April 14-15 in the Smokies

April 14, 2005 | Day 18 | Miles: 13.5 | Total Miles: 176.4
End: Russell Field Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and cool
A beautiful sunny day to start our trip through the Smokies. Blue skies. Yeah! From here on out we meander along the NC/TN border for many miles, so we'll be stepping in and out as we wander along.
Our first 0.4m was over Fontana Dam, which was really pretty crazy. It is a big dam. The way across was a two-way road, and really quiet on a Thursday morning. Then up and along, wandering through the woods. The hiking was up and down but much more mellow than previous terrain, which was great. After lunch, we came across this great high hill where the whole forest floor was blanketed with wood sorrel, a delicate small white flower with pink stripes. A beautiful covering of green with tinted white on top. Almost like snow. And it went on for about a half mile all through the woods on both sides of the trail. Never seen anything like it. Very cool.
So, the Smokies are different than a lot of the places we've been so far in that you must stay in a shelter, due to their regulations. And some of the shelters have been renovated, but others, like we're at tonight, were built in the 60s and have a chainlink fence blocking off the open side of the three-sided shelter. Keeping the people in, and bears out is the theory behind the fence, I believe. The renovated shelters have done away with the fences however, which is nice, and have more space as well as a covered cooking area. This shelter is a bit dank, but they require you to stay in the shelter unless the shelter is full. We're shooting for a renovated shelter tomorrow :-)
Despite the beautiful day, the emotions were running a bit in the other direction this morning. It's really hard to watch the person you love be hurting. Ryan's shoulder is still hurting him, and it kills me to see him wincing as we hike along. I mean, we knew there would be aches and pains but the thing is to be happy out here. When do you cross the line between following your desires and hurting your body to continue? Ryan really wants to keep going, and of course I do too, and we're having a blast, but the thing is to be happy and be together, and not be hurt. So there has been some discussions as well as some tears, and for now we're continuing on with this crazy adventure, but really I'd rather be without the crazy adventure and with a happy, healthy Ryan, than without Ryan on this crazy adventure. The whole point is to be out here together enjoying it. Ryan is trying to manage the pain, and seems to be OK for now, so we'll take it one day at a time, and just be happy to be out here together for now, enjoying the moments as they come...

Ryan:
sunny, cool
the at is a roller coaster. not just because of all the ups and downs around the mountains, but the emotions. my shoulder/back/neck is still hurting. not nearly as bad as the other day, but i spent most of the day moving my pack around my back to make it more comfortable. i think i can manage it...or at least i hope i can. it's tough because i don't want to stop. not just because i want to get to katahdin, but because i really don't want to stop. every day is great...even when it sucks. i can't think of anything i'd rather be doing. so, we've been running the emotional roller coaster from tears to laughter. the best part is being with danielle. she has been awesome. i have no doubt that she could make it the whole way. she's a rock...maybe tougher. we signed on for this as a team, and we're going to go as far as we can go. if i can't make it, i'd love to see her rock it out, cause i know she could. but, she says she only wants to do this with me. so, here we are...planning to move on tomorrow. we'll see what tomorrow brings. on the flip side, we have less than 2000 miles to go, and so far the smokies are beautiful...another great day on the trail.

April 15, 2005 | Day 19 | Miles: 14.7 | Total Miles: 191.1
End: Silers Bald Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and nice
What a day! We couldn't ask for anything more. Well, maybe our food and water to weigh nothing at all, and endless ice cream along the trail, but otherwise nice, clear weather is the best! :-) Ryan was feeling good today, and learned some new stretches from Ribeye last night, so that was good.
We're with a good crew right now --Peanut, Ribeye and Thirsty, a petite woman, constantly meat-eating man, and a thirsty man; Beantown, from Boston; Free Radical, a recent grad who plans to teach chemistry; South Shore and Jersey Fresh, two young guys; Hopeful and Redwing, a young married couple from Michigan; Strider, another New Hampshirite. Great crowd. Lots of fun. We are currently all hanging outside the nicely renovated shelter, eating, chatting, enjoying the last of the sun.It was a nice day today, and beautiful scenery. We went up and through a ton of wide open fields mixed in and out of the woods. Amazing. Beautiful views out into the mountains and down onto the valley where Gatlinburg is. We felt strong and had a good day of hiking, which was great.
We also had a random sighting of someone we knew today. We came across a ridgerunner (an Appalachian Trail Conference employee who monitor sections of the trail in its busier spots doing trail maintenance, talking to hikers, etc) who we knew from NH. He had been a caretaker the past two summers at NH campsites we've stayed at, and also hiked the trail a few years back. And here he was, on the trail as we passed through. Funny coincidence. It was fun to see him.
We've chitchatted with a few weekenders who said the weather was supposed to be good, and if it happens, we'll take it :-) That would be nice!

Ryan:
sunny, cool, breezy
a perfect day today. sunny. amazing views. beantown did a fantastic job with the fire in the shelter last night. yup, the shelters in the smokies have fireplaces...very cool. some of them also have chain link fences...to keep the bears out. so, cage the humans. i never slept in a cage before...interesting. the smokies are beautiful, but the park regs are odd. horses are allowed in the park, and some of the horse trails coincide with the at. you can also stay at the shelters with your horse. we haven't seen any horses yet, but we have seen lots of poop. all over the trail...and other places. dirty and stinking. it's fairly common and gross, but no dogs allowed in the park. dirty, big, stinky horses...but no dogs. no dogs. very strange. even danielle thinks it's weird, and she doesn't like dogs. the shoulder/back/thing is feeling a bit better...actually a lot. if it doesn't get any worse than it was today, i should be able to manage it. probably not for 2000 more miles, but i'm hoping to get some treatment when i hit hot springs in a few days. we'll see. but, either way, the mood and spirit were much improved. the forecast we've heard is for good weather through monday...i guess it never stays this nice in the smokies. we're not complaining.
today's song - waiting for the sun, the jayhawks