Day 39: Clingman’s Dome to Newfound Gap

So this morning, I’ got a ride back to Clingman’s Dome from Nathan and Gloria on their way out of town. MotMot and Zeba also headed back today and had an hour-ish head start on me. We’d planned to arrive at the same location for the evening – Ice Water Shelter.

I got off to a slightly late start, but not by much. We arrived at Clingman’s Dome at about 1:00pm and I was on the trail and hiking by about 1:30pm. Remember that I had to hike 0.5 miles up that paved trail to get back to the A.T. Once up there, it was planned to be an 11 mile day to Ice Water Shelter.

My hiking just didn’t feel right today. I can’t be sure why – it certainly had nothing to do with the weather. The trail conditions were muddy and wet just like the last several days I’d hiked. But at least it wasn’t currently raining which would’ve added moisture into the mix. My mood had nothing to do with either the weather or the trail conditions – it was more generic, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong. It felt somewhat similar to when I left Hiawassee and returned to the trail, but different. I had feelings of boredom while hiking. Feelings like, “I’ve done this – I know what this is like and I’m tired of it.” It reminded me of a warning I’d read in Zack Davis’s “Appalachian Trials” book – he talks about “the honeymoon period” eventually wearing off. He warns to be prepared for this phenomena which every hiker will eventually experience.

While hiking, I came to the realization that I’d be crossing Newfound Gap about 3 miles short of Ice Water Shelter, which was my original destination before heading to Gatlinburg. I knew that if my hike wasn’t going right, or if I felt that Ice Water Shelter was out of reach for physical or time reasons, that Newfound Gap would be a viable bailout option.

I finally arrived at Newfound Gap at 6:00pm. Shortly before arriving, I’d actually caught up with MotMot and Zeeba and leapfrogged with them for about 30 minutes. I’d expected them to be far ahead, so catching them was a nice surprise. Unfortunately for my hike, it wasn’t enough of a surprise. I’d allowed myself to become mentally invested in returning to Gatlinburg for at least the night.

So that’s what I did – upon reaching Newfound Gap and visiting with MotMot and Zeeba for a little bit, I called for a ride into Gatlinburg. I wasn’t sure if I’d stay just the night, or take yet another zero or what I’d do. I even had thoughts of renting a car and going on a driving tour for a while. I just knew that immediately I needed to go back into town to try and get my head back in the game.

During the ride here, I had “buyer’s remorse” syndrome. What if I’d just forced myself to punch out those last 3 miles to Ice Water Shelter??? I’d be there with friends, possibly hiking in the dark. But at least I’d be on the trail making progress, and not stuck in town. However, “buyer’s remorse” was not doing anything useful for me. Right or wrong, I’d made my decision to come back in town. All I could do now was to live with it and to plan forward.

So, rather than wait for the next town stay in Hot Springs to upload pictures for today, I’m placing them here. I didn’t take many pictures this day – only a few after arriving at Newfound Gap. Here they are:

Across the A.T. to the parking lot at Newfound Gap

From the parking area looking across US 441

Me at Newfound Gap

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As of now, not sure what the plan is…

Wandering On…

Mojo