Thunderhead and on top of old Smokey

Is this Rocky Top, Tennessee?


Mollie's Ridge to Siler's Bald on top of old Smokey, Rocky Top and Thunderhead 17 miles

We passed a series of shelters in a short time and then climbed up the three peaks of Thunderhead. It was weird how there were no trees up there on top. It looked kind of like a nice, groomed, picnic area with exotic grasses and trimmed bushes; yet, it was all done naturally. They say that the Native American Indians had a lot of legends about the bald tops of these mountains. I think it’s aliens… We got up top and there was a Japanese guy I tried to talk to; but, he was pretty quiet even when I greeted him in Japanese. Maybe he was one of the Alien gardeners! Two girls came climbing up from the other direction and told us where we were, overhearing us arguing about it. It turned out we were at the World Famous Rocky Top. You know, the one in the song.

We stopped to get water at an unusually large shelter that seemed to have been built recently. I got a little extra and washed my feet. It was soooo nice. I'll have to remember that... Afterwards I lay on the grass and watched the chipmunks try to pretend they weren;t trying to get into our backpacks. It was a hot day and we went through nearly two gallons of drinking water each as we trudged through the Smokies. Grasshoppers were all over the place and I wanted to eat them.

We put in at Siler's Bald Shelter and met a bunch of section hikers from Alabama and other places. We pulled out the guitar and harmonica and played until we finally hit the sack. We want to get up early to get up Clingman's Dome and then down into Gatlinburg to resupply. The Guidebook states that “Gatlinburg is a full fledged tourist Mecca that overwhelms the senses.” Sounds like my kind of place. Where's the KARAOKE!!?? It's going to be cold and wet tonight... Grrrrrrr.

David AKA "Jukebox"

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