Date: 2003-04-18
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: IceWater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

What a day!We walked in the clouds pretty much all day. The forest is beautiful, if a little eerie, enshrouded in mist. The water dripping from the trees makes almost the only sound. It's impossible to see the tops of the mountains as you hike, and we can never agree whether this is a good or bad thing. Personally, I'd rather be able to see how bad the next one is going to be.I was a little disappointed that we had heavy fog for the hike over Clingman's Dome. We didn't even bother to hike the couple hundred yards to the observation tower (which looks just like a spaceship). We had a good enough view of the fog without climbing all those steps!Now that we've passed the highest point on the AT, I've been able to say (over and over, much to the chagrin of Hiker-Biker Babe), "It's all downhill from here!" Riiiight.We are determined to cut down on our town time so as to make better miles. We plan to take a zero day in Hot Springs in a few days to soak our tired bones in the springs, as well as indulge in a massage and prodigious amounts of town food. Until then, we would like to stay in the woods.The problem is that our hiker appetites have kicked in but good. I find that if I don't feed the beast every two hours at least, I get sluggish and cranky. (I know, hard to believe about me, but it's true. Another side note from Pete: Probably shouldn't say anything here except "no sunshine you never get cranky" but under penalty of severe beatings when she reads this, Yes she does get cranky when hungry, so do not stand between her and food. Just some advice from a man who has learned his lesson). We packed plenty of food for our pre-Smokies appetites, but times they are a changin and we are very short on food.We decided that we would hitch into Gatlinburg just for dinner and get back to the trail asap. When I trudged out of the woods all covered with mud, HBB and Gunner were climbing into the bed of a pickup. Since I am the designated chatter, I hopped in front with Ben.Ben was amazing! He let Gunner off at the outfitter in town. When HBB started sighing "Red Lobster," he drove us two towns over to the closest one! He agreed to have dinner with us but wouldn't let us pay. He was willing to take us wherever we needed to go, but we ate and headed back to the trail.When Ben dropped us back at the gap, several other hikers were hanging around, along with tons of tourists. They stared at us outright as they drove or walked past, and HBB made a big show of grooming me like a fellow monkey.We chatted for a while with Viking and Mountain Butterfly, and offered them each a yummy cheese biscuit from dinner (we'd brought back about 8). Mountain Butterfly would only have a bite, but Viking had a very intense few moments with his. At one point, we asked him if he'd like to be alone with his biscuit and he said Yes, please!We ended up hiking the couple of remaining miles to the shelter in the dark. This would have been fine with clear skies, as we've wanted to do a full moon hike anyway. But the mist reflected off our headlamps and we could hardly see where we were going.We finally made it in about 9:30. I would have stayed in the shelter but it was packed. I somehow managed to blindly find two trees and hang my hammock. HBB and I hung our food bags from the bear cables and collapsed into our respective homes. I don't think I'll have a bit of trouble sleeping tonight!