Day 14 - Perfection

Miles Today - 12.5

Yesterday was terrible, no denying it. At every turn something seemed to go wrong. Today was perfect. I guess the trail balances itself out, sometimes in extreme ways.

I woke early and broke camp as the light trickled onto the ridge. Persistence sauntered over to me as I was getting out my remaining food (a Snickers and a Cliff bar) and said "205." I nodded, a little grimly. That was 4 miles past Clingam's Dome, the highest point on the AT. I'd have to make my food last.

They lasted an hour. It was chilly, but bright and warming quickly. The ground was slick with mud and puddles from the day before. I quickly pulled into the next shelter, and debated poking around to see if Rose was still there, but judging from the snores coming from within I'd be disturbing a lot of people if I did.

The trek to the Dome felt fast and easy. The weather had reached a perfectly warm point, and the trail felt greener than ever before. I ascended the curving observation tower to be immediately swarmed with what seemed like hundreds of purple shirted middle schoolers, who made taking clear pictures mostly impossible. I descended, doing my best not to bowl over any children who were below my sight line.

"Is there an elevator to that tower?" One of them panted, coming up the road. I giggled.

The path down from the Dome was buzzing with life. Not just was it a solid green tunnel, but it was infested with flies, hovering in swarms over the fetid puddles. Just as I started getting hungry, an older couple passed by. They offered me two apples, and I thought I was about to faint from sheer gratitude. All smiles, we both went our ways.

A mile later I came out to a green field lying below a parking lot. As I came around the bend I saw Persistence's tent drying on the grass. 205. Yes.

I spent a little under an hour there, waiting for Rose. They had a grill going, and bags of chips, cookies, candy, and soda. I kept being encouraged to eat and ended up pitting down 2 burgers, 2 dogs, and more of the others than I could count. It was heaven.

A man in a day pack, named Godspeed, came through, and offered the assembled masses of hikers a shuttle into town from Newfound Gap. Even better! Rose and I picked up and did the fastest 1.7 miles I think I've ever hiked.

At the gap (which hold the North Carolina Tennessee state line, though we've been straddling it for days) Godspeed and his wife, Mountain Momma, had desserts, sodas, and sandwiches for us. They told us about how Godspeed and his son had started a thru hike, only to be stopped when Godspeed caught a bad virus. He told his son to go on without him, but when he hiked the 5 miles to the nearest road his son was there waiting for him. "We started, together, we'll finish together." When they got home they discovered his son, trail name Aslan, had a brain tumor. The doctors said it was inoperable, and gave him only a few months.

Aslan went in for surgery to drill a hole in his skull, to let the brain fluid have a place to drain. His family gathered to pray for mercy, knowing that a brain tumor was a hard way to go. The surgeon went to the waiting room to discuss the procedure with Mountain Momma, and as she was leaving, Momma asked her name so that they could pray for her specifically. The surgeon smiled. "Mercy."

Aslan made a full recovery against the odds, and he and Godspeed finished their hike, together.

Godspeed also warned us that Gatlinburg was like Vegas, only without the gambling. He warned us that he gave out his number so that we could update them on our trip, not to call to ask for bail. I couldn't tell if he was joking.

Gatlinburg is certainly an experience. It's a long strip packed with over the top amusements and restaurants. The streets are packed, with people and cars swarming from attraction to attraction. It's beautiful. It's terrifying. It's a tourist wonderland.

Rose and I are booked at the Grand Prix Motel at the edge of town. We went to a local brewery for dinner, eating with Half Moon, a free lance writer on his third thru hike we had met the day before. I stuffed myself silly while Rose worked hard to convince him to hike the Pacific Crest Trail next.

Beat, I retired to our room and crashed hard. Tomorrow is for shopping, as I need food, and especially some sandals, to wear around camp. There's also a BBQ joint down the street with a highly recommended breakfast buffet. Gatlinburg is certainly crazy, but I look forward to the day off.