Mar 25

DAY #23
START LOCATION: Siler Bald Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Newfound Gap/Gatlinburg, TN
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 12.5
TRIP MILEAGE: 204.7
MILES TO GO: 1,974.4

I was up at 7:30 after a great sleep and very excited to summit
Clingmans Dome. We had a lot of motivation to get up there ASAP...
Impending rain. Most of us were up and out around 9AM. I booked it up
the 4 1/2 miles pretty quick given the 1,200 foot ascent and 2 foot
snowpack covering the trail. As I reached the summit, I was just so
excited to be there before the rain. Not only that, but our ceiling
was probably at 10 to 15k feet, so we had some great views. As we
approached the wide spiraling ramped observation deck Boomhauer, Pace
Car and Guidefoot were just leaving. They warned us that if we took
our packs up, to remove the rain covers. Pace Car had almost lost his
in the howling 40 mph winds. They weren't kidding, I'm no good judge
of wind speed, but when you can't even hold your camera still for a
shot, the air is whipping. Cornpatch and I could only stay up there a
short time, but man what a view it was. Especially with the weather
approaching.

There was a bear trash bin up there which was fantastic.. Dumped 3
days worth of garbage and my empty fuel canister that had been taking
up bulk at the bottom of my pack. Probably ditched all but 1/2 a
pound, but it's a nice feeling regardless.

Past Clingmans there is very dense evergreen forest unlike much of the
trail we'd already seen. The evergreens let in very little light so
the snow just lingers and builds up. The 8 mile descent started off
hilarious... I let Cornpatch lead and he was falling about every 500
feet in the snowpacks of 5 feet in some places. He only had one
trekking pole, so he could only balance himself on one side. But, if
he lost balance in the other, he was down. We werent hiking, we were
controlled falling. It got old quick. The first 3 miles were a riot,
but the last 5 were just miserable.

Met a very nice yet very ambiguously gendered Ridgerunner today. First
one I've seen on the trip. Ridgerunners are employed by the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy to hike sections of trail, report back
on trail and shelter conditions, census hikers and make sure we are
all generally playing nice up there. They remind me of most R.A.'s in
college dorms. What was funny was how eager he/she was to inform us of
his/her title. Cornpatch saw him/her approaching southbound and
asked... "How's your day going so far?" his/her response was... "I'm a
Ridgerunner". But again, very nice. He/she gave us an update on
conditions ahead and distances to the next points of interest. As we
left, Cornpatch and I had a long and spirited debate on which sex he/
she was. We split and hoped to get a tiebreak from our colleagues
who'd passed him/her as well. We died laughing when Thrasher & Turkey
all had a similar experience... "Good morning!" ... "I'm a
Ridgerunner". Same with Boomhauer, Pace Car and Guidefoot. And none
of us could arrive at a consensus on gender. I know this sounds all
very judgemental, which it is, but i dont know anyone that wouldnt
have had that debate. In the end, some things are just best left
unknown.

The skies opened up and the rain soaked us as we arrived at Newfound
Gap, halfway point of the Smokies and our egress point into
Gatlinburg, TN, 15 miles northwest. Boomhauer, Pace Car, Guidefoot,
Cornpatch and I were calling all the shuttles in our guidebooks in
vain. All don't start until April 1. Well, a very nice elderly couple
from Virginia in a minivan rolled up and asked us where we were
heading. They were former thru-hikers andunderstanding our plight so
offered the 5 of us to roll with them into G-burg. They were absolute
trail angels. We muddied up, stinked up and soaked their van, and they
happily told stories of their hiking adventures. When we arrived and
were thanking them up and down she gave us all hugs! The hospitality
in the south is unlike anything I've ever seen.

The 5 of us checked into the motel, headed to the local brewhouse and
told stories of our first 200 miles over IPA's, appetizers and giant
burgers. The only thing left on the table at the end of the night was
the gender verdict.

-n8dog