Date: 2008-03-15
From: Double Springs Gap Shelter

To: Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

I knew it was gonna be cold last night, so I decided to put my Nutella and Bagels in a stuff sack and sleep with them in order for the Nutella to be soft (We've nicknamed this technique "The Crotch Oven"). Well, around 6am everybody began to wake up and get their food down from the bear cables, but I just remained in my bag and enjoyed a warm batch of Nutella and a Cinnamon/Raisin Bagel!!! As we were packing up to leave, Night Terror told us another story: "There was a woman who went to the emergency room complaining about chest pains. So, they gave her medication and she kept complaining. One doctor, then, decided to do an x-ray. Upon examination, he noticed a strange growth under her breast. Well, he decided to perform a physical exam and when he lifted the breast, he found a biscuit lodged in there...that's what caused the pain!"Night Terror, Bunz and Roses left before me, because I'm slow at packing up, and the guys told me that the bathrooms at Clingman's Dome were open. When I finally caught up with the group, I shared the good news about possibly using "flushable Privies!" As we walked across some bald on the south side of the look out tower, the wind picked up and was blowing us around. At one point, it even ripped my packcover off!!! When we made it to the bathrooms, we discovered that they were closed until April 1st. So, we began the 0.5 mile walk up to the tower. As we walked, however, the clouds began to clear and by the time we scaled the tower, they were gone. While taking pictures and absorbing the scenery, the clouds came back...at least they were gone long enough to give a view and pics! Hearing thunder in the distance, we decided to hustle towards New Found Gap and hitch in to Gatlinburg. As we left the tower, we had some ice to contend with for about 0.2 mile...not as bad as people had made it out to be! After passing the Mount Collins Shelter, the weather went from cool and foggy to cold and rainy! We passed alot of weekenders making their way south and they told us 'a trail lie:' "It's all downhill and flat from here." Upon hearing this, our leader--Roses--had to restrain herself from punching them in the Kidneys because we knew better than that! Not seeing Kanati's wife's car, we decided to hitch. So, we did the normal thing and let Roses try because what kind of a person won't stop for a 26 year old woman when it's raining? The answer, all of the cars which did pass us in the 30 minutes it took to get a ride. Finally, some guy and his wife pulled up in a pickup truck and loaded us in the back. Now, I'm going to set the scene for this hitch: "It's raining hard, the temperature is in the low 40's, and we're wet." With that said, the gentleman who gave us a ride decided to drive really fast in order to get us to Gatlinburg quickly. Well, I don't know if any of you have ever been in the bed of a truck under these conditions, but it felt as if somebody was shooting me with BB's in the face the entire time!!We eventually made it to the Happy Hiker, met Jake--a guy from Ohio--and got our picture taken outside of the store! Then, we went to our motel room to wash clothes and let stuff dry out! After a marathon of showers, we decided to catch the bus to the Smokey Mnt. Brewery for dinner. We had a Veggie and Brewmeister pizza and a pint of porter! After a filling meal, we walked back to the room and are currently watching TV and enjoying life. I called home and Barbara told me that Kanati had called and left his number for me to call him because he had to get off the trail in Townsend, TN. Appearantly, his shins were bothering him so much, he had to get off there and his wife met him there instead of at New Found Gap. I'm gonna give him a call tomorrow and see how he's doing!