AT Miles = 15.5 / 205.7
Other Miles = 0.3 / 13.7
Total Miles = 15.8 / 221.4
Food Fantasies!
Today was a beautiful day. Soon after leaving in the morning I made it to the summit of Clingmans Dome. There is a road to the summit and an observation tower, and being Sunday there were lots of tourists about. After leaving Clingmans it was a rather long but pleasant hike down to Newfound Gap. All I really remember about the day was having long never-ending food fantasies. When I reached Newfound Gap I hung out at the parking area and watched the tourists as they watched me. An hour or so later a bunch of other hikers arrived and we spent some time lamenting the lack of a cheeseburger stand there, and discussed the possibility of getting a ride into Gatlinburg to gorge on fast food then getting a ride back to the trail. Instead, we eventually just saddled up and hiked the remaining 3 miles into Icewater Springs Shelter.
It was still gorgeous weather when we arrived, and I went down to the spring and washed up, then stuck some of my wet laundry out to dry in the sun. An hour or so later the clouds started to roll in, and the wind started to pick up.
Some time after we went to bed the wind picked up another notch, and the rain started. I've never experienced rain like this before. It came down so hard and the wind was so strong that the shelter asctually shook, even though it was made of stone.
Allen Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
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