Day 44 – Clingman’s Dome, “Blueberry” and Gatlinburg

Thursday, June 2nd

Siler’s Bald Shelter (195.5 mi) to Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg, TN (207.7 mi)

Hiking Miles: 12.2

Total Ascent: 2,798.2 ft

Total Descent: 3,222.1 ft

Total Grade: 494.8 ft/mi

Steps: 38,298

I woke up at 4:45 am before the sun rose (or before the earth rotated enough to see it) and left by 5:30 am to get a jump on the anticipated tough 4-miler to Clingman’s Dome, the highest elevation (6,643 feet) on the entire Appalachian Trail. I also wanted to time it such that Stevie and I could meet and climb the concrete ramp to the dome together. It worked out perfectly, and we climbed the dome just past 8 am. Unfortunately it was very foggy and the typical beautiful scenery at the top was simply not viewable. While at the the dome, we did meet a couple who were from Florida (I had originally passed them at the Double Spring Shelter where they stayed for the evening), and they were only hiking for a few days. The had young children at home.

Stevie and I only hiked 12.2 miles today because we decided to go into the popular town of Gatlinburg, TN for the day and a night’s stay. We stopped at Newfound Gap, called to reserve a room at the Holiday Inn Express, then contacted a shuttle driver named “Packrat” who informed us that his brother “Smokey Bear”, was doing the shuttling today and that he would be picking us up to drive us into town. We would also use this opportunity to recharge, do laundry, resupply – all the typical stuff we do periodically when available.

While at Newfound Gap, we crossed a North Carolina/Tennessee State Line and there was a popular sign where visitors took photos. Of course while on trail, hikers weave in and out of North Carolina and Tennessee as it essentially follows the border through the mountain region. While we waited, I called Teresa (from the top of a rock tower) and Stevie called Christina, to see how they were doing and to give them a status.

Smoky Bear picked us up in a grey Jeep Cherokee with an orange bag strapped to the top. I noticed the jeep was up there in age; it actually had 380,000 miles registered on its odometer. Just before hopping in, I had been talking to a 2018 AT Thru-hiker whose trail name was “Blueberry”. She had asked me if I was thru hiking and where exactly the trail re-started (going north) out of Newfound Gap. I had to catch my ride, and I wish I had more time to talk to Blueberry and learn more about her amazing hike.

UPDATE: After finishing the AT, I did research and found articles on Blueberry and her amazing journey through the AT, and other hikes.

Smokey Bear was an interesting character – a 60-year old addicted hiker who claimed to have hiked 3,000 miles on the AT, but never through. He was knowledgeable about Gatlinburg, as well as other places to stay beyond that along our journey.

After he dropped us off, Stevie took a pic with Smokey Bear, then we checked into the Holiday Inn at 2 pm. No sooner we did that, that it started to downpour. We were so glad we were not on trail, or still waiting for a ride. While waiting in the lobby for the rain to subside, we bought a six pack of Yeungling, a bag of Dorito’s and Funyans to snack before we walked into town for lunch. We saved a few beers for when we watched the Celtics-Warriors play Game 1 of the NBA Finals that night.

We walked into town and were amazed at all of the things one could do (arcades, restaurants, shopping, tramways, etc.). We stopped into Harold’s Restaurant and ordered burgers, fries and sodas. It was so good! We then resupplied at Walgreens (Stevie signed up for a store membership and received an immediate $25 discount) and made our way back to the hotel.

We passed a cool ice cream store called “Crazy Mason” that featured artistically crafted ice cream sundaes in mason jars that you could keep. We returned there later that evening and each ordered a sundae. The servers were ice cream sundae artists (over 30 designs to choose from). I got “Butter My Waffle” and Stevie got “Build Me Up Buttercup”, and we ate them back at the hotel.