Lil' Smokies

We made it over Clingman's Dome yesterday, in the heart of Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park.  It is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail, just a little taller than Mt. Washington up in New Hampshire. I guess that means it's all downhill from here!  The view from the top of the spiral, concrete viewing platform was impressive.  We were able to see peaks in the distance that we had traversed a week ago!  The forest changed as we climbed from fully leafed out deciduous forest of tall trees to a more stunted growth, just budding out, to a totally coniferous forest, lush with moss.  We made it to Newfound Gap, where the only road cuts through the smokies, and were almost immediately offered a ride down to Gatlinburg.  We needed to come into town to resupply our food and we wanted to experience the true American feel of this good ole southern tourist trap. We took advantage of the free samples at the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery.  We tried every flavor and can highly recommend the blackberry and apple pie!  We hadn't eaten much on the trail yesterday in anticipation of a big meal in town.  The moonshine on an empty stomach really hit the spot, but thankfully was followed up with a big Mexican meal and then ice cream.  We have both lost weight. I feel like I could just eat without stopping, but carrying lots of food isn't fun, so we take advantage of the gluttonous possibilities in town.  As I write this I am staring at an empty plate where previously stood a triple stack of pancakes, a clean skillet that had held a real pile, and Butch is putting the finishing moves on a side order of grits.

We are going to take the trolley down the road and check out the ceramics facilities at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, buy some trail food at the Whole Earth Grocery, and head back to the woods.  Next stop is Hot Springs, NC, where we will be looking to soak!

The rest of this post was written a couple days ago up in the hills, but the battery on the phone died before it got published...

We had long day of hiking to get deep into Great Smoky Nat'l Park, but are ahead of the crowd and sprawled out nicely with the top bunk area of a solid stone shelter all to ourselves!  We left this morning from Fontana Dam, the tallest slab of concrete this side of the Rockies designed to retain that most precious resource - fresh water.  It felt darn good on the old feet when we got down to Fontana Reservoir.  Butch and I both had sore feet coming down to it and decided to take our time and go barefoot the last two miles down to the water.  There happened to be a marina right there and we each got a can of Dr. Pepper and sat on the dock, soaking our feet in the amazingly clear, cold water.

We stayed at the "Fontana Hilton" last night! That is the name given to the shelter near the dam as it has bathrooms with running water and even free showers!!  Pretty nice digs as far as trail standards go. Though shelters can be nice to stay in when they aren't too crowded, and you have to stay at the shelters in the Nat'l Park, I more prefer sleeping in a setting like we had the night before last.  Just down a side trail to water from Cody Gap was the perfect little tent spot, a level pad of pine needles positioned inside a ring of pine trees in an otherwise mostly deciduous forest.  Two small streams trickled by not fifteen feet from each side of the tent before meeting up just below.  The sky was clear, rainfly off, a waxing moon shining brightly through the mesh ceiling of the tent.  The stillness of the night gave a feeling of depth as we lay 80 feet below the canopy, submerged in the forest.