10.5 miles

Double Spring Gap shelter (mile 196.8) to Newfound Gap (mile 207.3)

I woke up to only damp socks and my shoes were only partially frozen This was a definite improvement on the last few days.

I struggled out of my sleeping bag and took stock. My left side was a mess.

Physical state:

-Left ankle swollen and painful to walk on.

-Left knee swollen and painful to bend.

-Left elbow bruised and swollen.

-Left shoulder giving me frequent stabbing pain.

-Exhausted

Mental state:

-Homesick

-Beaten down by slush and mud

-Fucking over it

The wind was howling again and it was, of course, fucking freezing.

I had 10.5 miles to Newfound Gap and from there I could get into Gatlinburg, wash my clothes, get some decent food and, most importantly, get warm. But it was a tough 10 miles. I mean of course it was, this is the Smokys.

There was a big positive though as today I would pass the 200 mile mark at Clingmans Dome, which is also the highest point of the AT at 6600+ feet. 200 miles is not a bad bloody walk. Not bad at all.

The climb that morning was slow and painful, but I got there one step at a time. There was a side track I could take to bypass Clingmans Dome if the weather was bad, but I opted to push on. Yes, the view would not be remarkable today but I don’t think I would have forgiven myself if I bypassed the chance to hit the tallest spot on the AT.

It was as I expected, I could see for tens…of feet. On a nice day you could see for 50-60 miles. But today was not a nice day. Being at the tallest point on the A.T. also meant that I had hit the 200 miles mark. I was pretty chuffed with myself. The thing about walking 200 miles is that to a thru-hiker it’s not that impressive but to anyone else it sounds almost impossible someone could walk that far.

I kept telling myself it was all downhill from here, which gave me a boost to keep pushing on. The downside of this (pun intended!) is that any climb I encountered was met with a weary curse. And this is the AT you go up more than you think when descending. It reminded me of the stories my dad would tell about walking to school back in Scotland. “It was five miles, through the snow in our bare feet, uphill both ways”. It used too always make me laugh, but now I was living it. It felt like anyway you went was uphill and my shoes were so wet I may as well have been barefoot!

On the other side of Clingmans Dome I was met with more slush and mud. Goddamn it! At least the scenery was changing. I was now walking in a spruce for type forest which was totally different to the sparse trees and foliage I had seen for the last 200 miles. There was moss everywhere and the forest felt old, like something pulled out of JRR Tolkien’s imagination. If a group of dwarves and a lone hobbit had passed me there I would only have been mildly surprised.

In the afternoon I bumped into Duck again, he was also heading to Newfound Gap for a well earned rest.

I reached Newfound Gap at 3:45pm and there were a lot of folk there despite the thick fog. This was the North Carolina/Tennessee state line and I’m pretty sure the view would have been spectacular on a good day. But it was Spring Break and folk where there to see everything they could…even though they technically couldn’t. I checked my phone and to my horror saw that I had no signal. No signal meant no way to call a shuttle. I only had one option so I stuck out my thumb. To my surprise I got picked up within 30 seconds!

They were a nice family on spring break. They asked lots of questions about the trail as we made our way into town and I apologised profusely for the smell that was emanating from me.

That morning I had arranged to share a room with Rooster, Mini, and Happiness at the motel 6. They had only arrived a little before me so the room was ready to go. After a shower I felt almost human again.

Days before I had seen that there was a Five Guys in Gatlinburg and had been dreaming of burgers ever since. As I hobbled into town for a burger my right achilles seized up. All I could do was laugh.