Date: 2010-04-03
From: Double Spring Shelter

To: Newfound Gap/Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I am seriously tired, and today has been a looong day. It has been completely insane, but also wonderous and full of adventure. I slept poorly last night, as I was worrying about getting up at 4 and catching my alarm before it woke people up. The wind was whipping somehow through the shelter all night, which provided for a warm breeze, but made me worry about the possible bad weather coming in. Every time I woke up in the night and looked through the shelter's skylights (yes, this one was fancy!), I saw fewer and fewer stars. I had pretty well decided that the chance of a sunrise was slim to none, and therefore not worth getting up so early. At 4:10 AM, however, when I awoke to three others packing up their stuff, I said "what the heck" and quickly got out of my sleeping bag. Only slightly distressed that my alarm hadn't gone off, after all, I took all my stuff out behind the shelter and started packing up. At 4:36 AM, the train of 4 hikers with 3 headlamps - me, then Door Mouse, then Dirt Stew, and finally Take This Bread - headed up the trail. What a day to night hike! Shortly after the shelter, we started to get into deep snow, which set the course for the rest of the day. We trudged across it, breaking through the top icy crust every so often, a rather unintentional postholing maneuver. We climbed over, under, and around numerous blowdowns. Anytime we were out of the protection of the trees, the ferocious wind caught our packs like sails. We were also rewarded by incredible views of the lights of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (much prettier from far away than they are up close) and the peace that lies in the woods at night. We arrived at the Clingman's Dome observation tower just as the horizon took on a reddish glow. I can't do the sunrise any justice on paper, but suffice it to say - it was absolutely, breathtakingly incredible! The wind on the tower was insane and blew my companions and me into the railing many times. I sat up there for about an hour, bundled in most of my clothes and my sleeping bag, watching nature's glory. About 8:00, after repacking my bag, I headed back down to ground level and into the snow. The day's hike, at least half of it in 2-4 feet of snow, was brutal, but oddly fun (in a sort-of sick way, I suppose). I slipped and slid down the mountains and climbed my way back up a few more. As it turns out, climbing mountains in deep snow increases the difficulty level by about 4 times. Around 12:30, I came around a bend, just a tenth of a mile or so from Newfound Gap, to see three gals hiking up, shovels in hand to do trail maintenance. Knowing that these were probably the friends Longhaul had told me about, I introduced myself. Sure enough, they were Newt & Miss Scarlet (GAME '09) and their mom, Patti. They started pulling food out of their packs, and almost immediately our packs and butts hit the ground. We munched on cookie dough, cinnamon rolls, Babybel cheese, and healthy cookies. This was absolutely incredible surprise trail magic!!! Thank you SO much, ladies!Moments later, we were swarmed by people at Newfound Gap. Relieved and triumphant to be out of the snow, we looked for rides into town. Before anyone had stopped, we saw Longhaul hiking into the parking lot, as well. We quickly found two hitches - one for Door Mouse and Dirt Stew and one for Longhaul and me. As Longhaul got checked into the Grand Prix, I caught up with Roughin It and Sherlock, who let me join their room at the Family Inn. I split with Longhaul, feeling sure I would meet him Door Mouse, & Dirt Stew again for dinner. Little did I know how wrong I was!I got off my wet boots, showered, got my maildrop from the Grand Prix, and started figuring out my resupply needs. Since the Happy Hiker outfitter store abruptly closed a couple of weeks ago, there is no good hiker resupply on this side of town. I checked the possible stores, and although I only needed a couple of things, I came up empty. Shortly after 5, Roughin It, Beefstick, Sherlock and I decided to take the town trolley system ($0.50 a ride) to the Food City and on the other end of town. I'll spare the gritty details here, but here are some of the highlights:- the Gatlinburg trolley system is slow, irregular, bizarrely routed, and only an efficient form of transportation for the vacationer with all the time in the world.- when noticing that one's cell phone battery is low, one should charge said battery (yes, this was me!)- Furthermore, when one is trying to make dinner plans and knows that one's cell phone battery is about to die, one should NOT say she will be at dinner when she is not certain she can make it back in time.- Lastly, the map of Gatlinburg's trolley routes is definitely NOT to scale, and although it may seem like a short walk, it probably is not. As you can probably guess, this all resulted in a several hour adventure getting to the Food City and back, as well as poor Longhaul, Door Mouse, & Dirt Stew waiting half an hour before being seated for a bad friend who never showed up. As you can probably guess, I feel like a complete schmuck about this. I must remind myself, though, what's done is done. I will say this - although I have been known to enjoy Gatlinburg in the right mood and at the right time in the past, as a thru-hiker, I am ready to get the heck out of here!It has been a very long day, and tomorrow is a big one for me. I hike Northward into new territory, farther than I have ever hiked before on the Appalachian Trail! Off I go, on the loose...Postscript, April 3, 2011: This was an amazing day, and I have such fond memories of it. That said, I still feel bad about missing dinner! :P