Our First Night in the Shelter

Today we caught a ride with the same wonderful folks who gave us trail magic two days before - Bernie and Beth. They were still shuttling hikers to and from the trail, as well as feeding them. I was in the front of the truck, and there were five hikers with packs in the back. We told them goodbye, thanked them once again, and hiked out of Newfound Gap. At the trailhead was a sign with mileage to Mt. Katahdin - the first actual mileage sign we've seen! Kind of exciting! On the way back to the trail, two younger hikers told us we were about to see the best views of the Smokies in the next few days. We had not heard this before! We were both a little nervous and excited about returning to the trail again.

We were not disappointed by the views - first one side, and then the other of the ridge. Just gorgeous!

We knew there was bad weather predicted, and so planned to possibly stay in the shelter for the night. When we reached the shelter, it was filling up fast, so we put our sleeping bags down to save us a place. It started raining not long after we arrived. We were all happy to have a roof over our heads, and to get out of the wind, because a cool front was also blowing in.

Everyone is so tired after hiking, that most get into bed by 8 or so. I took a pic of everyone cooking supper.
























- Steady and F100

Location:Peck's Corner Shelter

Ripley's believe it or not, it's Gatlinburg

We have not been to Gatlinburg in about 17 years, but we could not help but notice that Ripley's Believe or Not has moved into town. There must be at least eight different Ripley's attractions! Because of the early spring, and the fact that April is spring break month here, tourism is doing very well right now, with many of the merchants stating that their business right now is exceeding July's numbers.

Last night we did get to go have some Mellow Mushroom pizza (they have gluten-free) with Swamprat, and we met his hiking buddy, Mouse (real name, Micky). We had a really nice time with them.

We also walked up and down the main street and window shopped. I really needed some new Crocs and so we found a shop and made a plan to return the next day.

We ended up at a really nice hotel called the Bearskin Lodge, with gas fireplaces and huge whirlpool tubs - very much appreciated! We met Swamprat, Mouse, and her hiking buddy, Plus Two for an all you can eat breakfast that we had heard about from the last Ridgerunner. It lived up to its name. Wonderful food! We lazed around for an hour or so just relaxing and visiting. Everyone in the group is about the same age with kids about the same age also. Sadly, Swamprat has to go home for a week because his son is having a surgery. He plans to find us on the trail when he returns so we can hike together. He's from Louisiana, and apparently makes a mean pot of jambalaya - maybe we can persuade him to provide some future trail magic!

The rest of the day we bought my Crocs, did laundry (where Bill and his son Taylor walked in), and then ate a yummy lunch at Bubba Gump's. We also picked up our resupply box and repacked our backpacks for the week. Later on, we went to a local steakhouse and celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We ended the evening by skyping with Elise and Daniel for a while. It's so funny skyping with an iPhone because our picture is about the size of a postage stamp. (I didn't take many pics in Gatlinburg, but the street was always busy with tourists).



- Steady and F100

Location:Gatlinburg, TN

On to Gatlinburg!

We said goodbye to everyone at the Mt. Collins Shelter, took a quick photo of Peeper, and made like a bunny, hopping down the 4.3 miles to Gatlinburg (and burgers, pizza, fries) as fast as we could. The trail was a bit more down than up, which was good. I re-injured an old strained back muscle on the long climb out of the NOC, but learned a hard lesson, and left behind any food I did not absolutely need. We had been getting ahead of schedule on our miles, and so kept carrying more and more food. Since mine is gluten-free, and harder to replace, I hated to leave it, but too much weight had caused my injury, so I left it in a hiker box doe other hikers. There are hiker boxes at all of the hotels and hostels, even post offices and outfitters along the trail. If you don't need something, you leave it, and she you get off the trail, you usually go through it to see if there is something you can use. I usually look for shampoo and conditioner.
Anyway, the reason I told about the back muscle, is for the past 3 days I have hiked with my left trekking pole tied to my pack, which means I have had to be really careful with my balance, which means I'm moving a bit slower. However, I made record time flying into Gatlinburg. Amazing what the promise of a hot shower and good food. An do for you!
We were going to find a way into town from Newfound Gap (they run regular buses), but we got off the trail only to find a sweet couple from Florida providing trail magic out of their pickup camper. There was about eight thru- hikers gathered around, and smiles all around! The B Team, Bernie and Beth, had filled up at Sam's before coming here, and had been parked at the gap providing trail magic for each day of there vacation. They had everything a hiker could possibly want - drinks on ice, chips, sandwich fixings, apples, oranges, Starbucks instant coffee, protein bars. No one left hungry, and the ones that were not heading into Gatlinburg, but continuing on the trail, left with full packs. Sweet folks! They were heading back into Gatlinburg, and so Keith and I and Swamprat and Stingray all piled our packs in, packed ourselves in with them and the snacks, and headed into Gatlinburg. We are all in our fifties, and all agreed the last time we traveled in the back of a truck, we were probably kids. We had a lot of good laughs along the way. The park is crowded with spring breakers. We checked into the Bearskin Lodge, which is right above a river, and we are waiting for our room to be cleaned right now. It is supposed to storm the next day or two, so we feel really fortunate to be under a roof once again.
The trail today had huge trees that had blown over, and the last pic is us in front of the roots of one of those. The trail maintenance crews sure did have their work cut out for them. These trees are huge!




















- Steady and F100

Location:Gatlinburg, TN

Clingman's Dome

We left Derrick Knob, excited to reach Clingman's Dome, which is also the highest point on the AT. The trail was actually easier than the previous two days, but would be a long one of 14 miles, with a pretty good climb up to Clingman's.
All went well until we were within .5 of the top. I needed a break, but Keith didn't, so I told him I'd grab water and meet him at the top. I started up later and took the wrong trail for about half a mile before I noticed no white blazes and no trekking pole holes. Keith later told me he started to do the same thing, but someone pointed him in the right direction. I finally made it back and caught up with him and had a beautiful day for great pics at the top. We felt like celebrities. It was really crowded with spring breakers and many people had lots of questions about the trail. One lady even took our picture!
I have a lovely scab across my nose. Let's just say that sunburns and breathe right strips (been fighting a cold) do not mix! Lucky I don't have a mirror.
We hiked on to Mt. Collins Shelter which was only half full. We took a chance and tent camped, and Rangers did come into camp, but once they found out we were thru-hikers, did not ticket us. Whew!
There was a 6th grader with his dad (former thru-hiker, Wayfarer, '93) on his first backpacking trip. Everyone at the shelter made him feel like one of the gang, and he was having a great time. His trail name was Peeper, because he loved frogs so much.
It was a bit damp and cool, so I ended up journaling inside by the fire where Animal was drying his clothes out. We also met Stonekicker. There are two Irish college students on spring break, and they've been fun. The one wears a batman belt buckle, so we are trying to name them Batman and Robin, but I don't think Robin is too keen on the idea. Batman's grandmother's maiden name is Geraghty!




































- Steady and F100

Location:Mt. Collins Shelter

Day 3 in the Smokies

This day turned out to be a big climbing day also. We've just about decided to quit looking at the elevation profile that we have, because it seems like everyday is just steep uphill and downhill, with not much else. Today was more hiking through beautiful mountaintops of tiny flowers called Spring Beauties. The trail is just prettier and prettier.

Before we left camp we gave Bells' husband the trail name Upbeat. He was always smiling. He seemed to like his name.

When we finally reached Derrick Knob Shelter, every talked about how hard the day was. Sure made me feel better, because I thought it was really tough!

At the shelter, we met another Ridgerunner, Billy, who educated everyone on the best food in Gatlinburg. Believe me, we paid attention. Food is the most common topic of conversation on the trail. Most day I think about omelettes and bacon.

We had a really full shelter and at least six of us tent camped here. The shelters in the park actually have fireplaces inside. Pretty nice on a chilly day!

You can see that we entered into a different sort of forest - dark, damp, lots of evergreens and bright green moss on everything. Smelled heavenly!























- Steady and F100

Location:Derrick Knob Shelter

Day 2 in SMNP

I slept so well last night that I never heard it rain. I am finally sleeping pretty well at night. The group at the shelter all rose fairly early. Matter of fact, the Indian couple woke me up having a loud conversation with the Ridgerunner. That's the down side of camping with a group, I guess. Could have slept much later.

We had a really hard hike today, with some pretty big climbs. The most noticeable thing today was the forest floor continued to be covered in a carpet of white and pink wildflowers. There are others as well, that I am not familiar with. There are some yellow ones that remind me a bit of columbines, and some that look like little violets. I took a lot of flower and trail pics today.

We did get a wonderful view at a place we stopped to have lunch at called Rocky Top. Made me think of that old song, but I have no idea if we were in Tenn. or NC.

We really have hiked north pretty much by ourselves the past 2 days, not really seeing others until we reach the shelters. There have been quite a few vacationers hiking in the other direction on short hikes though.

Not a lot of stories today, because I'm so beat, but the last climb into camp I had a wild turkey following me through the woods, and it sounded just like my brother, Phil. He does an awesome turkey call. The turkey finally walked right through the middle of camp, and it was a huge beautiful male, showing off its feathers. Just a few pics from the trail today. Sorry for so many flowers. The pics truly don't do it justice!






































- Steady and F100

Location:Derrick Knob Shelter, mile 188.8

Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park

As you can already tell, we reached Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park today! We started the day with a big breakfast of omelettes and hash browns at the lodge restaurant with Blue Fox, Ladyfish and Stingray. Ladyfish will be staying behind to try and heal her plantar fasciitis which flared up yesterday. She was limping pretty badly all day. I hope she gets back on the trail soon, because I'll miss her. There's not too many females on the trail, and especially not many our age. We did meet a new female hiker yesterday named Somewhere, but I can tell she's moving slower than we are.

After hitting the trail, it wasnt too long before we were walking along the road that crosses Fontana Dam. This was new to us. We walked right on the road for probably 1.5 miles. We finally went into the woods again and began steadily climbing. This was going to be a big climbing day. We needed to end up at Mollies Ridge Shelter for the night, which sits just below 5000 feet.

This park requires thru-hikers to stay in the shelters, but if they fill up, then you can tent. We definitely prefer tenting. We chose shelters for the week that are about 12 miles apart, but once we get up high today, the trail stays up on the ridges, soshouldnt be quite as bad the rest of the week.

We hiked steadily up, and came to Shuckstack Fire Tower right on the top of a mountain it as old and rickety, but still solid, so I climbed it and took some great pics of the view. At the bottom of the tower, we took off boots and rested in the sun a while, and ate some gorp, before putting on dry socks and hiking on.

We continued on, and before long, Keith spotted a bear down the hill quite a ways on our right it was running away, and got over a ridge before I could see it. From then on, we hiked very quietly, trying to see other bear, but no luck.

We came upon a couple who were originally from India, letting us know there a good spring just of the trail. A previous hiker had spelled out 'water' with twigs on the ground also, with an arrow to the left. The girl and I visited while the guys got water. They live in Austin, both work for Dell, and had taken a week off to backpack for a week through the park. They had really heavy packs and were struggling. The girl had bear bells on her pack. She is the first hiker we've seen with bells, as most hikers here want to see the bears, not scare them away. We encouraged her to put it away, but also gave her a trail name - Bells. She seemed pleased with that.

We hiked on, and came upon the prettiest mountaintop covered with tiny white and pink flowers and birch trees. There was also the coolest tree! I'm sure that fairies come there to play.

After a long, challenging final uphill, we finally reached the shelter, and met our first Ridgerunner, Carl. He is responsible for 4 shelters for the thru-hiker season. He's been doing it for 10 years. He let us know that the shelter wasn't quite full, but he expected it to fill up so we would probably be able to tent. We waited around, but there was still 2 bunks open when we set up our tent. If a Ranger comes through, we could get a ticket, but we are taking our chances. It is quite a bit chillier tonight, so the down bags should finally feel good. It's just been way too warm at night so far for our bags.






























- Steady and F100

Location:Mollies Ridge Shelter, mile 176