5/4/99 Mt. Collins Shelter   Miles Today : 22.3 Miles from Springer : 199.1

- AM Edition -

Well, it happened. I had my first close encounter with a mouse! He ran right across my arm as I was about to fall asleep. Also, I forgot to mention that the GSMNP requires everyone to stay in shelters due to bear problems, and all at the shelters are FENCED in. Very interesting. The fireplaces are nice though and help to keep away the bugs.

- Mt. Collins Shelter -

Wow, just another great hiking day on the AT. The Smokies are absolutely beautiful and amazing. The scenery here is very different from anything that I have seen before. Semi-bald mountains can be found everywhere. Have you ever summitted a mountain to find sparse trees and PASTURE? And the trees (mostly dogwoods) are turning all sorts of different colors right now. The in the middle of one of those amazing mountains, I look up and there is a deer only a few yards in front of me!

Not all was well today, however. My pack continued to give me more problems despite the fact that I found more ways to adjust it. Also, I did not feel well last night or most of today due to something I ate/drank.

Once I got to the top of Sivers Bald, my luck changed. From here I could see Clingman's Dome, 5 miles away and the highest point on the AT at 6643 (Note: Washington is 6288). The climb up was overall very disappointing. This trail, like many in the Smokies, has been graded for horse use. While this range hasn't been easy, Georgia often had more of a punch.

Upon seeing the Dome, my stomach felt better and my legs were stronger than they had been in days. All I had to do was get to the top, call Donald who would pick me up and give me a free meal, lodging, shower!

Well that didn't go well either, since there was neither a phone or ranger on top of the mountain. I did find someone with a working cell phone, but when I got a hold of Donald, he said that it would be two hours until he could pick me up - it was already 6:15.

So not wanting to sit in a parking lot until dark, I opted to hike the two miles to the next shelter. One problem here : I read the book wrong and it was 4 miles.

I finally arrived here around 7:30 starving with no water. With startling efficiency I changed, filled my water, cooked, ate and set up bed in 45 minutes. There are six people here, with Rick being the only other Thru-Hiker.

As I lie here finishing my journal by headlamp I think of all the tough days I have had, and of the ones to come. I also realize the two most likely things to cause me to quit: heat and bugs. Both were terrible mid-day today and both will only get worse.

But as always seems to be the case out here, everything seems alright at night, and I did get to see a beautiful sunset through the trees with more colors than I have seen before, Mmm... Sleepy.

-Chomp

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