Journals

According to Pittsburgh:

APRIL 26, 1997 - SATURDAY
   two additional things worth noting happened yesterday. PACK MULE has decided that he would rather be called PANTHER FAN, in reference to the CAROLINA NFL football franchise, AND we picked up an additional SLACKPACKER. her name is SHAMROCK, and she will be with us until DAMASCUS VA...
   today we hiked into the GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK. it has been said that the four favorite words for a thru-hiker are ALL YOU CAN EAT. we have discovered the four least favorite words: COLD, WET, WINDY and STEEP. SUNSHINE, MYSELF, SHAMROCK and CINDA (trail name TIMMY) experienced these conditions in various combinations all day long. with the EVIL BACKPACKS on, we somehow made it to RUSSELL FIELD shelter, after an extended stop at MOLLIES RIDGE shelter for a hot lunch...
   there were thru-hikers, section hikers, and weekenders in the shelters. we ran across ACHILL JACK, LAZY BOY, TIM, SHAMAN, HAIR BEAR, LADDER (whose dog, named HOOK, is not with him in the SMOKIES). a few new names were GRASSHOPPER, WEB CATCHER, PUSHCART, STICKS, DREAM CATCHER, TORTOISE and HARE, and many whose names i forget...
   the highlight of the day was a malfunctioning stove (or malfunctioning stove operator), that flared up and took a couple of inches off of my beard. i had not moved so fast in years...

APRIL 27, 1997 - SUNDAY
same thing, different day. made it to DERRICK KNOB shelter...

APRIL 28, 1997 - MONDAY
we struggled to CLINGSMAN DOME (the highest point on the entire AT at 6643 feet), where GILAMAN, PANTHER FAN, and AL WILLIAMSON (TIMMY's husband, aka PETER PAN) were waiting. golly gee, were we ever happy to see them! 22 miles later, we were at the STONY BROOK MOTEL, in GATLINBURG TN. we took showers and went to RUBY TUESDAYS for supper. today was TIMMY's birthday, and a celebration, with CAKE and CHAMPAGNE, was planned, but we were just too darn tired. maybe tomorrow...

APRIL 29, 1997 - TUESDAY
   lazy morning. breakfast at a ATRIUM PANCAKE HOUSE. high prices, small portions. [also avoid the HEIDELBERG RESTAURANT. the tip is automatically included in on the check, which leaves no incentive for good service] GILAMAN and PANTHER FAN headed out to do laundry. PETER PAN headed out to get some photos developed. the rest of us worked our journals...
   just after noon, GILAMAN and the hikers headed to CLINGMANS DOME for a SLACKPACK to NEWFOUND GAP. the day was glorious, the packs were off, and our feet barely touched the ground as we flew down the trail. what a pleasure it was to have warm, dry weather, and scenery...
   we headed for the PIZZA HUT in PIGEON FORGE. we didn't go to the PIZZA HUT in GATLINBURG, even though it was closer, because we would have had to pay for public parking. after THREE LARGE PIZZA's and two large orders of CHEESE BREAD STICKS, all seven of us were full and happy. we then headed back to the motel to pack the EVIL BACKPACKS for the next three days in the SMOKIES. we then had the long awaited BIRTHDAY celebration for TIMMY. we sang out of key, drank CHAMPAGNE, and ate CAKE...
   the weather looks good for the next few days. what a welcome change that would be after the time we had at the beginning of the SMOKIES. some of us don't mind the shelters, rain or no rain, but some of us would much rather tent. for this, we need clear skies, or else we would be packing out very wet, heavy tents...

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