It's all downhill from here...

Day 15 - 4/25/10
Really it's not, but I did summit the highest point of the AT
(clingman's dome) so in a way it kind of is.

There were a couple things I forgot to mention in yesterdays post. One
was about that last 1.7 miles on the windy ridgeline. It was so smoky
and foggy that you couldn't see more than 5 ft on either side of you.
That whole last stretch looked like it dropped off into an abyss on
both sides. It was neat. The other thing I forgot to mention was that
Marcus gave me a clove of garlic and I cut it up into pieces and put
it in my rice/tuna/bacon bits medley. It made that meal, so much so
that I'm going to start buying garlic when I can for future dinners.

Anyway, it was an interesting night after everyone went to bed. I was
actually pretty warm considering how wet I had gotten, so I fell
asleep fast. Sometime in the middle of the night I was woken up by
pouring rain and bright flashes in the sky. I was on the second level,
and this shelter had clear plastic roofing that acted as a skylight,
so I could see all the lighting. I can't remember how much there was,
I just know it was a lot and I was counting after each flash to check
the distance. I was a little paranoid because in 1980 two hikers died
at that shelter after being struck by lightning. Of all the nights I
had to stay there! Thinking about that plus doing the counting game
kept me up for quite a while. But I did manage to get some sleep.

Hotfoot, firefox, Marcus, and I all got up at 6 because we knew we
wanted to get into Gatlinburg, and there's a free shuttle in at 8:30,
12:30, and 4:30 provided by the NOC, who just opened a new outfitter
store there this year. We were aiming for the 12:30 and therefore had
to get up early. We were out by 7 and made it to Clingman's dome
around 9. Unfortunately it was still smoky skies from all the rain the
night before so we couldn't see anything. I'll just have to go back
some day to see what I missed. It was a pleasant hike to Newfound Gap,
the place where the shuttle gets you, nothing to strenuous. One thing
I did notice a lot alongside the trail were these 10 ft. tall walls of
dirt and rock and roots formed out of fallen trees. The tangled roots
ensnare lots of rocks and sediment, and even though they fall over it
all stays intact, making it look like a tall earthen wall. I tried to
snap some pics to show later, but they don't really do it justice. I
don't think my explanation does either.

When I pulled up out of the ridge into newfound gap I was shocked how
many people were up there. At least 100. Bikers, tourists, hikers,
etc. Way more than I'd imagined. I also got my first taste of trail
magic there. This guy named Jason who thru hiked a few years back had
set up a small card table and had all sorts of goodies on it for us
weary hikers. PB and jelly, bread, soda, chips, cookies, apples,
bananas, and cookie dough! I pigged out, esp. on the cookie dough. I
had run out of food earlier that morning so I was really hungry,
having only eaten a snickers and a Danish for 11 miles worth of hiking.

Soon the shuttle showed up and us 4 went down to Gatlingburg. Not as
wierd as I thought it'd be, but I only saw the edge of town, I didn't
go down the whole strip. I took a FREE shower at the NOC, bought my
resupply at a small store across the street, and then went out for
pizza with the other 3. We went to this place called The Best Italian,
and started with these awesome garlic Parmesan rolls. I had a
pepperoni pizza as well. I ate half then took the rest with me to have
for dinner up on the mountain because I wasn't going to stay in town.
Marcus and I said goodbye to hotfoot and firefox, and then we hitched
back up to newfound gap. I got a ride with a guy named Bill from S.
Carolina. He was really cool and we talked all about the Smokies on
the way back up the mountains. We actually had to stop for a traffic
jam because a bear was down this hill off the road and everyone was
stopping to snap pictures of it.

Bill dropped me off, and as I was prepping to head back on the trail
at least 3 or 4 different couples stopped and asked me where I was
going. When I said Maine they were all super impressed. It was fun
fielding all the questions and it made me feel like a rock star. Some
just couldn't believe I had come from Springer. I did another 3 miles
to icewater spring shelter, and it was packed when I got here.
Absolutely no room in the shelter. Marcus and I had to set up our
tents up a hill, which honestly I don't really mind. I had my pizza,
went down and hung by the fire a bit, and signed the shelter journal.
I'm about to go to bed now, I'm trying for 20+ tomorrow so I need my
rest. What a day. I couldn't ask for a better one.

P.s. If anyone wants to send me some
Nutella and several packs of those starbucks via instant coffee mixes
(not decaf!) in a care package that would rock. I've heard nutella is
like gold out here on the trail and those SB via packs i've had before
and really like. I miss drinking coffee.

Total miles: 207.7