My new hat
The local church runs a twice a day shuttle to and from the trail which leaves from the NOC. I was able to get on it. It only holds up to 11 people and there must have been 25 people wanting to get on it. I was the second hiker to show up so I'm glad i got a spot but a group had ran over and got in before the hikers who were there waiting for a while for the shuttle. It wasn't fair but it was what it was.
The asshole in the blue shirt made a big fuss over it. He was so rude, it was a free ride and people donated the money for gas to make it happen. He was able to get the last seat which just so happened to be next to me. I'm really getting sick of him. He was behind me for a solid 30min on the trail too. I was trying to hike faster to get away from him but wow, he could move for being a heavier middle-aged guy. I ended up just waiting for him to pass me. I really want to get away from him on the trail.
It's been raining all morning. There was a heavy fog in the mountains. You could just see it from down in Gatlinburg. Newfound gap was just a grey blur. It was a light rain which turned into a medium rain, no thunder or anything. It was cold out but it wasn't much of a problem while hiking. I got to the first shelter which was just 3 miles in, with the intension of going two more shelters dowm making it a 15 mile day. I ended up staying. I was just drenched and cold. I didn't want a repeat of Standing Indian Mountain where hypothermia was a real concern. The next shelter is over 7 miles away.
The rain did clear up slowly over the next few hours, still very misty and foggy. I could have made it to one more shelter down if I had left again or even to the one I originally planned on going to if I hadn't have stopped. For all I know I could have ended up in another wave of cold rain. The blue shirt guy had walked on and I like the crowd here. It still bums me out that it's taking me so much longer than I
originally planned to get this far. Everyone I know is so much farther ahead of me. I really needed the rest in Gatlinburg though, my body felt so worn out, it needed the rest. My new insoles seem to be doing great. I really need to walk in them longer to see how they do though, same goes for the knee support bands that I picked up yesterday. I ended up slipping and falling into the mud on the way to the shelter.
Here and there ever since Georgia there has been this deep thumping noise and I finally learned what it is. It's a ruffed grouse. I haven't seen one yet but there was one going off every ten minutes it seemed outside the shelter.
There's a cute kangaroo mouse in the shelter. It's either jumping around or just hanging out. She's really cute and has the longest tail ever! I hope that she isn't a problem tonight but for now she is quite entertaining. This will be my second night sleeping in a shelter. I prefer to stay in my own tent but it's so cold and rainy that the shelter is much more appealing tonight.
View from in the shelter
Tonight at Icewater Spring Shelter I'm at mile 209.8 with 1983 left to go.
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