Date: 2016-10-29
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Icewater Springs Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: clear sky

10/29 Day 7: This was the 1 week on the trail mark! We took our time getting out of camp, knowing we had a relatively short day to Icewater Springs Shelter. We got water in the morning at the spring near the shelter which was flowing like a faucet. Yay! It was a really nice easy walk down hill most of the way towards Newfound Gap. It was a lot easier to converse going down hill than up hill. Midway down towards the gap, we ran across Bright Side. He started in Maine with his granddaughter and continued on after she quit following the 100 mile wilderness. He laughed and said he didn't even ask his wife. Later we came across two guys hiking to Mt. Collins Shelter. One guy appeared to be really struggling with a heavy pack and a heavier belly. I hope he made it.We got to a parking area at Road Prong Trail and took off our packs for a snack. We had cell reception, so I attempted to call my wife who was vacationing with my daughter at my sisters house. I was unsuccessful so I left a message. I was able to get in touch with my mother who promised to pass them a message that we were doing fine. I am a purist when it comes to hitting every white blaze on the AT, but not so much when it comes to not using any modern conveniences. I like to keep in touch with my loved ones, to share my experience, and just to get a touch of home.We climbed up over Mingus Ridge and crossed some anti-wild hog barriers. I had heard from the ranger on the dome that wild hogs can be a problem near Mt. Collins shelter, but I never saw any signs of them. At lunch we crossed into Newfound Gap and ran into what can only be described as a Disneyland like parking lot. Cars were lined up waiting to get spots and people were everywhere. We decided to sit on the wall for lunch. Again, we were like museum pieces that people would walk past and stare at. Parking was apparently such a commodity that two guys in their late sixties nearly had a fist fight over a spot. It was comical. We met ¢Kid¢ at the gap who was doing trail magic for through hikers. He asked if we came across ¢Pretty Boy¢ who was supposed to be in the Smokeys, but we hadn't yet. Following lunch, I got a photo at the gap sign that was the Tennessee/North Carolina border marker. Truth be told, I think we were walking on the border for much of our hike in the Smokeys already. We made the steady afternoon climb out of Newfound Gap towards our destination of Icewater Springs Shelter. We literally had to stop every 25 feet to step aside for day hikers coming down the trail. I guess many of them hiked the 4 miles to Charlie¢s Bunyon and were now returning.The day had gotten warm, and when we arrived at the shelter, we had plenty of sunshine left to hang out our hiking clothes to dry. This shelter was also like a museum piece because it was the only shelter on the way to Charlies Bunyon and it was right on the trail. People would stop by to see what a shelter looked like and then move on. Unfortunately for me, one group of those people happened to stop by when I was inside changing out of my hiking clothes. I thought perhaps Blister would tell them I was inside, but to no avail. I was fortunately back to them as they walked by the gap in the tarp and peering in. I used my standard bathroom quote when someone comes a knocking, ¢Uh Occupied.¢ Oh well, that was embarrassing, but they soon left.There were some boys from a fraternity from Samford University in Alabama that were resting on the grass at the shelter. Later, we saw some guys we had spent the night near at Mt. Collins Shelter. They knew each other from being on the same dragon boat team in NC. I guess a dragon boat is like an oversized canoe and they race each other. To give you an idea of the diversity on the trail, our other shelter mates for the night were these two Phd research scientists from Tulane University who happened to be on the front lines of the ebola outbreak in Sierra Leon last year. One night spitting drunken people, one night medical geniuses. You never know who you will run into. We did a fair amount of stargazing after being rewarded with a beautiful sunset. One of the researchers sons, Cal, had never seen the sky so full of stars. His dad said there was so much light pollution in New Orleans that they never get to see the sky like this. That is sad. We pondered the universe a bit, to include talking about how some of the stars that we were looking at might not even be around anymore since it took the light so long to get to Earth. They were very nice people to talk to and I was glad to have met them.We got into our hammocks for the night after a shorter hiking day and looked forward to the next. For the record, there was a beautiful spring that crossed the trail 75 feet from the shelter that was flowing like a champ. Good times in the northern end of the Smokeys.