Date: 2007-04-15
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Newfound Gap and Cherokee
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: snow

Temp at 8am 41, at 12pm 34It was one of those days that was destined to go downhill from the start and we don't meanelevation-wise. Bogey has developed tendenitis in his knee which is normal for him but he usually rests it and it goes away. He seems to aggravate it mostly on the descents. He hobbled down the trail with Slim in the lead. We were the second to leave Mt Collins shelter at 9:30 am hoping that the rainy, cold weather would end soon. It poured buckets last night on the tin roof of the shelter. Water ran down the walls of the shelter but thankfully it was not at the sleeping area. We slept well and woke up to a lake in front of the shelter. Slim took a trip to the composting privy, the first we encountered in the Smokies shelter system. At the others there is a designated toilet area just over the hill where bits of toilet paper litter the slope. Getting to the spring for clean water was .2 down a narrow side trail where storm runoff on the path was like a small river. There was so much runoff I didn't know where the spring was but I settled upon a place where water was coming out of a side hill and scooped it into the waterbag. Slim filled the waterbag with 7 quarts so we could share with the other hikers. Everyone in the shelter was planning to hitch a ride to Gatlinburg. Footslogging was the word of the day. We reached the 200 mile mark today as we footslogged through the runoff. It slowed us down somewhat but our feet stayed dry. We had set a goal of 13 miles to Peck's Corner Shelter but when we reached Newfound Gap we were feeling the chill of strong winds blowing us off the mountain. It seems the temps had dropped from 41 to 34 in just 2 hours and the wind became a steady northward blast. We arrived at Newfound Gap at Noontime. Newfound Gap is the first road we saw in three days and it is at 5045 ft. It goes left to Gatlinburg,TN or right to the Cherokee Indian reservation. Slim started for the bathrooms and was caught by a sidewind that had her sidesteping to avoid being blown off the mountain. Just then a man who was returning from the bathrooms asked if Slim needed a ride to Cherokee, NC. She said "let me ask my husband". Now Bogey, whose mother hadn't raised such a foolish child, jumped at the opportunity since his knee was troubling him for two days now and the weather forecast was for gale force winds, freezing temps and five inches of snow in the mountains. If it hadn't been for this man offering us a ride we'd probably have pushed on to the shelter. We are glad we decided to reassess at a short 4.5 mi. The 21 mile car ride with the heater blowing on us was the warmest we'd been since leaving our sleeping bags. The driver and his two friends from Charlotte, NC had hiked to Mt LeConte and were heading back home. They dropped us off at the River's Edge motel with a McDonald's just down the road. Bogey was in double cheeseburger heaven. The Cherokee people here are operating most of the businesses. We find that they are a very attractive, and interesting people. We shopped, ate at Mickey D's and did the laundry. We hope Monday will be a better day and we can hit the trail again. We havea maildrop to pick up in Hot Springs which contains a leg brace for Bogey that Slim's mother sent. Mother's are the greatest! This little note is for our grandson, Matt who in school is studying Pennsylvania history: Earl Shaffer was a native Yorker who in 1948 was the first person to through-hike the whole Appalachian Trail. He was also the first person to through-hike both northbound and southbound. He set a new standard. Read his book, "Hiking with Spring" if you want to know more. Remember he did it first and without the conveniences of a good backpack, modern synthetic fabrics, plastic bags, Ramen noodles or Lipton dinners. He was a pioneer. Now every year two to three thousand people set their feet on Springer mountain hoping to do what Earl did. Not the Lone Expedition Earl called his adventure but now a community of thousands of hikers following in his footsteps. Love to all. Bogey and Slim GA>ME 07.... Still having fun!