Today was a rainy, windy, foggy day in the Great Smoky Mountains. We are staying tonight in Derrick Knob Shelter, elevation 4,880 ft. We are at mile 186.7. I'm hiking with Nor'easter from Maine, but we've seen lots of other hikers.
Last night we were at Mollies Ridge Shelter, mile 175. So at least we are making some miles in this rain.
Probably our next stop will be at Newfound Gap, mile 204 if we decide to stop to take a break. Eighteen miles to the east will be Cherokee, NC home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and its reservation. Fifteen miles to the west is Gatlinburg, TN. It looks like there are plenty of services and laundry facilities there. If you've read Chapter 8 of A Walk in the Woods, this is where Katz and Bill Bryson decided to take a cab to Knoxville and rent a car to Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway! They skipped a few hundred miles....
"In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours."
Mark Twain
(Happy Birthday, Kate!)
Over 11 miles in the terrible weather sounds like pretty good progress to me!
ReplyDeleteThis weather is crazy. I was complaining about the snow until I remembered where you were. Stay warm and dry.
ReplyDeleteTorch, I think of you when I open a Yuengling. Hope you have continued success and you are able to stay dry!
ReplyDeleteYuengling Jer