Good Riddance Smokies!

Don't get me wrong... the park is beautiful. However, the 20 dollar fee for Thru Hikers and the no tenting rule or fines irks me and many of the other hikers. Therefore, I made it through in 4.5 days.

An interesting day was when Hump, Banjo, Tinker Bell, Roadkill, Nibz, and a guy named Bear woke up at 1am (morning after the bad rain) and decided to hike to Clingmans Dome to catch the sunrise. Hump asked me if I wanted to but I said, "No, but I'll catch up to y'all". I don't mind rain or darkness but I'm not a big fan of them at the same time because it just increases the chance of getting hurt. Turns out (per the hiker buzz) that they supposedly didn't make it in time for the sunrise. I'm guessing the temp dropping below freezing (Rain, Dark, Freezing) didn't help them.

So... in my effort to catch them I smoked the tires all the way to the Clingmans Dome from Derrick Knob Shelter. Of course, the mountain I thought was the dome turned out to be the one before it ... tricky McTrickster Appalachian Trail! When I finally got to the real dome I saw no sign of anyone. So I walked half a mile down the pavement to find some water, snacks, and a bathroom. Well, I found all of that and a nap! I also realized that I could refill my tiny Purell bottle with the wall hand sanitizer while popping a squat in the bathroom... hiker ingenuity. As I walked the half mile back up the pavement to the dome a lady with her kids gave me a compliment, "You know.. you're the cleanest looking Thru Hiker I've seen." My response, "Baby wipe skills!"

After making it back to the top I lounged around for another hour (total of two so far) at which point Special K and her father showed up. She is 50 years old and her father is 76 and they are thru hiking together. Both of them are good hikers (13 miles a day) which is amazing when you account for their age. They ended up leaving the dome before me in order to get to Mt Collins Shelter about 3 miles away.

During my two hours at the dome I was trying to figure out if Hump and everyone else went into town or went the distance (10 miles) to Icewater Spring Shelter. I assumed they went the extra 10 miles. Therefore, I did the same for a total of 21 miles that day (22 if you count my half miles at the dome). I show up at the shelter around 9pm (a little night hiking) only to find out from Cobalt that supposedly they went into Gatlinburg (later confirmed via txt message).

Since, my previous day was ridiculous mileage in the Smokies I decided to sleep in until 11am and just do 13 miles to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter. I definitely slow poked it that day. I think I rolled into camp around 5'ish? I ate and went straight to bed (2nd time shelter sleeping). I wanted to get up early so I could get to Standing Bear Farm. And that's exactly what I did along with a hiker named Pressure D (50 years old? Awesome hiker). We booked it 19 miles in 7 hours and found some of the last available bunk space at Standing Bear Farm. I'd say there are at least 30-50 hikers here. The best part of the day was when Hardtack (bumped into him on the way out of the Smokies - had met him a week ago before the NOC) and I split a Dijornos pizza. It was the best pizza I've ever had for the 45 seconds it existed on my plate. After that I had two Pepsi's, 3 Powerades, a Big Texas Cinnamon Roll, and a large bag of chips (the farm has a good selection of food).

So... here I am finishing this blog, listening to the rain outside, and planning for Hot Springs in a few days.

One more thing... I don't proof read this blog. Usually to tired and its difficult on a phone.