Date: 2015-04-18
From: Mt.collins Shelter

To: icewater Spring Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

While I was in Gatlinburg, I went to NOC and bought a new sleeping bag liner to add some more warmth to my bag and also a pack cover. My homemade pack cover worked for a while but ended up in the epic fail category. At the shelter last night, I stayed much warmer than usual with that bag liner, and the wind howled and screamed all night- the rain never let up. We all started stirring around 7am. Airlock came in and said she and her gang were heading to town to dry off. They had come in about an hour after we did yesterday and had been putting some big miles in the rain. There was a lot of chatter in the shelter about what to do- this was a torrential rain, and cold and windy. Castaway shot off one liners about the Smokies- he is OVER the rain. Castaway: "Did you know that the Appalachian trail is the longest creek in the world?""The Appalachian trail is the only trail you can raft.""Herman Melville was inspired to write Moby Dick while hiking through the smokies.""Did you hear the ancient Indian legend about the day it didn't rain in the smokies?""New archeological evidence proves the biblical flood that launched Noah's arc started in the smokies.""Did you know that when the Indians descended the smokies for the first time they were shocked to discover the yellow ball in the sky?" He is a funny guy- and it has rained the last 6 days of hiking. Castaway is getting off the trail in a few days to celebrate his sons second birthday. I first met him on that long uphill out of the NOC. Meanwhile- Some people decided to stay and zero at the shelter, many hiked 4 miles to Newfound Gap so they could go to town. We decided we already pulled the trigger on the town stay and we had to bite it and hike. The first step was to get out of the cozy warm sleeping bag and step into the cold. That is a unique and exquisite sort of discomfort. I did it and consoled myself with green tea and cocoa puffs. We suited up in our frog trogs and out we went. It was not as bad as we thought it would be, the big spruce trees protected us from the wind and rain a bit. The trail for the entire day was a creek. Even in the rain, the smokies are so beautiful. I am really glad I get to see them in this way. The trail was very rocky, but if it had not been raining, it would have been an easy day. The water just flowed down the trail and it was not long before our waterproof boots were wet. Water proof gear is waterproof to a point- just as the titanic was unsinkable to a point. When we got to Newfound Gap, we happily used the heated bathrooms and mugged for pictures by the signs with AT info. C.Shell and I marveled at how good looking we are getting in the fogged over bathroom mirror. Yes, warm air makes us giddy! We hit the trail again- only about halfway to our destination. We met a park ranger about 2 miles from the shelter and he warned us to get safe as hail and high winds were coming. He said there was still room in the Shelter so we picked up our pace, not wanting to pitch tents in this mess. At this point, we were all soaked through and getting cold. At the shelter, I fetched water, we changed to our warm dry sleep clothes and cooked our dinners.After this day, this week in this challenging weather, I no longer feel like a powerful mountain goddess. I feel like a hiker. And that feels really good.