Days 26-30

Our first day out this week was a short one, but don’t think we didn’t have a tough hike. We started on Thursday morning by getting a shuttle from The Lodge at Fontana Village back down to Fontana Dam. Needless to say, when you start at water level, about the only way to go is up. We had a 6-mile, 2,o00 foot climb to our campsite at Birch Spring Gap. The first mile or so was across the dam and up a roadway where the trail broke off and we entered the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Just a few feet up the trail there is a box where thru-hikers are supposed to drop one part of their permit before entering the park. As we were doing that, we met a ranger who told us the weather would be so-so for the day. He was right. Part of the day was nice, but once we started climbing, we began to experience sleet and freezing rain. It wasn’t enough to be annoying, but it was one of our first experiences in dealing with frozen precipitation. I suppose the greatest disappointment of the day was not taking the 0.1 mile side trail to the fire tower at Shuckstack. Ordinarily, we would have certainly done it, but by the time we got up there, the weather had us pretty much completely socked in so there would have been no views to warrant the side trip.

After an arduous 6-mile uphill trek, we arrived at Birch Spring Gap campsite. I am thankful that Travis noticed it in the guidebook, because our original plan had us going 11+ miles to Mollie’s Ridge Shelter. That would have made for a very long day. It turns out that Gavin and I were a significant majority in the campsite. Travis, of course, is from Canada. The gentleman staying right beside us hailed from Ireland, and across the valley were two guys from Isle of Man. If nothing else, Gavin has had more exposure to folks from other countries than he would have ever experienced in our small hometown.

After pitching our tents, Gavin went to the campfire ring to start a fire. I was really proud of him. He was able to find some poplar bark which he worked into tinder, and we had plenty of twigs that were dry enough to catch. Though the poplar bark was a little damp, once he got some spark into it, he was able to blow it into enough flame to light the kindling. Before long, he had a roaring fire going to keep us warm. That chore complete, we began our cooking process. It isn’t much of a process. Dump a package of Knor Pasta/Rice into a pot, put in a little water, boil it, and wait. At the precise moment when I was sure the pasta had soaked enough to be edible, a sleet storm set in. Within just a few minutes, there was enough sleet to whiten the ground and put out our cozy fire. We quickly finished our supper and retreated to our tents. Thanks be, the storm didn’t last too long. We were able to knock the sleet off our tents and Gavin went around the campsite collecting it to make little snowmen. They really were quite cute. He made sure to take one across the valley to Travis, and offered to make them for other campers. The ability to be creative probably saved the day for Gavin because the unexpected frozen weather caught him a bit off guard.

One of the things I really enjoy is the solitude of my tent. Mostly, I suppose, because I can get all my stuff spread out so that I don’t have to search around for things— everything has its spot. First, I toss in my sitting pad so my tush doesn’t get cold sitting on the ground. Next step, blow up the sleeping pad and get it situated diagonally in the tent so neither my head nor feet are touching a wall. On top of that goes my sleeping bag, opened. If it is cold, I’ll also get my sleeping bag liner in place. My pillow gets blown up (3 breaths, I’ve counted) and tucked into the hood of my bag. From there, I can lay back, swap my hiking pants and shirt for wool long underwear, and switch my hiking socks to camp socks. The damp, smelly hiking socks, and sometimes my hiking shirt, get hung up to dry on a line stretching across the inside roof of my tent. Eventually my pants and shirt get stuffed into the bottom of my sleeping bag so they are warm the next morning when I go to put them on. All my extra stuff, clothing bag, electronics bag, meds, and such all get tucked away in the top corner of the tent so they are out of the way of the door, but easily in reach from my sleeping space. I haven’t quite worked out the etiquette of changing clothing in a shelter when there are women present, so for the time being, I am appreciative of my tent for such purposes. It is also a bit less smelly than changing in a privy (if one is even available).

So it was on Thursday night. I was snug in my tent, and even though the temperature was below freezing, I slept warmly in my cocoon-like sleeping bag. When I woke, my high/low thermometer indicated that the temperature only got down to the high 20’s overnight.

Friday wasn’t a terrifically tough day of hiking, but for whatever reason, I just wasn’t “feeling it” that day. We completed an 8.5 mile trip, mostly uphill, to the Russell Field Shelter. In looking back at my photos, it doesn’t seem that there was anything much remarkable about the day’s trip. I do remember that we stopped at Mollie’s Ridge Shelter for lunch and met a few hikers we have seen before, and that I just wasn’t as into hiking this day as I usually am. We stayed the night at Russell Field shelter.

Russell Field Shelter was our first shelter in the Smokies. It was constructed in almost the same manner as was the one we stayed in on our December training hike. Rock walls, two sleeping levels, fire place in the front corner, and a tarp spread across the front to keep the wind out. It was packed. By the time we got there, the only spaces left were on the top level. There is a small ladder in the center that gets you up there, but if you’re off to one side of it, getting down in the middle of the night for whatever reason is quite a long step down to the platform below. Thankfully, I was able to sleep through the night.

Shelters are different from tenting in that I don’t feel good about taking up too much space. Also, you’re sleeping within a foot or two of someone you dohn’t know, and I am often conscientious of taking up too much room and snoring. And there is the whole changing clothes thing. Though I slept well enough, most of us older hikers would much prefer to set up our tents and leave the shelter life to the younger crowd.

You might be wondering why I chose to stay in the shelter at Russell Field instead of putting up my tent. It wasn’t really a choice. In the Smokies, you are not allowed to tent at shelter areas unless there is no room in the shelter. You must also stay at a designated shelter area or campsite. It was kind of funny when we arrived to see all the folks outside counting heads hoping the shelter would fill up so they could legally pitch their tents.

One benefit of staying in a shelter is not having to pack up your tent in the morning. That time saved gets you hiking a bit earlier in the day. Throughout my trip, I have been setting an 8:00 alarm and religiously hitting the snooze button for 45 minutes to an hour. When you’re in the shelter, you start hearing all the folks moving around pretty early. Some hikers are adamant about getting up with the sun and hiking out at daybreak so they can get their miles in. I’m certainly not there yet. I have noticed this week, though, that I am beginning to wake up without my alarm going off. Maybe that means I’m becoming acclimated to a hiker’s lifestyle.

Saturday was one of our best days of hiking yet. Because we sheltered, we were out somewhat earlier than usual and we had great weather. Though we had some tough climbs, most of the hiking was not too difficult. The highlight of the day was reaching the peaks of Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mtns. I tried to sing the song, but the view was simply breathtaking. We had perfectly clear, blue sky and we could see in all directions. We also had more views from the trail than we have had in any other section of our trip. I wish I could tell you more about this day, but the views were simply indescribable. You’ll have to check out the video when it comes out.

We covered 9 miles on Saturday, one of our best days yet. We are beginning to feel like we can and should be doing more miles each day. We are getting stronger, though the uphill climbs still tax me. I have made a pretty good go of following another hiker’s advice: never walk faster than you can without having to stop. Sometimes this means a heel-toe slog, but as long as we’re not having to step over rocks or water bars, I can usually get into a slow, steady rhythm with my hiking poles and continue moving forward.

We stopped at Derrick Knob Shelter on Saturday. This will remain a memorable stay for several reasons. First, it was sunny and clear when we arrived, and there were tons of folks just laid out in the grass in front of the shelter eating, stretching, or just snoozing a bit after a hard day. Come to find out, many of those folks were counting heads, waiting on the shelter to fill up so they could tent. The shelter never filled to capacity, but several of them tented anyway.

The other memorable part of this day is two-fold. First, I passed a hiker while going uphill AND I stayed in front of him. Second, was the snoring of that hiker in the shelter that evening. Though I was able to get to sleep, and when I do, not much will wake me, it was a challenge that night. The man who was “sleeping” beside me eventually got up and set up his tent in the dark to escape the noise. Though I slept through the snoring, I did toss and turn quite a bit in the night. When I woke up, my sleeping pad was cockeyed to the way I put it down earlier.

Our longest day of hiking to date was on Sunday. Originally, we had planned to hike only six miles to another shelter, but knowing that Clingman’s Dome was within our reach, and that it would likely be raining on Monday, we decided to push out 13 miles to Mt. Collins Shelter. This was without a doubt the prettiest section of trail so far. Much of the trip was through a coniferous forest with spruce and fir trees. The forest bed was green with moss and ferns. When the wind blew, it smelled like Christmas. There was one part along the trail where I just stopped and cried as I took in the beauty of God’s creation. I don’t think I will ever forget the terrain we traversed that day.

We made it to Clingman’s Dome which is the highest peak on the whole Appalachian Trail. Clingman’s Dome also happens to be the 200-mile mark for NOBO hikers. Though our views weren’t perfect, from the viewing platform we could see quite a ways nonetheless.

The trip down from Clingman’s Dome was challenging at times. Though we had come up through spots where the trail and ground nearby was snow-covered in parts, much of the trip down was over packed snow and some ice. Thankfully, the temperature was warm enough that the frozen stuff on the trail was mostly slush and we could traverse it without slipping. Mt. Collins Shelter was about 0.5 mile off the trail and it was without a doubt the busiest shelter area we have come across yet. Filled to its capacity of 12-15 folks, there were as many tents set up in the area around the shelter. Gavin and I found a couple of flat spots under the spruce trees to set up. Needless to say, after a 13+ mile day, we slept very soundly.

That brings us up to today. We slept in a little bit because of our long day yesterday and because we had a short day today. From the shelter it was just five miles to Newfound Gap, on the TN/NC border. Travis got out ahead of us, as is usual, and Gavin and I hiked together. This week we have been hiking with me in front, so that I can hike my own pace, but every so often I will stop and let Gavin catch up, or at least get within sight. With my longer legs, I have a tendency to walk up on top of him when he is in front, so this new hiking order seems to be working well for both of us. Neither of us had a wonderful breakfast so we didn’t feel our best, but we covered the five miles in just over two hours, our fastest pace yet. It is good to have learned this week that we can hike longer distances and that we are getting faster.

There is a saying that “The trail provides.” This was especially true today. When I reached the parking lot at Newfound Gap, a guy in the first truck I passed offered me a Gatorade. A lady in the second car I passed said, “Do you need a free ride to Gatlinburg?” She dropped us at the NOC, an outfitter here and we started looking for a hotel room for the next two nights. We called one place which caters to hikers that was listed in our trail guide, but they only had rooms for one night. We asked around and some other hikers we met were staying at the Motel 6. When we called, the rooms were reasonable so we walked a few blocks over. The deal-breaker was, they had no laundry facilities. On the way back downhill we stopped in the next “hiker-looking” motel, only to learn that they only rent by the week. On a lark, we stopped at the Sure Stay Plus by Best Western. This hotel is usually $200+/night, but we got the hiker rate of $50/night and the desk clerk told us that there was a laundry room at the dive of a place we just left. To top that off, Texas Roadhouse was only two blocks away. Steak and ribs, loaded baked potato, salad with blue cheese, and a tall, cold drink, please. Today has really been an awesome day, especially since nobody at the week-at-the-time place stole our clothes. Oh, and to top it off, one of the residents gave us her last cup of laundry detergent. It has truly been a good last few days, but today has been the cherry on top!

We haven’t looked ahead much to the remainder of the week, but I expect it will involve hiking, and probably uphill. The northern end of the GSMNP is at mile 238, Davenport Gap. If we keep our pace of the last couple of days, we should be able to do that in 3 1/2 days or so. I’m not sure if that is our next resupply or not, but we’ll check back in when we have WiFi. As always, we really appreciate you for following our blog. Thanks for your comments and remember to just keep taking the Next Step.