Date: 2013-04-07
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a nice sunny day¢¦and here we go again..leaving Gatlinburg! The NOC Outfitter in Gatlinburg shuttled Postman and I back up to Newfound Gap this time. We started up the trail¢¦what seemed like going up forever but actually was about 3 miles¢¦and found that the shady areas were still very icy, in spite of the warmer weather we had had in the last few days. Rocky..steep in places..reaching Charlies Bunion not too far past the Icewater Spring Shelter. Charlies Bunion is a large, rocky outcropping created by a landslide following a disastrous rain in 1929 that was originally known as Fodderstack. The current name was derived when Charlie Conner went hiking one day with Horace Kephart, one of the early proponents of a national park in the Smokies, and author of Our Southern Highlanders. When they paused for a rest on the rocks Conner took his boots and socks off, exposing a bunion that resembled the surrounding rocks. Looking at Conner's feet, Kephart remarked, "Charlie, I'm going to get this place put on a government map for you." And so he did! But what fantastic views of the surrounding area, including Mt. LeConte. It can be really scary though¢¦I would not want to bring impulsive young children here¢¦even if you were watching, one false move would have you falling off sheer drop offs! I continued on through a number of steep ¢ups and downs¢. In many places the Appalachian Trail is only a few feet wide with maybe a foot of ground on either side; sharp drop offs are on both sides of the trail. The only thing that made the walking a little easier were the trees and brush growing beside the trail¢¦a fighting chance to hang on to something if you stumbled! This whole day was marked with incredible opportunities to savor mountain vistas and overlooks with wonderful views ¢¦so much so that I thought I could see all the way to Knoxville to the West at one point!As I approached today¢s goal ¢ Pecks Corner Shelter ¢ I admit to getting somewhat disgruntled. We all walk so far each day¢obviously going up and down, following the contour of the ridges. So, as you can imagine, we are tired by the end of the day! So, imagine how you would feel to find that, to reach the shelter, you have to walk an EXTRA 12 mile off the AT¢¦DOWNHILL, to reach the shelter! That means¢¦YES, you guessed it¢¦you have to start your day the next morning walking an EXTRA 12 mile back UPHILL to the AT to even get started!There was a moment tonight when there was the potential of ¢excitement¢¢¦the unhappy kind. About a 12 hour after I reached the shelter, a section hiker came in to Pecks Corner Shelter asking if his brother had arrived yet. No one had seen the brother. The young guy was concerned because the ¢missing brother¢ had been hiking in front of the guy who showed up. The 1 12 hours go by¢¦and still no brother¢¦we ALL were getting concerned. Just as we decided to get out headlamps and go search, the brother showed up! He had missed the turn off the trail down to the shelter, kept on hiking and finally realized he had to have missed the turn¢¦so he walked back to find Pecks Corner Shelter. ALL WAS SAFE..fortunately this time!