After eating a cheeseburger and fries, I organized my gear in the parking lot. Packed up my trail food in a nifty new waterproof stuffsack that Outdoor Research sent me in the mail. Tried out the nifty rainpants, tights, gaiters, and t-shirt that Wild Roses sent. Packed them up, too. When I walked over a river near I-75, I spotted a whole pod of rafters going by. We waved and said hi to each other :-) Hit the trail again at 1:11 and didn't get to the shelter until 5:30. Thought it would be packed and I'd have to sleep on the ground, but no! |
Finally caught up to Radar and Hepcat! Jeez, those two are fast. When we got to the first shelter, it was packed. We ate lunch and got warmed up while hoping for a break in the rain. I didn't want to slip back into my wet dress, nor did I want to get my long johns wet in the rain... so when the rain stalled out, I put on my pack and Packa, and stripped off my long underwear from underneath. Then, a conceptual problem ... I couldn't put my dry clothes back in my pack without taking off the whole shebang and flashing everyone. Hepcat was nice enough to carry my clothes in his pack. Got to the next shelter and settled in, put on dry clothes. Some of the guys even got a nice hot fire going. Ahhhh... Made supper of ham and broccoli rice, then baked a blueberry cake. Shared it with Radar, Hepcat and Rocky. Mmmmm.... Time to go to bed. Everybody else is all snuggled into their bags. |
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
April 17th Miles: 14.9 Stayed: Russell Field Shelter As I type this, I'm laying in the shelter next to Radar and Rocky. There's a nice roaring fire going in the stone fireplace. Ahhh, this is the life. It even stopped raining a little while ago. Walking up from Fontana Dam this morning, it started to sprinkle. Then it started to pour. After a while, it started to rain cats and dogs. I breezed by most of the people who started ahead of me. |
Finally caught up to Radar and Hepcat! Jeez, those two are fast. When we got to the first shelter, it was packed. We ate lunch and got warmed up while hoping for a break in the rain. I didn't want to slip back into my wet dress, nor did I want to get my long johns wet in the rain... so when the rain stalled out, I put on my pack and Packa, and stripped off my long underwear from underneath. Then, a conceptual problem ... I couldn't put my dry clothes back in my pack without taking off the whole shebang and flashing everyone. Hepcat was nice enough to carry my clothes in his pack. Got to the next shelter and settled in, put on dry clothes. Some of the guys even got a nice hot fire going. Ahhhh... Made supper of ham and broccoli rice, then baked a blueberry cake. Shared it with Radar, Hepcat and Rocky. Mmmmm.... Time to go to bed. Everybody else is all snuggled into their bags. |
April 18th Miles:14.7 Stayed: Silers Bald Shelter Today was a day of gorgeous views. Everywhere we looked, there was another stunning mountain range. I was so busy enjoying the scenery, I forgot to take a lot of pictures. |
That night Hepcat and Radar borrowed my hideously pink Squeeze Parkay for their suppers. Mom bought it for me as a joke. Ha ha. :-) I had blueberry pancakes with powdered maple sugar. They were delicious, except for the fact that they were kind of on the pink side. I would take real butter any day of the week. That night I got talking with Jeremy, the ridgerunner for this section of the park. We got to talking about trail tools. |
I got really excited about the prospect of doing some trailwork, so he led me over to the toolbox to look at everything. If I maintained some waterbars between Mt. Collins shelter and Newfound Gap, he'd let me borrow a Pulaski for the day. Woohoo! Using a bastard file, I sharpened the Pulaski and practiced clearing out 5 waterbars up the hill from the shelter. I'm sure I made some people nervous while sharpening the axe end :-) |
April 19th Miles: 12.5 Stayed: Cades Cove Campground |
Tonight I'm writing to you from Cades Cove Campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. I'm leaning back on a wooden picnic table, breathing in the heavy accumulated smoke of the surrounding campfires. Campsmokes would be a more appropriate word. It should be a law that you can't start a campfire in a public unless you promise to have more flames then smoke. (cough) (Wheez) (CHOKE) I'm in a sour mood tonight. Things haven't been going as planned. |
When I got to the section I promised to maintain, things started well enough. I'd sling my backpack to the side, hack and scrape the dirt into a nice smooth angled channel, and clear out the ditch. I'd toss my pack back on and continue to the next bar. Further down, the trail deteriorated into solid muck. A Pulaski is great for dry dirt, but for muck you really need a shovel. After fruitlessly trying to clear up a particularly mud ridden gulch, I gave up in exasperation. "Heck with it!" I said to myself. "I'll borrow a shovel tomorrow and come back to clear this section properly." I was just wasting my time with a Pulaski. |
I lashed it back onto my pack and stormed down the trail in a sour mood. I felt defeated and embarassed I hadn't lived up to my word. To top it off, I had run out of water, and it was a hot day. I stumbled across a bubbling spring right alongside of the trail shortly after. While putting my waterbag back into my backpack, Radar and Hepcat rounded the corner. Being around Radar always cheered me up, so I hiked along behind them. We trekked to Newfound Gap, where my mother was waiting. Got a ride into Gatlinburg, which was totally packed for Easter weekend. |
Dropped them both off at the hotel, then went to the Happy Hiker Outfitter store. Looked around...and bumped into Radar and Hepcat. We all went outside to have a polaroid taken. Every thru-hiker who comes in gets to have theirs taken and put on the wall. |
Talked to them for a while, then drove off in search of a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Bought a pint of New York Super Fudge Chunk and practically inhaled it. Went to sleep and dreamed about Food. In between, we climbed up the tower on Clingman's Dome and talked to the tourists. The place was absolutely jam packed with kids! |
Miles: 2.9 Stayed: Icewater Springs Shelter Woke up sometime around 6am and felt like I could hack up a lung. People in surrounding campsites had already started up their campsmokes. The air was thick with pollution. Yick! Mom and I packed up and were out by 7. We drove over to the Cades Cove interpetive drive. Back when the Great Smoky Mountains Park was being formed, the park service bought out the entire |
community of Cades Cove and relocated the people. Nowdays there's a scenic drive that winds through the old community. They have herds of deer and horses that wander through the old farmer fields. Every 20 feet there would be a out of state SUV parked across the middle of the road wile the city slickers inside took roll after roll of film. if those people wat to see some impressive deer, they should come to our house! Our pesty deer are about 100 pounds heavier. Maybe we could charge admission... |
While poking aout Cades Cove we turned down a onre lane road that said it was 8 miles and took an hour to drive. Our kind of road! The drive was drop dead gorgeous. We stopped and took photos of just about every kind of wildflower that grows down here. When we popped back onto a paved road an hour and a half later, we turned left. Ended up in Fontana Dam again, so we stopped by the visitor center and took showers. I managed to get all of the dirt off, even without a scotchbrite pad. |
Took some more interesting roads and ended up back at NOC. Gave candy to a bunch of hikers, and bought a waterproof stuffsack for my food bag. We somehow ended up in Bryson City at a fantabulous chinese buffet. I had 3 1 1/2 plates of yummy food. Mmmmm.... I had been craving chinese for weeks! Came back to Newfound Gap by way of Gatlinburg. What a zoo! It's so wierd that a city like that sprung out of people coming to the Smoky Mountains. "I came for the natural splendor, I stayed for the airbrush tatoos" Drove to Newfound Gap and crammed al of my stuff into my pack. Even managed to fit my 2 person tent in there. If the weather turns snowy or rainy, I'd rather be stuck in my tent then my hammock. When I hiked up, lots of other people had set up tents. I snagged a bunk space since there was room. Had hot chocolate and a corn flake cereal bar for dinner ... I was still full from the buffet earlier. Talked trails with James, another ridge runner. Had great conversations with most of the other people in the shelter. Going to respond to some emails and go to bed. |
April 21st Miles: 20 Stayed: Cosby Knob Shelter Cruised from Icewater springs to Cosby. Felt like walking out to the road, but couldn't get ahold of mom. Decided to stay, even though I pulled in at 4:15. Snagged some Tang from a group of college kids. Ate beef stew, 3 cups of hot cocoa, a chocolate bar, cherry lollipop and 4 cups of the aforementioned Tang for supper. Still hungry. I'd dance for some cocolate covered cookies. Mmmmm... |
April 22nd Miles: 17.8 Stayed: Groundhog Creek Shelter It seemed like only an hour or two passed between closing my eyes to the lights of people playing cards, and opening them to the first strands of daylight. I breakfasted on Rice with cinnamon, walnuts, nutmeg and raisins. Hit the trail at 7:15 and cruised downhill. Rounded a corner to see a man furiously sawing at a huge tree with a tiny hand saw. Thought he was an excaped mental patient until I walked a little closer and saw a lady asride a mule, holding onto his horse. The tree was too tall for them to jump, and too low for them to squeeze under .. hence the gusto with the saw. |
Made it to the road at 10:20. Mom was nowhere in sight, so I sat down to eat a Clif bar and a Payday. While I was standing there trying to figure out if I was in the right spot, a van from Massachussets pulled up. They wanted to know where the heck they were. Shortly after they left, mom came around the bend and picked me up. We drove down to Mountain Momma's for a cheeseburger and some fries. Consumed massive quantities of cookies and pringles while in the van. Had some chocolate milk and Mountain Dew to wash it down. |
After eating a cheeseburger and fries, I organized my gear in the parking lot. Packed up my trail food in a nifty new waterproof stuffsack that Outdoor Research sent me in the mail. Tried out the nifty rainpants, tights, gaiters, and t-shirt that Wild Roses sent. Packed them up, too. When I walked over a river near I-75, I spotted a whole pod of rafters going by. We waved and said hi to each other :-) Hit the trail again at 1:11 and didn't get to the shelter until 5:30. Thought it would be packed and I'd have to sleep on the ground, but no! |
There were only two guys here. What happened to all of the people? Tonight was the night of fancy supper. I sauteed country ham in butter with shallots, garlic and ginger, then steamed down a gallon ziploc's worth of fresh mustard greens and topped it with crumbled con queso, black walnuts, and chopped apples. DROOL!!! Had gingersnaps and hot cocoa for dessert. 4 people showed up between 6:30 and 8pm. Will there be more? I reached the border of the GSMNP at 10:20 today, and suddenly, there's hardly any people. Very odd. |
