Home is where the Hartford is...

3/17/08 - 14.5 mi to Double Spring Gap shelter. Caught 2 FANTASTIC 360 degree views back-to-back! One at Rocky Tops (which was ironically a big grassy peak w/ a small pile of rocks at the wee top) and the other at Thunderhead Mtn.

• The 1st and last 2 miles were BEAUTIFUL but the middle 12.5 were fairly uneventful.
• Some dad made his kid begrudgingly give Amos his chocolate covered pretzels (Amos of course gladly & quickly accepted)!
• REALLY windy, foggy, misty, cold so Hearts made a fire in the shelter.
  

3/18/08 - Started hiking around 5:30 am to catch the sunrise at Clingman's Dome - hiked in the dark & said it was one of the creepiest things he's ever done... especially cause his headlamp was near death the entire time - his back-up plan was light by cellphone...

• Trek up to Clingman's was EXTREMELY foggy & the clouds were "whipping past him at 80 mph"!!
• At Newfound Gap an "Ultra-Republican-Southerner" gave him snacks and a drink on the stipulation that Amos not vote for Obama.... (little did he know, Amos already voted for Obama, and I LOVE that Amos momentarily set aside his deep-seated, ultra-liberal political viewpoints for a lemonade)!
  
• I got there around 1ish & took Hearts & Spruce down to Gatlinsburg - my favorite part of the car ride was when Spruce learned Amos' real name!!
• Ate some mexican, napped at the base of the Smokys in the sun, drank $2 pints at Smoky Mountain Brewery with Isaac, and housed a pint of "Everything But The..." ice cream (Ben & Jerry of course).

3/19/08 - No miles... no miles for the next few days. Staying with Isaac in Hartford. The brother(s) will start hiking again on Easter (this Sunday). Knee needs a break. I need a break.

• Crab rangooon for breakfast, stopped to visit Isaac at work, went grocery shopping (took FOREVER), drank wine, ate peanut butter fudge (which wasn't "peanut-buttery enough" says the man who eats like 8 oz of straight-up peanut butter a day), played rummy (I lost royally, 545 to 355), tossed around football, ran Big Creek with Isaac, power outage, drank some more wine - good relaxing rainy day.
• Thrilled not to be soaked to the bone in the upper Smokys!
  

Hiking in the Smokys made dam near bearable...

3/15/08 - Another stormy day... Hiked 13 mi to Fontana Dam & stayed at the "Fontana Hilton" - the nicest shelter on the whole dam trail. (Brandi - don't get agitated about the missing 'n' - it's a play on words!)

• Hitchhiked into a nearby village with Ron. Stopped at the general store to resupply - he was shy 1 dinner and unwilling to live off of his oatmeal stockpile.
• BONUS: Laundromat open & they were able to dry their clothes! In true Hearts form, he housed a pint of ice cream while they waited.
• You know what's unbearable... no cell phone service when he's hiking along ridges through severe thunderstorms. The same low pressure system that spurred the EF2 tornado in downtown Atlanta the night before!

3/16/08 - Welcome to Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Started out around 60 degrees at the dam this morning but temps dropped drastically once he got into the mountains. Said most of the higher peaks in the Smokys look like they're capped with rime (a lesson in earth science - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rime_ice). Brrr.

• Grabbed a Mr. Pibb at the visitor center to wash down his cereal... bleah! Apparently, he's been craving sweets like nobody's business since he got on the trail.
• Hiked up Shuckstack Mtn. I only mention it because he LOVED saying "Shuckstack" and because on the way up he stopped to fill up his tank at a natural spring & looked 20 feet back down the mountain just as a HUGE BLACK BEAR crossed the trail!!! He tried to snap a picture & may have managed to get a slightly obscured shot as it was passing through some thick weeds!
• Unknowingly wandered into Tennessee & passed a sign that said he has less than 2000 mi to Katahdin!!
• Today's tally: 17 mi. Got the last spot at Spence Field shelter. It's filled to the brim w/ 20 people and an additional 10 more camping outside! TONS of people on the trail today! (Ron, Squire, Matthew, & Spruce are all there)

Got your goat...

3/14/08 - BIG day - hardest so far... 16 total mi, rainy. Climbed up 3000ft then down 3000 ft then up 3000 ft then down 3000 ft & then right before Brown Fork Gap Shelter... back up again!! Said there wasn't a flat mile all day!

• Started off right w/ a good breakfast: pancakes, eggs & coffee.
• Hiked with Matthew. Fun fact for the day - they came across a lot of garbage thrown over a hillside. Someone threw away their goat. Yeah. A dead goat. Which Amos decided to take a picture of while unknowingly standing in a heaping pile of dirty diapers... as Matthew poked it with a hiking pole... Something to look forward to on a future roll of film.
• Best dinner on the trail so far = instant buttery, salty, cheesy mashed potatoes!
• Shelter's holding Matthew, Squire, The General, Ron and a new guy who was pretty much asleep when they got there (Timber, Lumber, Forest... can't remember his name). Those boys are inseparable!