Rain in the Smokies, as usual.

Rain in the Smokies, as usual.
Coming out of Gatlinburg to Peck's Shelter, 11 miles

Last night we Karoke’d and ate the Feast of Kings at Peddler restaurant in G-Burg. We changed hotels when we decided to stay another night and ended up staying at the Microtel which was cool; they gave us a double room for $40. We got up early and ate all of the muffins and bagels that they had in the little complimentary lounge thing there. Blue Blaze was going to give us a ride to the trailhead in his truck. This is why we called him Blue Blaze, since he was helping us take side trips on the trail.

It was raining; of course. We stayed in Gatlinburg an extra day to avoid the imminent rain and then it held off and waited for us. We piled in to the back of Blue Blaze’s Pickup truck and headed up the mountain to Newfound Gap to resume our quest. It was a nasty hike and the shelter was full when we got there. That didn’t really affect me anyway because I always stay in the Hammock. Tonight would be the first night I would test it in very rainy conditions though.

I wanted to get water and the brothers wanted to sit around in the shelter (not to mention I wanted to keep going and get to the next shelter, but they didn't) so I started to get cranky and a little bitchy. I began to chastise them a little unfairly. I decided I would go get the water by myself. I was having a little tantrum and getting the water is really a three man operation. You can get by with two; but one guy, well it was going to be a real pain in the ass purifying 12 liters of water in the rain, from a little stream, holding and filling and purifying. Being stubborn and angry, I didn’t care. In front of all the people huddled in the shelter I stingingly quipped, "This is great, I always wanted to know what it would be like to have sisters!" Cyclone was not pleased. I later found out he was so ticked off, he was planning on leaving the trail right there. Rolex said, “You don’t have to be such a dick!” That was the strongest language he’s used with me in his life.

I huffed off to get the water and it took a while but I didn’t care; in fact, the harder it was, the better I felt that I was getting it done alone. I was lost in a full, grumpy crank fest. The exertion gets me a little salty at the end of the day and I sometimes take it out on the boys. We keep having little spats but all in all we've been having an amazing adventure. It's a grueling experience though. These hills are no joke; and we're still packing heavier than 99% of the people out here. I’m kind of proud of that; but, people keep advising us to lighten up. You can imagine how I feel about that. My body will adjust. I’ll be stronger than all of them soon.

Cyclone came down just as I was finishing and we kind of made up. He helped carry the stuff back up. I washed off my muddy legs near the stream and put on all my clothes to go to bed. It's been cold in that hammock so I'm trying to get as warm as possible. I keep going through periods of sweaty freeze and then hot mugginess in my sleeping bag. I haven’t figured out how to do it correctly yet. Not having good sleep really takes its toll on you and it’s affecting our ability to get in the miles.

David AKA "Jukebox"

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