5/31/00
Day 70
Mollies's ridge Shelter
828.8 miles
I didn't stay in Gatlinburg. It didn't take too long to get a ride into town, so I just got my food and stuck my thumb out again. So tell Rick I never went to the IMAX (or Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not, or Dollywood for that matter). After I got back up to Newfound Gap, I hiked up to the observation tower on Clingman's Dome. At 6,643 feet it's the highest peak on the AT, but the summit is tree-covered so they built a tower (not for thru-hikers, of course, but for the tourists who can drive up to a nearby parking area in their cars).
I continued hiking until I got to Double Springs Shelter, with only one woman there when I arrived. The water source was in front of the shelter, just out of sight a little ways down the ridge. I was down there filtering when I heard some shouting, which I took to be a new arrival yelling to control her dog. Then after a minute the thought occurred to me that dogs weren't allowed in the Smokies. I listened more closely and realized that it was the woman in the shelter who was yelling and banging pots together to chase away a bear. I gave a few shouts myself as I cautiously walked back towards the shelter. I saw the bears head (which looked big) above the bushes as he looked back and forth at the two of us, decided he was outnumbered and began to leave.
Today was a long haul of almost 19 miles. I had been warned that the AT
in the Smokies had a lot of ups and downs not apparent from the map.
But I got nice views from Thunderhead and Rocky Top, so it had its rewards.
I don't know if I discussed it before but I hadn't been looking forward to
the Smokies. So many Northbounders I met had complained about crowded
shelters, or getting rained on every day and never seeing a thing. But my
experience has been surprisingly good. Tomorrow I've got about ten miles
before I exit the park at Fontana Dam. Then, it's on to the Nantahallas, which
the Northbounders have usually cited as the toughest part of the Trail in the
South.