The Smokies

I started up the hill to Icewater Spring Shelter. Weather was moving in and a few light flakes were starting to come down. With only 3 miles to go I figured I might beat the snow. I did beat it, but barely. 5 minutes from the shelter it started coming down hard.

In the shelter were two guys who were in for the night and two who were out hiking and planning to go down one of the side trails. This is when I started hearing about what lay ahead. Supposedly three hikers who had started from Davenport Gap (where I was heading) had passed through and said it was really bad past Pecks Corner, 7 miles up. They had said it was the worst 3 days of their lives!

Hmmm .... I settled in and the two took off. The snow was coming down pretty good by now and I was happy to be dry and warm. Others rolled in for the night and then, around 5:30 the two that had headed out came back. They had made it about 1/2 mile past Charlie's Bunion which was only about a mile up the trail. "It's bad, waist high drifts and just hard going", they said.

By now the snow had lightened and I was beginning to question my idea to jump to Newfound Gap. Oh well .. Just have to see what's up in the morning.

Day 2 -- There were 4 to 6 inches of new snow in the morning. All previous footprints were buried by the new snow. I quickly made the decision to take "zero" in the shelter (a zero is when you do no miles for the day). I didn't want to brek trail and there were 3 others that were going on.

Everyone left and I settled in. I was warm and I spent the morning reading my book and watching as a light snow began to fall again. Early afternoon brought the arrival of Carol and Donny, two section hikers that were coming up from Newfound Gap. The road there had been closed to late morning. They had planned to go on but that put a cramp in there style. The three of us were planning on heading out the next morning.

It started to snow again and as I stared at it I heard voices. The three who had left earlier this morning show back up. "Not good", I'm thinking. They threw out the good news, bad news line. It good between here and Charlie's Bunion but after that it goes downhill fast. I am liking this less and less.

Around 5:00 two guys roll in from the north looking like death warmed over. They had started at Davenport Gap and they truly were at the end of their rope. Everything they owned was soaked and all they wanted was to be off the mountain as fast as they could. Again, "It's bad out there".

Day 3 -- Monday morning. Overall about a foot of new snow has fallen. Carol, Donny, and I were going to forge ahead. Four other thru-hikers had pulled in last night and they were going to follow shortly.

The tree branches sagged under the weight of the new snow and as the pathbreaker I was trying knock as much snow off them as I could before passing under. It didn't do much good and before long I looked like a snowman. The snow was deep and the trail somewhat hard to discern because of the new snow. The wind was pickimg up as we hit the ridgeline and if you took one wrong step you would sink to your thigh.

All I was thinking was "This is the good part"?. I really, really do not want to see the bad. About 3/4 mile in and a lot of work I came to a stop and looked back at Carol and Donny. "I'm not doing this. We still have 7 miles to go and we haven't even hit the bad stuff yet". No rationalization needed just plain common sense told me back out. So I did.

The plan now became, get to Newfound Gap and figure out a way to get to Standing Bear Farm just past Davenport Gap. Carol and Donny had followed my lead and the three of hooked a ride from Newfound Gap to Gatlinburg where we were able to get in touch with Curtis. Curtis runs Standing Bear and his wife Maria came to get us..

What a change! There is no snow. It actually feels warm and I have zero regrets about skipping the Smokies. I found that I was not the only one with that thought. At Standing Bear I met Shlep, Subbie, and Cygnet, three thru-hikers that jumped up because of the weather. The plan, as is with most hiker who jump up, is to pick up the section they miss at the end.

The four of us chatted, ate, and got into a wicked game of Jenga. Carol and Donny had gone into town and they brought us back some fresh fruit. Thank you so much for the treat!

So now the plan is to roll out in the morning with Cygnet, Shlep, and Subbie and make my way to Hot Springs, NC.