Date: 2010-04-14
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 60.0
Weather: clear sky

Cheese Whiz forever! In '95 and '96 I carried an insanely heavy pack, 80+ pounds at times, but I don't remember eating much except snickers bars dipped peanut butter for lunch and breakfast. On this last leg I added some bagels and cheese whiz, and it seemed very helpful with regard to sustained energy. Whatever happened to squeeze cheese by the way? Although I no longer eat meat, I miss squeezing a generous glob of cheese on thin, dried salty slices of beef. The only such cheese I see now comes in unwieldy plastic or metal containers, and I have to fight like a drunken chimpanzee to get the last bit out.It was another great week on the trail with warm sun every day. After eating a freakishly large Fuji apple, I hiked the 16 miles from Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam with a fully loaded pack--which was a bit silly in retrospect since I could have easily slackpacked that section. (Note: slackpacking basically means day-hiking, but for thru-hikers it means someone has shuttled your pack ahead and you hike to it.) I must admit--and partially eat my words from last post's rant--the trail from Brown Fork Gap to Cable Gap was excellent. It was a nice hike in the woods with plenty of views over Fontana Lake and an abundance of wildflowers (I could only identify the trillium).The Fontana "Hilton", so named because it is an especially luxurious shelter with a nearby shower and restroom, was very crowded and I caught up with several hikers that I had not seen since the hiker bash. Bearing in mind the saying 'your legs feel the hike you did yesterday', I decided to only do a half day to Birch Spring Gap, the first designated campsite in the Smokies and the only one on the AT without a shelter. Everyone else moved on to Mollies Ridge or Russell Field, so I had the place to myself except for the many, many very friendly insects. In fact, despite the great weather and the wildlife that wandered into my camp--just a few deer actually--I crawled in my tent early to escape and started Madame Bovary. I've been meaning to mention some books in these posts, since thru-hiking is very much a literary experience for me, but it hasn't struck me as a germane topic thus far. I have a bounce box full of books waiting at Hot Springs (I hope!), although I'm not quite ready to carry some of them. David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, for example, which exceeds 1100 hundred pages and would be one of the heaviest objects in my pack. Anyway, thus far I have read a biography of Benton McKaye, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (an excellent trail book), and part of Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds. This is a bit off topic so I'll end by noting that I did not finish the first and last books; my interest in McKaye's life dwindled considerably after the AT was created and the O'Brien book, while very good, was a bit heavy so I mailed it home to be finished later.Getting back to the hike, the following day I hiked on to Spence Field Shelter and spent the night in the excellent company of Springkat, Skippy and Matt(?)--sorry if I messed up the name--along with some friendly section hikers. The highlight of this day was hiking over Mollies Ridge in shorts and a t-shirt, through a forest carpeted with spring beauties (claytonia virginica, I looked it up). I'd like to repeat that I was wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, and have been everyday thus far in the Smokies; I never expected such great weather and may mail a few pieces of cold weather gear home from Hot Springs.The next day was a difficult trudge from Spence Field to Silar's Bald, although I had originally planned an additional two miles to Double Spring Gap. The difficult terrain between Spence and Derrick Knob really took a bite out of me, and it required a substantial effort to interrupt my comfortable siesta at Derrick Knob for the last five miles.The power of a cheese pizza compelled me over Clingman's Dome and to Gatlinburg (also the general cheesiness of Gatlinburg, which I enjoy). By the way, I mentioned the possibility of going to Cherokee, but everyone else was heading to Gatlinburg and it seemed logistically easier. This was my best day on the trail so far. The scent of red spruce was invigorating throughout, the view from Clingman's was tremendous even compared to other cloudless days (the air pollution/haze seemed mild, although I could not see Mt. Mitchell), and the surprisingly deep patches of snow kept the air cool. The road to Clingman's is closed for repaving, so I had the observation tower to myself and spent a solid 30 - 45 minutes soaking it in. I experienced a tremendous amount of trail magic as I hitched to town, and I would like to thank Karl from Philadelphia for that. For the sake of brevity, I'll leave out the details.Gatlinburg itself has been fun, but I confess it's been a much different experience from my younger, more inebriated visits.I suggested a possible rant against the term "zero day", but I am feeling too content at the moment for that. Suffice to say that it is generally irksome to me since I feel it puts too much emphasis on mileage, and since it makes no sense in a broader context. I'll finish my rant against PUDs with the hope that they are really SPUDs (seemingly pointless ups and downs); certainly the terrain and blowdowns have an effect on the route, for example. At some point this year I would like to pick the brain of someone with knowledge of the subject, but I am afraid it's just bad trail construction by the local clubs. I've hiked all over the U.S., mostly on the PCT for the last decade, and have only seen such persistent silliness on certain sections of the AT. I have to confess it is part of the charm of the AT, but it would be a shame if there is no ecological justification. Thus far I have heard no intelligent rationale, just insecure and rather pathetic protests of virility.More from Hot Springs, and soon I will try to pick up an adapter that will allow me to upload photographs.