[at-l] 3rd report, Gatlinburg

Tue Jun 23 07:49:42 CDT 2009

Wow, the trail is still magical the third time through. I'm writing from Gatlinburg, the apartment of Appy & Pappy, who I met earlier on this trip. They brought me down from Newfound Gap last evening, got me cleaned up, fed and put to bed. Pappy is 71, Appy is 13, after this summer's hike they will have only NH and Maine left to do. Appy started his section hikes at 6 years old! Pappy is a real trooper, a native Gatlinburger with stories of the old days, that is before it looked like a bit of Las Vegas strip parlors in a row. 

3 days since Fontana Dam, 3 days of very rough weather with about 5 inches of rain in the mountains, 3 inches down here in town. Everyone was wet & cold, 19 of us crammed into Derrick Knob shelter, making it work. We all got along. But it took it's toll and several groups have abandoned their planned hikes, mostly those who wanted to do the Smokies in 6/7 days. Many of them were father & son teams, out for the Father's Day weekend & more. 

Did you know this year Naked Hike Day was also Father's Day? I called it "Fathers Hiking Naked Day", occurs every 7 or is it 6 years? 

NOC was great fun this time 'round, took a day to ride a solo ducky (inflatable kayak) and thought I did well - that is up until the class III rapid at the end. I panicked, forgot to paddle & went under, ass over teakettle. Managed to save my eyeglasses but lost the AT hat, someone later retrieved my nalgene. So, with wounded pride I bought an NOC hat as souvenir. 

Silers shelter (the one just N of Franklin about 1/2 mile from the AT) has a bear that just won't learn. 3 of us kept tossing pebbles & shouting "bad bear" for the best part of 3 hours one night. The bear cables there are torn down. We picked a high tree limb and slung foodlines, that seemed to confuse this little, 1-year old we called Buster. Lit a fire and watched the stars til we figured Buster had gone to bed. Next morning at 7 Buster is sitting in the kitchen area waiting for breakfast! 

Found a man's wedding ring at a campsite on the trail, first thing of value that I've found I think. I'll have to advertise it somewhere, maybe find the man. Why he'd take off his ring is another question. Maybe Felix has some theories? 

In all, after 20 days & 200 miles I'm doing fine, feeling solid on the trail now. The rain is a drag and I think I've been wet for 10 of those days, a poor ratio for the time of year. At least it's not cold so hypothermia isn't a factor. In Hot Springs I expect to send my sleeping bag home, switch to a blanket, all the little things with the change of conditions out here. I think I'll be stopping in Erwin for resupply, anyone know the best place to stay for the evening? I missed seeing Ms. Janet in Franklin and no one there seems to know where she went, I'm guessing Erwin area, her home base. Maybe Johnnie's is the only option right now. 

That's it I guess, I'm looking forward to Kincora as well, but I think Bob Peoples will still be in Spain then. We'll see. --RockDancer 
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