A Much Needed Break (ECT Days 103 & 104)

Zero Day in Knoxville and Gatlinburg (Day 103)

This was the most comfortable bed I’ve slept in on this entire journey. Staying up later last night to chat, I didn’t get as many hours, but what I did get was wonderful. After a while hanging and looking on my phone, I joined the others downstairs. There was delicious hot coffee and breakfast already out. I even was treated to a cinnamon roll made out of playdough (or whatever today’s equivalent is) from one of the kiddos 🙂

Rather than join the fam going to church, I decided to take advantage of a full scale grocery store for a change. Karin and John were so generous, they let me use their car to run down the road even. I’d been scheming to walk haha. This was much better and I was able to resupply all relaxed and not pressed for time.

Once back at the house, I packed up and cleaned up my space. I don’t think folks who host me ever know how wonderful it is receiving such kindness. When you go without a bed and without hot water and a shower, it’s a true gift when it’s given.

While packing, I discovered a large binder on the side table that had a photo of my Grandpa Mearl on the cover. He was sitting in a chair painting something propped up on an easel and I recognized right away as one of the books created preserving his many pieces of art. Taking it downstairs to the kitchen table, I looked through all the collected paintings and sketches that my cousins had curated. It was a special experience. I think these were just prints of the originals and I’d seen some of them throughout the years, but so many I hadn’t. Some of these new to me ones were my favorites. When the fam got back to the house, Karin and I paged through it together doing a little reminiscing about growing up and such.

A phone picture of a print of a painting of a very special place that growing up my family simply called, “The Cabin.” At least, that’s my belief… any family following along can correct me if I have this wrong.

My grandpa passed about 18 years ago (if my math is correct) when I was a sophomore in college. He had a great big, hearty laugh, a love and respect for the outdoors, and clearly from viewing these paintings, an eye for seeing the beauty in nature. He left a virtuous legacy and I miss him. When I think of him now, I wish I would have been more intentional back then about gleaning his wisdom.

Eventually, we all piled back into the cars and headed into Knoxville. I had learned over the past few days hiking with Luke that it’s a college town; the University of Tennessee campus lives here. It was fun to see the giant brick buildings and quirky restaurants and shops as Karin gave me a tour of the city. It wasn’t a long drive to get to our destination, Mellow Mushroom Pizza. 

I’d never heard of it, but must be a regional chain down here. The pizza and little pretzel bite appetizers were super tasty and it was good fun hanging with the crew. I loved being around the kids, such energy and good fun!

I mean, we just look like a fun group, am I right? After filling up on the za, I parted ways with John and the kids as Karin and I made our way back to Gatlinburg. This is not a short drive, so again, I was super thankful for all the generosity being poured my way! The one benefit of the long drive was a chance to catch up with my cousin. Another moment on this trail journey that I’ll treasure.

Once checked in at my hotel, I didn’t emerge the rest of the night! I was in full relax, lounge-around, and rest mode. Of course, part of the time was spent spreading all my gear out and doing random tasks for getting me ready to keep going again. One such task was ditching my shoes. 

I am astonished to announce that these bad boys carried me a crazy 1,983 miles! That is an unheard of distance for trail runners, at least in my experience. I’ve maybe gotten into the 1,200 mile range before but this was unprecedented, especially after such a rough start with them down in the Florida canals. Wild!

Newfound Gap to Peck’s Corner Shelter (Day 104)

• Hiked Today: 10.5 miles

  • Appalachian Trail (208 – 218.5)

• Total Hiked: 2,143 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: 65-75°F, sunny and clear and warm!

Elevation: 4,995 – 6,105 feet

For the first time on this journey I took full advantage of my hotel stay and waited to check out until the last minute. It was a great morning. This whole time in Knoxville and Gatlinburg was great. I really didn’t get into much, just hung out and ate a lot of food haha at the grocery yesterday, I’d bought some breakfasty things intentionally so I didn’t have to go out. There were some tempting options in town though, I just figured this could be a town where it’d easy to spend some serious money. The hotel did have coffee and some muffins, so of course I partook in those items as well.

At 11:00 am, I checked out and walked down the road to Subway. I got the sub of the day, which today was the cold cut trio and loaded it up with veggies. My plan was to pack it to have up at Newfound Gap if all went well. The price for my leisurely morning was that I my missed the 11:00 am free shuttle back up to trail, so I now would be reliant on hitchhiking. I had faith in the nice park visiting folks though!

First, I needed to walk almost a mile through the main tourist drag of Gatlinburg to get to the road leading up into the mountains. It was fun seeing all the things, but also a bit of sensory overload. Even being a not so busy time, Monday at midday, there were lots of people. There were restaurants and bars and oddball shops. I saw a real live parrot inside one store, lots of colors and noises, and again, people.

Once set up to hitchhike, it took all of 5 minutes before someone stopped. Abbie was my driver today, but it became clear soon that she wasn’t actually going to Newfound Gap, my destination. I thought that was the only place this road went, but apparently there was a split after a few short miles. She was going away from where I wanted to go, so I had her drop me off at the visitor center. There, I got set up again and had another car stop right away but they were only going a few miles further too. The third time was a charm… after 20 minutes or so, Lisa and Tim, vacationers from Colorado stopped to give me a lift. It was great conversation with them on the way up taking about the trail, Colorado, the Color Trail, and the Smokies. I was very thankful for the ride and wished them well on the rest of their vacay.

Back at the AT, rather than jump into hiking mode, I continued my eating habits. I started hanging by myself sitting on a little stone wall next to the garbage cans, but then noticed some other hikers and went to go say hi. Turns out someone was offering trail magic and they were all hanging before going down into town.

New (to me) kicks! I actually ordered these online and they were slightly used already. Quite the discounted price, but they appear to be in good condition for hiking! 

Here we go Avery, Alex, Portal, and Sunshine. It was fun chatting with them, but as has been the case elsewhere on trail, I’m finding it strange when word gets out that I’m doing the ECT. I still haven’t figured out how to handle that when people elevate that. Mostly, I try to explain we’re all doing the same thing and we’re all crushing it!

I got hiking right about 1:00 pm after enjoying my sub. It was delicious and I left feeling stuffed. Once again though, I’d overdone it with my rations… the Hulk hath returned and my pack felt huge! This wasn’t quite to leaving Blue Ridge on the Benton Mackaye levels, but right away I knew it was unnecessarily heavy for the number of days I planned to hike.

There were lots of folks on the trail leaving the parking area. And I struggled to let go of the chaos of town and the parking lot and the day hikers. Thus, I hiked fast sort of to get away from it all. After a bit, I decided to stop and check out my shoe. The outside of my right foot was hurting. After loosening the laces, things were immediately better. The Caldera 4’s are not as clunky and wide as the 6’s I’d been wearing. I must have gotten used to those though and it seems it’ll take some time getting used to these. I hope the transition isn’t too painful.

Avery caught up and we walked with each other for a while and then around each other the rest of the way. It was nice to spend the time chatting and he set a good pace. We were both digging the ridge the trail took, which at various spots offered stellar views looking out. One spot in particular, “Charlie’s Bunion,” was truly awesome!

I got tired in the afternoon, but towards the end of the day seemed to get a second wind.

Pretty awesome scenery in this part of the park! I was super happy to be going through on a clear day with all the views.

The shelter was sadly 0.4 miles off the AT and downhill. That means climbing back tomorrow morning! Oof. Walking with Avery, we both filled up water on the way down and continued to check out Peck’s Corner Shelter. It was quite a full and happening place upon arrival including lots of kids. Looking for a tent spot, it was slim pickings and everything was pretty slanty. I settled for something not so ideal, but it was in good distance to the shelter and the cables for hanging my smelly items.

After setting up my tent I took all the food things over to cook and eat at the shelter. Eventually Gator joined. I met her a couple times, but never really got the chance to talk until now. It was a nice time hanging there together. Later on, Burger Man, who I’d met pretty early on the AT, showed up and joined the dining experience. While hanging, I learned there was a family staying at the shelter with six kids and they were thru-hiking together! There was also a scout troop, so that’s why it was so lively.

Around 7:30 pm or so I started getting my food and smelly things into my bag to hang. I had too much! Literally, I couldn’t fit everything in the one bag so I used my sleeping quilt bag and tied them together. Rumors were being thrown around that it was supposed to be a lot of rain overnight, so I tried to make sure the food was somewhat waterproof up on the cable. Mine isn’t the poncho-covered one below, although I thought that was a smart idea.

In my tent, I discovered the slantyness and roots weren’t as bad as I anticipated. Plus, I was tired after a few days of limited sleeping, so figured I could make it work. Here’s to hoping!