Date: 2017-05-05
From: Davenport Gap

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: moderate rain

After having a hearty breakfast at Travelodge, I arranged for a shuttle to take me back to Newfound Gap to continue on the trail. The driver and owner, Carol, informed me that due to the severe blow-down on the trail, snow, sleet and freezing rain on the steep park roads, and continuing high winds, theNational Park Service had closed the Great Smoky Mountains National Park through Sunday, May 7. She also said the park rangers were trying to get the thru-hikers off the mountain. Consequently there was no way to get the 15 mile climb up 3,500 feet back to Newfound Gap by vehicle.    The alternatives were to stay put at the Travelodge for three more days, stealth hike past the park rangers through the closed park to Newfound Gap for two or more days in snow, freezing rain and high winds and then resume hiking the AT after frozen and completely exhausted, or have Carol drive me to the northern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and continue hiking the AT North from Davenport Gap. I chose the later option since I had read that it was acceptable to jump ahead when a portion of the trail was closed by government authorities. Although I started the hike with a purist mentality, I.e., I was going to hike each and every white-blazed mile of the trail, I realized that in order to finish the hike before Mount Katahdin closed in mid- October or sooner, I needed to adjust my principles. Due to my age and recurring knee problems, I wasn't going to be a slave to the ultra-purist attitude that the AT never closes, regardless of forest fires, pandemics on the trail, hazardous and deadly weather conditions, etc. Choosing to resume at the northern border of the park, aril drove me to Standing Bear Farm Hostel near Davenport Gap. During the drive, she informed me about the terrible forest fires in and around Gatlinburg last year. After the authorities offered a $50,000 award for information leading to the arrest of the individuals who intentionally set the fire, a man stepped forward with his video taken the days of the initial event of two 15 and 16 year old boys dousing the forest with gasoline and throwing lit matches on the fuel. Apparently the owner of the video didn't remember he had taken the video u Gil his memory was jogged by the $50,000 award. The official count is 14 deaths from the   forest fire. It doesn't include the 50-some illegal immigrants succumbing in weekly re tap units engulfed in flames and undocumented homeless individuals. Many businesses and homes were destroyed by the forest fire, leaving many people homeless. A number of families ended up living in rental storage facilities. However, according to Carol, FEMA threw a lot of misallocated resources at the problem. Because Gatlinburg is a large tourist town with a desire to downplay the entire conflagration, officials wouldn't include illegal immigrants and homeless individuals in the death toll unless individuals stepped forward and identified the bodies.Carol dropped me off at Standing Bear Farm Hostel so I could check on J¶rg's whereabouts. I was informed that he had left early that morning, so I thought perhaps I would meet him at Roaring Fork Shelter, about 18 miles out, or the following day at Hot Springs. I rather enjoyed the trail that day, with soft underfooting rather than lots of rocks, as in the past. The terrain was also more interesting to me, with large oak and ash trees, interspersed with meadows on balds and lovely ground vegetation, including blooming Trillium.  Because of the passing storm, the weather was very fickle, requiring me to don and remove my rainwear and cold weather wear many times. Eventually the weather turned to steady rain in the mid-afternoon and continued through the night and the entire next day.