Curtis and Cobweb Rose met Mountain Crusher, Snapshot and me at our motel around 7:00 this morning. We walked to a nearby breakfast house and enjoyed a final town meal. Curtis drove us back to Newfound Gap, where he picked us up on Saturday, and we began our hike around 9:30 am. Our weather today was the exact opposite of what we experienced last Friday and Saturday. The sky was blue and sunny, the wind was light and the temperature was cool – a perfect day to hike. While we were treated to beautiful views all day from the ridge line we hiked on , there was one spot that was particularly stunning – Charlie’s Bunion. It was a short distance off of the trail and offered spectacular views of the mountains around us. From there we hiked until 1:45 pm and had lunch by the trail with, again, amazing views all around. We reached our camp site before 4:00 pm and covered approximately 11 miles. We would have liked to have hiked another 2-3 miles but as mentioned in an earlier post, there are strict rules in the GSMNP and hikers are only permitted to camp at shelter sites. So, as the next shelter site was more than 5 miles away we decided to call it a day and set up camp for the evening. If everything goes to plan, we will exit the GSMNP on Wednesday and this will give us more flexibility on our daily mileage. 

A few notes about our stay in Gatlinburg. It seems every location we stop at to do laundry is incredibly difficult. Saturday was no different. After getting out of our wet, muddy clothes and consuming a 32 inch pizza ($60) between four of us, we put our clothes in plastic bags and headed out to a laundry mat that was 3-4 miles away. As it was still raining hard we walked about 1 mile to catch a city tram which dropped us off near the laundry mat. There was a Family Dollar store next door so while our clothes were washing we shopped for some of the food items we would need for this week. Long story short, it took us 4 hours in total to get our clothes washed, dried and back to our motel. On Sunday we had a nice breakfast at a local pancake house, went to an outfitters store that was within walking distance to pick up some supplies. While there I bought a new rain jacket as the one I brought with me was several years old and was not keeping me dry. Later in the day we finished buying our food supplies at a Walgreens store near our motel. It would have been great to have gone to a grocery store but the nearest one was too far away for us to access. Personally, I was not impressed by the town of Gatlinburg. Too touristy, too many people crammed into a small area, too expensive for low quality food and service. But, given the large crowds that were there, it seems to be a popular spot for many. As yesterday was Easter Sunday, it seemed very strange to not participate in my family’s traditions and to enjoy a great meal together that my wife always prepares. Those are the things that make life on the AT a little sad sometimes. But, there will be next Easter and I will look forward to that! Lastly, everyone seems to be in good shape physically and psychologically and everyone’s spirits remain high. 

(PS – Cobweb Rose took all of our sleeping bags/blankets home with her over the weekend and washed/dried them which was so kind of her. Also, she brought us back some homemade chocolate chip cookies which were an extra surprise.  Curtis was extraordinarily helpful to all of us this weekend by picking us up in the downpour on Saturday and getting us back to the trail today. Snapshot, Mountain Crusher and I are very appreciative of all their kind acts).

Note: Back in the GSMNP with very weak cell service. Will catch up on pics as soon as I have better cell service.