Day 18-3/28-Double Spring Gap Shelter to Newfound Gap-10.8 miles

The start of the day brought Clingman's Tower, a concrete ramp that takes many tourists up to an overlook. The ramp isn't on the AT, but a short hike off trail. The trail also reaches it's highest point as it crests Clingman's Dome. When I reached the top the views were minimal due to cloud cover and the wind was very strong and quite cold. No tourists had reached the top yet. I had noted that some of the best views that I had seen so far had all come from man-made structures. I hoped for something more natural, and I wouldn't have to wait long.

(Just in case you were wondering, no, I didn't take this picture.)

Obviously it's got to be downhill from here, and as I dropped down 1500' my knee began to hurt. It wasn't far until Newfound Gap, which is where hikers who need to resupply in Gatlinburg can hop off the trail and hitch a ride. I hadn't planned on stopping in Gatlinburg, having been there multiple times before, the first being enough. I decided to stop, though, because my fuel bottle had been leaking meaning I didn't have enough to cook for the next several days, and because I felt my knee could use the rest. The forest had a different feel through this section, being primarily evergreen and very enclosed compared to most other parts. Due to the recent rains the trail was quite wet, and it looked like a similar problem had caused many of the trees in this section to uproot at some point. You can see how small my pack is in the lower-left for scale. I also crossed some strange-looking grates near some of the only fences I had seen on the trail. Signage informed me that the grates kept the invasive wild hog out of a protected area. No hogs were seen.


When I hit Newfound Gap I caught several of the hikers that I had stayed with the night previous. They were going to continue hiking out of the Smokies, while I hitched a ride the 15 miles into town with a couple from Alabama. I called Squatch when I arrived to see if he was still in town. He was, and he already had a room for the evening so we agreed to split it. We caught the trolley out to the only grocery store around for a resupply and hit up dinner at the Brewery. Apparently it was a popular spot because the waitress let me know they were out of everything I attempting to order. Dollar beers after nine made up for it.