Date: 2008-02-27
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Newfound Gap (plus road walk towards Gatlinburg)
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

(Mt. Collins to Newfound Gap plus 6 miles of roadwalk towards Gatlinburg -- 11 miles.)The winter weather has arrived in force. It snowed last night and it was cold!Woke up to 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground and the flakes were continuing to fall fast. Last night had to be near 20 degrees.The Wilderness Medicine Group was up first and decided they were going to bail out. One guy was going to hike down to their truck and drive up to the gap to pick the others up. Two of the other guys were talking of going up to Clingman's before going down to Newfound Gap. Virginia Slim was talking about taking a zero at the shelter.I was the first to leave the shelter at 8:30 a.m. Knowing there were warm restrooms at Newfound Gap I planned to hike the 4 or 5 miles there and then decide what to do.The snow was constantly shin deep and often knee deep as I broke a path down to the gap. I cut over to the road paralleling the trail where there was just as much, if not more, snow, but the walking was much easier.I got to the gap at 11:30 and found the road there had been plowed recently. I took a break in the bathroom and tried to decide what to do. If I forged on 3 miles uphill to the next shelter I might be stuck there as it was still snowing and the wind was getting stronger. If I went to Gatlinburg I might have to walk the 15 miles to town and then figure out what to do next.I decided to bail. But first I took a picture of the lone, red snow-covered car in the parking lot at the gap.Starting down the road I was soon met by three plows coming up the road. The first stopped and asked me if I was OK. I said I was and so they kept on going. Another driver of a sand truck a mile later also stopped to ask me if I was OK.It didn't get any warmer and the snow was nearly as deep as I descended. After six miles of walking, the red car from atop the hill caught up to me, the window rolled down and it was the Michigan kids asking if I wanted a ride.They had talked to the plow drivers at the gap and had been told the road might not be opened for 2 or 3 days (more snow is expected tonight and temps are supposed to be down to 20 here in town).A ranger had to unlock the gate for us at the bottom of the road, but first he asked for their permit and how old they were (the kids were 22, 24). I don't know what difference that made.We took pictures at the entrance sign, went out to eat at Shoney's and then I said goodbye to the Michigan kids (Dave, Paul and Ron? I asked their names twice, but I still forget). They were trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their spring break without any money to do anything really but camp. They talked about unexpectedly showing up at friend's house in D.C.I got a hotel room and made several phone calls. One of them was to Virginia Slim. I thought he might still be at the shelter, but he had hiked down to Newfound Gap and got a ride down the other side to Cherokee with a park ranger at 4 p.m. It was still snowing hard at the gap at that time.Virginia Slim said the Rangers had gotten a call from a man in a shelter north of the gap who was suffering from hypothermia and they were going to try to make it to him to get him out. Bearfodder was about a day ahead of us on the trail. I hope he is OK as well as Mike and Chris and Jenny who were behind us in the Smokies.A friend of mine, Dude, went through the Smokies southbound in March of 2005 and experienced similar weather, bailing out at Newfound Gap where he waited three days before getting back on the trail. He had gone through 4-foot snow drifts on the ridges north of the gap and I expect conditions are similar this time.Not knowing when the road will reopen, not knowing the conditions on the fairly exposed narrow ridgewalks, having hiked this section in 2004, and not being worried about hiking every piece of the AT this year I decided to jump up to Davenport Gap. Curtis Owen of Standing Bear Farm is picking me up tomorrow. He said there is 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground there, but I am more confident of starting out from there and don't want to be holed up in an hotel room here for more than one night.* * *Skit's bits:* Times I slipped on the icy Newfound Gap road before putting on my Yak Traks: 4.* Miles walked before one of the Yak Traks had a brace break: 5* Fur coats worn for photo at Smoky Mountains sign: 1 (One of the Michigan kids had an awesome full-length fur coat. I wore it over my other seven layers of clothes and look huge in it.)* Number of tree branches I couldn't avoid hitting and having them dump their load of snow on me: dozens.* * *Thoughts on Gatlinburg: It explodes immediately in a crush of buildings as soon as you leave the park, overloading the senses. A blend of wild themes -- minigolf, laser tag, museums, earthquake ride -- hotels and restaurants that makes an attempt to fit in the mountain surroundings, but is overly gaudy and a tiny bit quaint at the same time. If I had a few bucks to spare it would be fun to go do all the junk amusement stuff in town. I can't believe this is one of the most popular places to get married in, though. If I ever get married -- hey, it could still happen -- it wouldn't be here. I'm kind of glad I got to see this town.