Hiking the Good Hike

I'm still behind on my updates. I'm trying to get it caught up but we've been busy walking, eating, sleeping, and just having fun in general. The winter seems to be stubbornly sticking around in the mountains. At the time of this posting we have hiked through snow 8 of our last 9 days. The weather has not been ideal but we are healthy and doing well. As before, we are extremely blessed to have this opportunity regardless of the weather.

Day 17 Russel Field Shelter to Double Spring Gap Shelter - 16.4 miles

We actually slept decently in the shelter last night. The combination of tarp covering, fire, and several warm bodies made for a cozy night. It was chilly, but the sun was shining. The hiking seemed more difficult today but we were doing alright. When we got to Derick Knob Shelter we decided with our friends Kensey and Biscuits & Gravy we would hike all the way to Double Spring Shelter and shoot for Gatlinburg for a quick resupply one day earlier than planned. The hiking seemed slow from here but we made it to Siler's Bald Shelter, the second shelter we would skip today. Trailmovin was there and Blue Moon arrived soon after. They were both worn out and I was unable to talk them into continuing with us. It was kind of sad as they each took photos of us and said goodbye as if we may not hike with them again knowing we would be increasing our daily mileage. We hope we see them again; they are two guys we have really enjoyed the company of the last several days.

The rest of the walk to Double Spring Gap was pretty easy. There were already several people there but they made room for us. It was many of the people we had camped with last night and also some others we had met before but didn't know well. There were some section hikers that left because they said a blizzard was coming. Though it was getting cloudy and the temperature was dropping quickly we got a kick out of that.


Day 18 Double Spring Gap Shelter to Newfound Gap (Gatlinburg) - 10.8 miles

Wow. This morning was cold. We knew it would be our coldest day yet but we were still surprised by the cold. The shelter was considerably warmer than the outside so I was surprised to see my thermometer reading less than ten when I stepped outside into snow. The snow was beautiful but we feared it may effect our chances of making it to town. We planned to hike to Clingman's Dome where we would try to call NOC to attempt to get a shuttle into town. There were now fourteen of us planning to go to town. The hike to Clingman's Dome and the views from it were amazing. We were hiking above the clouds (Clingman's Dome is the highest point on the trail). Someone was able to get a call out to the NOC and they were told the road to Gatlinburg was closed. We had eaten pretty much all of our food planning to resupply in Gatlinburg and now worried we wouldn't be able to make it to town. We had no choice but to hike to the gap and hope the road would reopen by the time we arrive (at least our packs were light). The hiking was treacherous on the snow and ice. Only one person out of our group of fourteen made it without falling.

By the time we got to Newfound Gap there were tourists there so we assumed the road was open but the NOC said it was still closed. We decided to try to hitch into town but fourteen dirty thru hikers is probably overwhelming to innocent tourists; most just looked at us like we were zoo animals. Some gave us a thumbs up in return as if we weren't hitching but just loving the Smokies. Some eventually had success and by the time the shuttle arrived we were down to about 8. We decided due to our late arrival and the weather we would stay the night in Gatlinburg. The shuttle took us straight to the Grand Prix Motel which was a very reasonably priced and hiker friendly place. Once there we saw Jack and Tom who had decided to zero. I thought we wouldn't see them again because of their higher mileage and quicker pace.

After eating first dinner at KFC we rode the trolley (trolley shaped bus) to the grocery store for resupply. After repackaging and sorting our food for the next five days we went to the brewery for second dinner with Nomad, Camaro, Tail Lights, and Man Child. We made it back and went to bed as we planned for a 9:00 shuttle back to the trail.

Day 19 Newfound Gap to Tricorner Knob Shelter - 15.6 miles

We woke up with the sun as is our new normal. We ate our donuts, bananas, and muffins and prepared to get back on the trail. Robbie, Kensey, B&G, and Ben had chosen to zero and tried to talk us into staying but the forecast indicated a couple of decent days followed by some severe weather so we chose to stick to our plan. We were on our way back to the trail with Tom, Jack, Nomad, Camaro, Witchdoctor, Man Child, and Tail Lights shuttled by local trail angels with a neat story to tell. They were very nice.

The first ten miles of the day's hike were beautiful. We walked on steep ridge lines and over rocks and were rewarded with some great views. The trail was still coated in a thick layer of ice so travel was slow. Our last five miles had no views and seemed to last several hours, as we turned each corner we thought for sure we would see the shelter. I wasn't feeling well, likely from not drinking enough. The snow began again as we arrived at the shelter. The whole gang was here, AYCE made it in just before dark filling the shelter. More snow coming tonight but we hope to be out of the Smokies (or very close) by tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Chris