April 16-17 in the Smokies

April 16, 2005 | Day 20 | Miles: 15.5 | Total Miles: 206.6
End: Icewater Spring Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and cool
There was frost on the grass this morning. But we couldn't ask for anything more. A bright clear day. Beautiful. We are lucking out with the weather, and we won't complain. We got to Clingman's Dome (6643 feet) for morning snack and got some unexpected trail magic. Free Radical's friend is joining him for a section of the trail and his mom brought up chocolate chunk cookies. And she wouldn't let us take just one, so after three huge cookies we were geared up for the next few miles. Yum!
The 15.5m today seemed much nicer than yesterday's 14m, and we had great terrain and views as we wandered through the Smokies. Very nice. The shelter is up at 5900 feet, so it's pretty chilly again, but we're sitting around the fire, chatting and eating.
We also lucked out tonight, as Wiggy brought up some pizza from Gatlinburg. He hitched in and hitched back out and strapped the pizza box to his pack. Awesome!
The only bummer of the day was that as we were setting up our tent (when the shelter is full, thru-hikers can tent, and it was Saturday night, so we decided to tent), we realized I had forgotten the tent stakes somewhere. How, I do not know, but at either Fontana Dam or the first shelter, there they are. Oh well. We were able to borrow stakes from Hopeful and Redwing, and we should be able to buy new ones at Standing Bear or Hot Springs. But still, ACK! I hate that I left them behind. Not the biggest deal, but still a bummer.
Anyway, other than that, a great day.

Ryan:
sunny, cool
let's see...it was beautiful today, the views are amazing, we're in with a great group of people...um, what more can i say. oh yeah, we climbed clingmans dome today, the highest point on the at. it was underwhelming, but there was this strange ramped observation tower.
today's song - yellow ledbetter, pearl jam - thanks to free radical who was busting out the pearl jam tunes on drumstick's guitar last night. drumstick carries a guitar, not a drum. he's kinda skinny and hikes with 6-piece, who's more bucket shaped. they're from kentucky. i'll let you figure out the rest...



April 17, 2005 | Day 21 | Miles 12.6 | Total Miles: 219.2
End: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny and cool again! Yeah
I woke up at 6:30am to pee, and was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. Gorgeous. They did a great job of situating the shelter. Wonderful views. What a way to start another great day. Chilly again, though.
The first 7 miles were nice and mellow, wandering along this partially-treed ridge, with great views on each side out in both directions. And the thing that has amazed us through the park is that we're up at 5000 and 6000 feet and there are big trees, so different from the Whites where above 4000 feet it's typically rocks and an alpine environment. We've really been enjoying the Smokies. They're very beautiful, at least the section we've gone through so far.
There are a few people who are trying to do 20 miles today, as the next shelter is 8m from here, and as I said before we have to stay at a shelter. We talked about it, and I'm sure we could do it, but decided that we really didn't need to push through today. We're on a good schedule, and we've been doing some good miles through the park already, so no need to rush. It's a beautiful day and we're currently sitting in the sun by the shelter, chatting with Drumstick and Six-Piece, two friends from Kentucky. Drumstick is carrying a guitar, so I'm sure we'll be hearing some music tonight.

Ryan:
sunny, cool, breezy
i forgot about two things from yesterday...i'm not sure how. first, the good - wiggy brought pizza to the shelter after he hitched from gatlinburg. now, the bad - danielle realized she was no longer carrying the tent stakes. luckily, we were about to borrow stakes from hopeful and redwing because they were staying in the shelter. plus, i think we'll be in shelters until we have a chance to pick up more. today we had the choice to do either 12 or 20...12 was the obvious choice. we made a great decision, and had a great walk today. it's amazing that 12 miles can be an easy day. feels like we're really getting into shape. more good news, as we're now 10% finished. only 90% to go. well, it's a good milestone. danielle was tired today, and her back is sore. she's hanging tough, though. we're really having a good time, even though it's not exactly easy.