We wake early, with sunrise. Two other hikers came in last night around bedtime, and one of them is also up. The weather is hazy and drizzly, with intermittent rain forecast throughout the day. We pack quickly and stick together as we leave, a little hesitant to spread out after the confusion of the last two days.
Today we will hike Clingman's Dome, a halfway point of the park, and Clingman's Dome is less than five miles away! At an elevation of 6,643 feet, the mountain is THE highest point along the entire Appalachian Trail, not to mention the highest point in Smoky Mountain National Park, AND the highest point in Tennessee!! We have been able to view these mountains for most of the trip since we left NOC. After we crest this mountain, we only have a couple days' hiking to get through the park!
We are soaking wet, our gear is soddened, and things are starting to smell from two days of damp. One would imagine the rain washes away dirt, however the mud from the trail makes dirt stick to everything! I always feel so gross once the rain starts, and the feeling doesn't go away until we can wash up and lay things out in the sun to dry out. However, the prospect of hitting a landmark achievement of the trail makes us light in our steps and a little giddy! This is an emotional and psychological milestone for most hikers, and definitely for me!
I am finally feeling exhilarated instead of tired. I feel good and my legs are starting to feel powerful instead of like lead weights. My pack is riding easier on my back. We have been living between 4 and 5,000 feet for the last two weeks, and the miles are starting to go by easily instead of feeling like painful drudgery. Maybe it's the effects of shucking off the stress of the last two days, but maybe it's because I am finally having fun than pain out here because I don't feel like I'm fighting against the trail!
GG and I make our way northeast over fairly level ground towards Double Spring Gap Shelter, an easy 1.7 miles to start our day. Along the way, we discuss our plan. We will crest Clingman's today, and stay three miles north at Mt Collins shelter tonight, making today an easy 7 miles with 2100' climb! Tomorrow, we need to meet Kelly to pick up our food at Newfound Gap, which is five miles from the shelter. We can get our food and hang out with Kelly, then continue north.
The sun is starting to poke out and the haze is burning off. I would love to check the weather, as well as check in with family, but we've had hardly any cell service since leaving Mollie's Ridge two days ago. I know we will have service at Newfound Gap, so I occasionally turn off airplane mode along the way. No point in burning my phone battery searching for a signal.
We take our off packs for a quick bathroom break and to shed some layers once we arrive at Double Spring Gap Shelter, and I'm pleased to see we have a signal! I call Kelly to check in. She is pleased to hear from us and informs me that Gordon has already called her to arrange a meeting this afternoon. Wait! What?!
"But I thought you were visiting a friend like five hours away?" I ask.
She said Gordon called to say he was going to get to the meeting spot today and he was running out of food, so he needed to meet her today. She was on her way and should be at Newfound this afternoon. I am panicking, because we are 11 miles away from Newfound Gap. We are hiking faster, but 11 miles at this altitude will still take us a long time. Additionally, we were psyched for a lower mileage day.
I break the bad news to GG, and we resign ourselves to a faster hike. This may be a shock to a lot of other hikers, but with climbs, rocky spots, and pit stops to water the leaves and snack breaks, we average around 1.5 miles per hour. Granted, we tend to meander down the trail and enjoy the experience more than hustle. If we really step up our pace, and take limited breaks, maybe we can make it around 2 pm. Of course, that's if the rain holds off. Thankfully, the clouds are starting to break up even more, and we get occasionally bursts of sunlight.
We pick up our pace as we climb the next three miles toward Clingman's Dome. The vistas are starting to open up and the day is really starting to warm. We hike in and out of stands of Fraser firs to patches of wildflowers and grasses and catch a gorgeous panorama of layers of mountain ridges stretching to the south as far as we can see.
As we near the top, we can hear the rumble of motorcycle and car engines long before the trail traverses the edge of the parking lot and a pedestrian walkway up to the lookout tower. I visited Clingman's before, so I knew what to expect. I prepared GG for the crowd of people we were most likely going to see at the top. The lookout on top of Clingman's is a very popular tourist spot, with the busy vacation town of Gatlinburg, TN less than an hour away. The day was starting to turn into a beauty, with the sky now partly sunny, which means more tourists will be itching to get outside after the last two days of rain. Plus, it's a weekend, which adds to the impact.
We round a bend and see the huge winding cement walkway and observation deck. There are people everywhere! We walk up the circular walkway towards the top. Under the cover of the deck, people are shuffling around the circle, packed in cheek by jowl. We are trying to get a couple of pictures of the vistas, as well as check out the signs which tell us the direction and names of distant peaks.
I look up to see a lady wrinkling her nose and pointing at GG. All of a sudden, I realize why. We must smell awful! We hiked four days from our last town, and five days since we last showered. Our clothes have been worn since we left, and we have been sweating like crazy on all the uphill climbs. We are definitely nose blind to our odors, and to all of these very clean tourists we must REEK! We take a couple more pics and head down the ramp to keep the tourists from puking.
At the bottom is a large patio with walls that are perfect to lounge on while we snack and look at the map and soak up the sunshine. We meet another backpacker who just left town, and we chit chat for a while about trail life. Many tourists approach us and ask lots of questions about backpacking and living out of our pack. We always enjoy discussing trail life with other people. When we finish eating, we shoulder our packs and head down the trail.
The trail is literally "down," as we have to head downhill toward Newfound Gap. We still have 7.8 miles to the Gap, and while the trail is mostly down and not up, it's not an easy hike. The woods are typical of a high elevation - lots of firs and pines, with moss covering the forest floor. The soil is thin, so we have to watch carefully for roots and rocks in our path.
After three miles of trucking downhill (and up 570'), we come to a blue blazed side trail leading to the Mt. Collins shelter. This is where we originally planned to stay tonight. We drop our packs on the trail for a quick pit stop, think about how easy our day could have been, then continue down toward the gap. The trail parallels the auto road most of the trip, and we can hear engines gunning on the road.
We descend the 2700 feet and arrive to Newfound Gap mid-afternoon, greeted with a horde of cars, motorcycles, and people. The noise is deafening after being in the woods for days. We quickly spot the group of hikers spread about the grassy area of the parking lot, packs littering the ground. Gordon is there, as is several other hikers enjoying a well-deserved break and some trail magic courtesy of Kelly. She brought us Subway sandwiches, bags of chips, and soda!! A sub has never tasted so good, IMHO. We take off our shoes and lounge in the camp chairs that Kelly brought.
Unfortunately, our trail angel wasn't present. Gordon explains that she ran a hiker into town. Apparently, the hiker tried to do a section hike starting in the park. He picked one hell of a place to learn to backpack. He quickly decided to toss in the towel and go home, so needed a ride to nearby Gatlinburg.
We share our trail stories with the other hikers. Today has been full of so many accomplishments. We have hiked almost 10% of the total Appalachian Trail. We have made it to the top of the highest spot on the trail. We are almost done with the Smokies, and the requirement of sleeping in the shelters. There is talk about upcoming shelters and hostels. The next shelter is only 3 miles away, and most of the hikers are going there tonight. GG and I are really tired from the extra miles and energy today, but we are a day ahead as a result.
I started to get the idea to go into town. After all, Gatlinburg is fairly close. If we go into town and get a hotel room, we could shower and wash our clothes. The only problem is that it's Friday and the weather turned beautiful, and Gatlinburg is super crowded and expensive. II mention it to GG and she is cool with it. We decide if Kelly is okay with taking us and spending the night, we will do it. If she doesn't want to come with us, we will take it as a sign and continue on the trail. We have plenty of food now, so it's a lot of trouble and expense for a hot shower, clean clothes, and a nice comfy bed. But I want it so bad, that I offer to pay for the room for the three of us.
Kelly returns and agrees to the idea! Yay!! I book an overpriced room in a nice hotel that doesn't have laundry facilities, and we are off to town. We say goodbye to Gordon and try to stuff ourselves and our packs into Kelly's already overstuffed car.
An hour later, we are checked into a nice king suite with a pull-out sofa and a nice view of the Little Pigeon River. GG and I quickly take showers and explode our packs all over the room. Wet backpacking gear is covering the dining table, floor, and balcony. We find a laundromat and have dinner at the Alamo Steakhouse while the clothes are washing. We get back to the hotel around 10pm and go straight to bed. Good night!
Today's stats: 12 miles; 2720' elevation gain
Trip stats: 139 miles; 35k elevation gain
Trail stats: 208 miles, 52k elevation gain
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