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The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Day1: 4/20/2012  Leaving Fontana Dam

 I made good time getting up to my intended shelter, in the Smokies you must camp in shelters since tent camping is prohibited for Thru-hikers. Half-way though my day I saw a bear and her cub. Staying for the night at russell field shelter.

Day 2: It was a rainy tough hike to Derrick Knob Shelter. No pictures because the fog was thick and it was rainy, I just wasn't in a good mood so I rushed to the shelter mainly because my rain coat was defective. I did see a doe when I got to camp.

deer is on the right side of photo

Day 3: Very cold and windy hike to Double Spring Gap Shelter. Notes from my journal say " only a 7 mile hike but i'm stopping here for the night. hopefully this rainy weather breakes and i can get some good pictures from Clingman's Dome tomorrow"

Day 4 (part 1): Very windy night, I woke up to this sight.

Double Spring Gap Shelter April 23, 2012

 Snow and Howling winds and less visibility than the night before. The thermometer someone had said 25 degrees in the shelter. We had put up tarps to block the wind the night before, this was after we took them down.

I decided to make a run for Gatlingburg, since some of  my clothes were still wet from the rain and the storm only seemed to be getting worse. This was a sample of what the trail looked like that day.

 I was wearing every piece of clothing I owned when I took this photo. Even though my base layer was damp, I was still warm. Thank God for wool and thank you Mom for the Christmas presents. I took this photo because I had to stop for water. My water tube had frozen and I needed to get my nalgene bottle out of my pack to drink. The 2 minutes I stopped for water induced shaking from the cold.

NewFound gap where I was able to get a ride into the Gat. I left the shelter at 8:30 in the morning, this photo was 11 miles later at 11:30 the same morning.











Day 4 (part 2): I escaped into Gatlingburg, it was interesting, much warmer...shorts and T-shirts warm. That was a big change from the mountains. Also the town seemed a bit absurd picture below was just humorous. Walking down mainstreet was like walking down the midway of a carnival. Junk vendor stores, funnel cake and corn dog restaurants, some carnival games and even several building owned by Ripleys Believe it or Not. The whole town was just overboard and reminded me of a Carnival scene. I found out the overnight low in the park was 0 F, I was glad to be in town.

Day 5: I headed back up the mountains, they were still cold but I was dry and clean. With that dangerous variable under control I was confident I could handle the weather, I am from New England after all. The Floridians, Georgians, and Carolinans continued to cower indoors as I laughed my way up the hill. Stayed at TriCorner Knob Shelter. It was still cold and snowing but the 12 person capacity shelter sported tarps, a fireplace and 22 hikers inside the shelter that night...All was well.

Day 6: Still rain/snow in the morning, no wind thank God. I hiked to Davenport Gap Shelter, a mere 1 mile from the end of the park. The weather improved as the elevation got lower and I was back in shorts and T-shirt by the end of the day and still sweating.

Davenport Gap Shelter is the last shelter in the Park to still sport a bear cage. Someone referred to it as a reverse zoo, people in the cage with wild animals outside it.

20 minutes on the Trail on 4/26/12 and I was out of the Park. I was never more happy to be out of the Smokies and have all that horrible weather behind me.

40 Minutes on the Trail on 4/26/12 and it promptly began to Downpour, Hail, Thunder, and Lightning

Hot Springs, NC

I've spent the last couple days in Hot Springs, NC. First waiting for a replacement rain jacket (mine was defective and was absorbing water instead of repelling it). Then waiting for friends to catch up. Last night they did catch up and I figured I'd tell you all about the town since I've been here so long.

 Town is very small, but very hiker friendly. Almost every store in town will hold packages for hikers so we can get our resupplies from home. Taken from just after the bridge you can almost see the end of town in this picture.









The French Broad river goes directly through town, as a result, several hikers have taken some Dollar General pool floats and some beer down the river to get out of the heat. Beer is very popular in town with hikers, lots of calories and long periods of exercise with no beer makes us all lightweights.

This is the most recent picture of me, taken this morning. I'm growing a beard, but it's only 1 month so it is not that long. I was camping at the edge of town, but tonight I sleep in a bed!

Hot Springs is a designated trail community, and we walk directly through town so the sidewalk has these AT markers set into it. So no white blazes in town.

Unusual Sights on the Trail

Some things that are normal on the Trail are a little weird for normal  society. These pictures can illustrate some of this sentiment.

 Thru-Hikers hanging out in a parking lot with strange amounts of clothing on (too little) because all their other clothes are being washed and gear spread out on the ground to dry. Also, drinking Beer at 10:30 in the morning BECAUSE it has 200 calories a bottle (and we don't have to hike anywhere). Also Below, is EVERYTHING Pesky and I own. All our gear was damp from rain so we laid it out in the sun to dry while we waited for GtutenPuff.

 Trail Magic!!! People set up along the trail and give hikers free food. These people are called trail angels. Above and Below was a foggy rainy day at Indian Grave Gap, where Moo and Gordo, our angels, set up camp for a week with a 10ft trailer of food feeding hikers.

 Not all Lady Vols fans are bad. As a UConn Alum and coming from a Lady Huskies family, I cringe to say that, but they gave me free food, so you understand.

I spent Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Ham, on the Bone, candied yams, and creamed corn), and Breakfast hanging with these guys. Thanks for all the food! I was not going to make hotsprings for my maildrop, the Post Office closed at 10:30 on Sat.

 After dessert we even had a little musical performance, from Bueller, he carries a button box accordion in his front pack. He and I hiked together from Browns gap, (the above trail magic) into Hot Springs, N.C.

 o

Early on Pictures

 So I just got my camera cable in my mail drop here in Hot Springs, N.C. (274 AT miles) so I uploaded some photos. Above is the plaque at the summit of Springer Mountain, the start of the AT (an 8.8 mile hike from Amicalola Falls State Park). Below is me with above plaque (picture taken by GlutenPuff(Lindy), this is how we met).

 THE VERY FIRST WHITE BLAZE, it seemed more important at the time. Now I see them 100 time a day.

Clockwise: Glutenpuff, PeskyBeaver, Daniel

Day 2 planning season. Back when we thought our planning actually mattered or worked, at all.