Date: 2005-03-30
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: broken clouds

Miles hiked today : 13.713.5 AT miles + 0.2 miles of side trailI woke up this morning at 6:30 a.m. and around 7:10 a.m., as I was packing my gear, a large male deer walked right through our campsite. He seemed oblivious to our presence, which made me happy as this meant that the animals in the Smokys are being left alone. Happily, I was able to snap some photographs before he moved on.I hit the trail at 7:30 a.m. and felt like I was poking along. I really need to start eating breakfast, which I believe is causing me to feel run-down in the morning.The first landmark of the morning was Rocky Top, which had a phenomenal 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains illuminated by the early morning sun. Shortly after, I reached the summit of Thunderhead Mountain, also with impressive views.The next 4.5 miles on the way to Derrick Knob Shelter were a series of up and down climbs designed to sap my strength. I arrived at Derrick Knob Shelter at 11:30 a.m. and took the time to cook lunch. I thought I had enough water to last thr 5.5 miles to the next shelter, so I moved on at 12:15 p.m.Big mistake. I should have checked my water level, as I ran out of water about 1 mile further. I reached Buckeye Gap, the halfway point to the next shelter, at 2:00 p.m. and was disappointed to find out the listed water source in the Wingfoot book did not exist. For that matter, neither did the trail. All the remained was a very faint outline that looked as if it had ceased to be used several years ago. I tried following the trail downhill in search of water, but all I found was a dried up muddy source. Grrr. My "never pass up a water source" rule has now been appended with "check your water level before leaving a source."I left Buckeye Gap at 2:15 p.m. with 2.7 miles to the next shelter. I also faced a 643 foot climb, which was only made worse by the blazing sun. I made the distance, arriving at Silers Bald Shelter at 3:30 p.m. I had wanted to stop several times to rest, but I kept moving, telling myself that resting would not get me closer to water.Upon my arrival, I filtered at least 5 liters of water, drinking 1.5 of them. I can't remember water tasting so good. It turns out that quite a few hikers ran out of water during the same stretch.After a short rest, I moved out at 4:15 p.m. to cover the 1.7 miles to Double Spring Gap Shelter, arriving at 5:00 p.m. I cooked another meal, ate peanut butter, as well as chocolate from Hepzibah, and made a 32 ounce Emergen-C drink in my Nalgene bottle.Around 6:00 p.m., we were surprised to see more deer. Three in all, they appeared to be female and were here to graze. They were a bit more cautious than the buck this morning, but I was still able to get some good photographs, including some with me in the foreground, while the deer were grazing in the background.After the excitement of the deer, we built a small fire and toasted marshmallows, again, courtesy of Hepzibah and friends. Her visit to do trail magic for me at the Fontana Hilton has made many hikers happy over the past couple days.Tonight I'm sleeping in another hiker cage right on the NC/TN state line and there are definitely mice here. I saw one with my own eyes and it was at least 2 inches long and as I'm writing this sentence, one just ran across the ground, loudly squeaking. Yuck. Tomorrow is a hike up to Clingmans Dome, followed by a trip to Gatlinburg, TN., which is supposed to be THE tourist place in this section of the country. I've heard so many things about Gatlinburg, mostly crazy, that I've got to check it out. Plus, ice cream is calling to me and I'm sure Gatlinburg will have it. Bedtime at 8:45 p.m.