GSMNP is the most visited National Park in the country. It also contains the country's most diverse forest. My trip through the smokies was very diverse to say the least.
Thru hikers are accustomed to very few rules. Essentially we abide by Leave No Trace principals. This changes in the Smokies. First of all we as well as all hikers must carry a permit at all time. This is easy to obtain, in fact you can fill one out before you cross over the dam into the park. On the other hand thru hikers must give way to "section hikers." Each shelter has four spots reserved for thru hikers. The remainder of the spots can be reserved by section hikers. Well there are enough thru hikers to fill each shelter every night, and once a section hiker comes strolling in, this means one of us must give way and sleep outside. We must all give way to horses. My British friend James thought this meant if a horse came walking in we all had to sleep outside.
The highest point on the AT is in the Smokies at Clingmans Dome, over 6600 feet. The plan was to leave the shelter early and catch the sunrise. What I did not anticipate were the three foot snow drifts. Thus I missed the rise by an hour, but it was still a beautiful hike/morning. Some guys even slept on the viewing tower. Highly illegal but highly awesome. I spent a good amount of time at the summit and then descended. The rest of the day was tough. The three feet snow drifts turned into six foot snow drifts. My feet became soaked and tired within minutes. I even got lost few times as it is hard to find the blazes in all the snow. Every 100 yards or so I would post hole down the entire embankment and would be unable to move for 2-3 minutes. The difficulty of this walk made the idea of going into Gaitlinburg more and more appealing. By the time I was 2 miles away from the gap I had made up my mind, I was going into town for a hot meal.
As I arrived at the gap I saw a sea of people and cars. This is something I had not seen the entire trip. I had arrived at the site where FDR dedicated the park in the 1940's. It is also the site of some 2nd round trail magic from a nice couple, WIll and Way (thru hikers of last year) and my first hitch hike of my life.
Six of us stood by the roadside and stuck out our thumbs trying to entice the sea of cars to give any or all of us a lift. After 15 minutes I finally got picked up by a driver. It must have been my great BO or the fact that I wore my best bandanna but I managed to flag down a driver. It happened to be a young women, Suzie, who was on a road trip from NY and was paying back for all the hitching she had done. After some rearranging, Samurai and myself jammed into her car. SHe was very nice and took a great interest in our hike. She also provided me with some ideas for after the hike, including opportunities to travel and work at the same time.
After a 30 min ride Suzie generously dropped us off in the middle of town. What a site. Gaitlinburg may be the biggest tourist town in America. Fake museums, t-shirt stores, old time photos, haunted houses, mini golf, etc, lined the street. This is why GSMNP is the most visited national park in the nation. It starts in Gaitlinburg. I doubt many even make it up to the mountains. All in all it is one of the most amusing/disgusting places I have ever been to. One store proudly displayed two of my most hated flags. Of of the confederacy and one of the Duke Blue Devils. Clearly I did not enter this store. In fact I sat outside it hoping my smell and general appearance would put the place out of business.
I purchased a new mattress pad, for more comfort, resupplied, and got some KFC. We quickly got a cheap cab ride, $10 for 2, back to the gap and walked to the nearest shelter. Samurai and I pulled in at sundown and of course the shelter was full. Thus we pitched our tents outside and went to sleep.
About an hour later two rangers came up looking for 2 lost hikers. No one had seen them, but the rangers gave us a "warning" for tenting and not moving on to the next shelter. We tried to explain that it was getting dark and the next shelter was likely to be full but they wouldn't hear any of it. I still haven't heard what has happened to those two hikers. The rest of the smokies were beautiful and snowy. Probably the best stretch of the trail I have hiekd so far. I was eager to hike through a section I did last March with my friend Kurt, and very eager to meet up with a man named Curtis who runs a hostel. It is impossible for me to describe him correctly but imagine a 20 year older Joe Dirt.His hostel is truely a hikers haven. Everyhitng one needs is located on his property in a different hut. There is even a hut for the interent.
I am now in Hot Springs, NC. The AT actually goes right through town down the sidewalk. Samurai, Sherpa and myself conveniently got a room above the only bar in town. hikers are everywhere. Tonight I plan to go swimming in the river and take a dip in the natural hot springs. It is amazing how much hiking the trail makes one appreciate the simple things in life.
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