dreamed it better!You just never know when you wake up in the morning, what the day is going to bring?After much time had passed, it was time to say good bye for now. With bitter-sweet emotion in wanting to return to the trail while at the same time not wanting for this gathering to end, we parted.It was a long climb out especially with full stomachs.Today also marks having done 200 miles so far. In addition, there are portions of the trail where as you walk, one foot is in Tennessee the other in North Carolina. What a great day!Eventually we made our way to Icewater Shelter. There are a few hikers here we have not met before. Heavy rain is in the forecast, so we chose to stay inside the shelter tonight. I have hauled wet gear enough times to take advantage of this.I forgot to mention last night about meeting a Ridge runner named Jim Morbray. He travels a 72 mile section each week here in the Smokys National Park, making sure all is well along the trail within the park. He also mentioned that "Greybeard" whom was a ridge runner I had met when I first entered the Smokys a couple days ago, was now starting his hike on the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail). As I was going up, he was going down. Anyway, Best of luck to you Greybeard and enjoy!