DAY 4
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| Jenni and I at Newfound Gap, after we yellow blazed our way there |
Starting Point: Double Spring
Destination: Icewater Spring
Today’s Miles 13.8
Total Miles: 43.7
Maggie Smith. Maggie Smith. Maggie Smith. Every time I see an incline I say to myself, Maggie Smith. It means slow down. Maggie Smith is 75 years old. If she were hiking, she would not try to hike the hills so fast. So slow down. Maggie Smith. Maggie Smith.
We had decided last night to get an early start today, so we got up at 6 and started hiking at . The skies opened up at . I put on my rain jacket, my waterproof pants and my pack cover. The rain is cold but it’s not rain. It’s hail. When we get to Clingmans Dome it is still raining, so we decide not to go to the top. What is the point? We would not be able to see anything. So we trudge on. Maggie Smith. Maggie Smith.
I had hoped there was at least a bathroom at Clingmans Dome there so I could steal some toilet paper. I ran out last night. But the bathrooms are a half mile down the road. Maggie Smith. Maggie Smith.
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| Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the AT |
My mind wanders a lot when I hike. I replay movies I’ve seen in my head. I love Maggie Smith in Gosford Park
Plus, Maggie Smith is Toby Stephens mother. So then my mind wanders to Toby Stephens in Jane Eyre. He was very sexy in that movie. And he was in Possession, also, but he played a bit of a scoundrel. And Jeremy Northam was in both Gosford Park and Possession, so my mind wanders to him in Possession (there’s a pretty racy scene in that movie with Jennifer Ehle.) Jennifer Ehle was in Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. He’s hunky too, but too popular now that he won the Oscar. So my mind wanders back to Maggie Smith. She was in a movie years ago with Peter Ustinov called Hot Millions. That was a funny movie. I like British movies. The humor is usually more subtle than in American movies. You have to pay attention. Thank goodness for Netflix. I can watch all sorts of off the wall movies. And I then play them again in my head as I walk in the rain in the Smokies. Maggie Smith.
As we arrive at the Mt. Collins Shelter for lunch, the rain stops and the sky clears. There is no one else at the shelter so we strip out of our wet clothes and put some dry clothes on. I make a hot lunch of cheese rice soup (thank you Jetboil) and dry out a little. Then we have to put our wet clothes back on and walk again.
The shelter is ½ mile off the trail, so as we rejoin the AT, we see Caro and Kermit sitting on a log having lunch. They are both archeologists who met on a dig in Peru Alexandria , Virginia
The rain stays at bay but the sky is grey. We come upon a road crossing, the first one on the hike. There is a small parking lot there, so AK suggests we hitch a ride to Newfound Gap. It will cut 1.7 miles off of our long day. Jenni and I take our packs out to the road and wait for a pick-up truck to come by so we can hop in the back. We assume we are too dirty and smelly to get inside anyone’s car. AK stays at the back of the parking lot, away from the road. Unfortunately, the cars are all going the wrong way. Caro and Kermit come upon us as we try to get a ride and seem amused at what we are doing. I’ve never hitched before and I’m not sure I have the nerve to do it. But I’m tired and wouldn’t mind yellow blazing. Yellow blazing means hitching a ride instead of hiking. Since we are not thru-hikers, it’s not really cheating for us.
Soon a white pick-up truck with a double cab lumbers up the hill going toward Newfound Gap. Jenni and I stick out our thumbs. The truck slows down, as if hesitating, and then pulls into the parking lot. The window rolls down and a elderly white-haired woman sticks her head out and asks if we need a ride. Inside the cab is a family with the parents, the grandmother, and two wide-eyed boys in the back seat. The three of us jump into the back with our packs. The boys gawk at us through the back window as we laugh hysterically.
The family drops us off at the Newfound Gap visitors area. We thank them profusely as the boys and mom head towards the rest room. We take some pictures by the sign and then we head toward the rest room. The rest rooms do not have sinks in them and we think we know why--they don't want thru hikers taking what my husband Billy calls a "whore's bath" in there and scaring the tourists.
I finally have cell phone reception so I call Billy to tell him I’m ok. Billy did not want me to go on this hike. He did not say so when I first told him about it, but as the time drew closer, it became evident that he did not want me to be away for a week, and he was worried about my safety. Maybe he was worried that I would run off with a thru hiker. We've been together for 30 years, so that's kind of sweet in a way. I'd love for him to join me on my trips, but his idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn without cable.
I finally have cell phone reception so I call Billy to tell him I’m ok. Billy did not want me to go on this hike. He did not say so when I first told him about it, but as the time drew closer, it became evident that he did not want me to be away for a week, and he was worried about my safety. Maybe he was worried that I would run off with a thru hiker. We've been together for 30 years, so that's kind of sweet in a way. I'd love for him to join me on my trips, but his idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn without cable.
We arrive at the Icewater Springs Shelter at
It’s my first time sleeping in a totally full shelter. Janet and I line up our sleeping bags side by side. I start telling Janet stories about how Billy and I met and we fall into fits of laughter. Sadly, this is the last evening I will spend with Janet on the trail before the end of our trip.
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| A young crowd at Icewater Shelter |
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| Icewater Shelter |
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| The crowded inside of Icewater Shelter |
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| Kermit and Caro |
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| Spot on his fourth thru hike |
