200 Miles and now in Tennessee!

 

 

 

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We started our Smoky Mountain Adventure at the Marina near Fontana Dam.  Sure, the shuttle would have taken us right to the visitors center AT the dam, but we had hopped off the trail a couple miles south of there at the Marina, so the Marina it was.  We started out fairly late in the day, so after some appropriate gawking at Fontana Dam, we crossed over it and into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP).  As with any other trail town, the climb out of Fontana Dam was mostly uphill all day.  We stopped at Birch Spring Gap campground where we were lucky enough to get one of the last two tent spots left.  It was there we met Sandman, Sideways, Ups, Indiana and a few other hikers who were staying the night.  There are two things required of hikers in the GSMNP:  1) you must have a back-country permit and 2) you must sleep in a shelter or at a designated campsite. 

We woke up the next day to the sound of raindrops falling down on the tent.  I think Jeff & I both thought if we fell back asleep for a while that the rain would go away, but it never did -- the 30% chance of rain the weatherman had promised us had turned into a 100% chance of all-day rain!  Nice!  We reluctantly put on our rain gear, packed up our tent and headed out.  Fueled by a couple Pop Tarts and the freezing cold day, we pushed on and did not take a break until 5 miles later at Mollie Ridge Shelter.  There we warmed up to a fire Sandman had built and when we saw a break in the storm we headed out again.  A few miles later we reached Russell Field Shelter, one of the last shelters in the GSMNP that still has a "bear cage" attached to the front of it, and decided we would go no further.  The elevation of the Smokies stays between 5K & 6K feet most of the time, and with the cold front that had moved in, temperatures were low and we were worn out.  We managed to build a fire from a pile of wet wood, and were soon joined by Sandman, Ups, Sideways, Indiana, Freight Train & Boomer.  While Jeff was out gathering wood, he actually ran across our first Coyote!  He said the coyote was about 15 feet from him and when it noticed Jeff, it dropped its jaw open as if suprised, turned, and ran off into the woods.  When Ups & Sideways arrived, they mentioned that a bear had come into our campground the previous night and sniffed up against their tent.  They scared it off successfully... the second time it came to their tent.  Between that story and the coyote, I was glad to be staying in a shelter that had a cage on the front.  Sleeping in the shelter wasnt too bad, but the snoring and the threat of mice attacks keep you from really having a "good" nights sleep. 

The next morning we were on a 16+ mile mission to get to Double Spring Gap Shelter.  It was cold, rainy & wet so really the only things I remember about the hike that day were: 1) we cooked lunch for the first time... Ramen, 2) there was a TON more uphills than the map we had showed & 3) Jeff saw a bear right before we got to the shelter we were camping at... yes, he saw a BEAR! Gaw!  Double Spring Gap Shelter is the last shelter before Clingmans Dome (the highest point on the AT at 6,684 feet), so it was pretty busy.  O, Boomer, Freight Train, Mama Bear & Papa Bear were all there along with a bunch of other thru-hikers we have met in previous days.  Luckily, the shelter was full so we were able to pitch our tent in a grassy patch next to the shelter. 

The next morning we got up very early by our standards (around 615) with the hopes of getting over Clingmans Dome and down into Gatlinburg before some really terrible weather hit us.  I stretched in my sleeping bag and put my hand against the side of the tent only to discover that it was frozen!  LOL!  The whole area had frosted over overnight and was blanketed in white.  As we were tearing down camp we were lucky enough to see our first deer, a doe and two fawns, that came very close to camp.  After taking some pictures and chatting with our new friends Mama & Papa Bear, we headed up the mountain.  We took a breakfast break at the top of Clingmans Dome Tower and then started our sprint down the mountain and into Gatlinburg.  The trail was highly affected by the previous days' storms, with lots of trees blown over, mud and snow.  When we reached Newfound Gap we were on a mission to find a ride into Gatlinburg... we were both craving some Wendy's pretty bad :0).  After 5 minutes of trying to hitch a ride, a nice lady approched us with offerings of chocolate chip cookies and an apple --- she said her daughter had thru-hiked the AT last year and said the best kind of "trail magic" came in the form of food.  She was right and we were thankful!  Soon after a trail maintainer/volunteer named Steve offered us a ride into town in exchange for some help changing out a donation box at the gap.  He was pretty knowledgeable about the trail and gave us a few bits of information I was glad to hear AFTER I was in the car -- 1) there are over 2,000 bears in the GSMNP & 2) the reason there is still a cage on Russell Field Shelter where we stayed is because there is a "mean old bear up there that keeps having cubs"... great!  He said that there were so many bears in the park that we would probably get stuck in a "bear jam" before we get into Gatlinburg, meaning there would be a traffic jam because someone in their car saw a bear.  Sure enough, less than 2 minutes after he said that, there was a bear up the hill alongside the road with about a hundred people trying to take a picture. 

We were glad to be in Gatlinburg and took a couple days off there to rest and ride out some storms.  Luckily, the day we got into town was their annual "Rib Fest!"  HA!  In all seriousness, it was a nice break and we were glad to be out of the cold for a couple days.  My most exciting moment was when we were walking down the street and all of a sudden we were reunited with my "Jacket Buddies" from Neels Gap!  It was great to see them after so many days and good to know we were all still on the trail. 

Thats it for now... I hope to blog a little more frequently so we can all avoid these huge diary entries like I just wrote! :0)   Talk to you all soon! 

Styx & Bones

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HikeStrong 2010 - Jeff & Aly
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