[at-l] HATT section Davenport Gap to Newfound Gap (GSMNP) [long]

[rbenhameda@comcast.net (Rami)]

Davenport Gap 7:15 am on Friday, 8-30-02
to
Newfound Gap 4:00 pm on Sunday, 9-1-02

pictures will follow when I get them back from processing.


I signed Susan and myself up for this trip almost as soon as this years sec=
tions were put online.  I didn't tell Susan about it until MUCH later.  Thi=
s was going to be the longest hike of her life, and, under a schedule.  She=
 would need a little psyching up before I broke the news to her.....


Well needless to say, she was a little nervous, but willing, and even bette=
r, excited.  We started planning a couple of months ago, looking at maps, c=
alling the backcountry office, checking the weather.  Soon we were ready.


We had one little hiccup before we left, our two handshakes bailed on us!  =
Toey had to bail because of his car and his boys (being in school) and I ne=
ver heard why cricket and flamingo weren't going.  Oh well, there went the =
schedule, we could now start and end whenever we wanted.

We drove down to the park Thursday morning after the girls got on the schoo=
l bus and were in the car for eight hours.  I had made reservations in Elkm=
ont campground for Thursday night right by the river.  We stopped in Gatlin=
burg and got a pizza for dinner.  We took it with us and checked in and set=
 up camp.  It was a superb night.  Cool and breezy with frogs and river noi=
ses all night long.  We woke at 5a.m. to break camp and drive up to newfoun=
d gap to meet our shuttle.  As it turned out, we followed him up and pulled=
 into the parking lot together.

We moved our packs and poles into his Jeep, and made our way around to Dave=
nport Gap.  We had a great drive and a nice talk, and soon we were waiting =
at the trailhead.  We had decided to lighten up quite a bit on our base gea=
r so that we could bring a little more extravagant food for our meals.  We =
ended up with base pack weights of 16 lbs. for Susan, and 19lbs. for me.  W=
e donned our packs, took our obligatory pictures, shook hands, and started =
walking.

Our hike is almost 40 miles, with the walks down to the shelters, and on si=
de trails, call it an even 40.  We will be gaining over 7000 feet of elevat=
ion and loosing over 4000 feet.  A good part of that elevation gain is our =
first days hike.  We start at 1900 feet and before we end for the day, we t=
op out above 5000 feet in just over 5 miles.

The weather was perfect, cool and dry.  As we climbed into the forest, we l=
ost the sounds of car traffic below us and slowly walked into the solitude =
and silence of the clouds.  We were savoring the smells of the soil, the mi=
nt.  When we reached the side trail to Mt. Cammerer, we decided to take the=
 .6 mile trip out to have lunch.  We were merrily trucking our way out and =
marveling at the work the CCC had done and the maintainers continue to do w=
hen we were surprised to see our first people of the day.  They were two da=
y hikers who had gone out to take pictures and had a helpful rattlesnake wa=
rning for us.  They had scared one away a few moments before and wanted us =
to know where it was just in case it was back.  We had our camera out just =
in case, but they had done too good of a job so we didn't get to see him.  =
We did, however see some magnificent views from the lookout of Mt. Cammerer=
 which was built by the CCC in the '30's of stone HAND CARRIED up there and=
 lumber cut and hauled from the forest below.  What an amazing piece of wor=
k they accomplished.  It's a shame it was only used for 30 years before bei=
ng abandoned.

We made our way the rest of the way up the trail and to the lookout and had=
 a nice lunch and chilled for about an hour.  Susan's feet were doing great=
, no blisters, but a bit swollen so she took off her boots and propped up h=
er feet for a while.  The views (of the mountains, not her feet) were magni=
ficent.  I've been coming to the Smoky's for decades and I've never seen su=
ch enormous views as I did on this trip.  This is an amazing part of the pa=
rk and I 'll be coming back here many more times to enjoy it.

After our lunch and chill out, we made our way back to the AT and proceeded=
 up the trail (or down it I guess since we were going SOBO) to Cosby Knob S=
helter.  The shelter has been newly de-fenced and looks like it might be in=
 line for a complete remodeling as some of the other shelters in the park h=
ave been.  It was a nice shelter with a new privy and new bear cables.  The=
 spring was steady but not very strong, and the hummingbirds were getting t=
heir end of the season nectar from the flowers in front of the shelter.

We made our dinner and hot chocolate, and set up our pads and bags for the =
night.  Right about the time we were finishing our meal, another couple cam=
e down the trail.  Nan and Ed from Knoxville were going to be sharing the s=
helter with us.  The were extremely nice and very friendly.  We enjoyed the=
ir company and conversation.  Just as Ed and Nan were finishing their meal,=
 a group of three, Dave, Dave and Michelle from South Carolina came down th=
e trail.  They also would be sharing the shelter with us.

We had good conversation, and learned that Dave, Dave, and Michelle would b=
e joining us on the trail the next day, while Ed and Nan would be going Nor=
th in the morning.

Susan had a mouse run across her head in the night.  She woke up for the ev=
ent, but when she realized the little shelter mate wouldn't be bedding down=
 in her hair, she rolled over and went back to sleep.  I'm so proud!

In the morning, we were the first ones off and we felt great.  It was in  t=
he mid 50's (overnight low in the high 40's or low 50's I think) and stayed=
 cool almost all day.  There was a very slight breeze to keep the sweat wor=
king, and for a good part of the day, we were in clouds.  We traded off eat=
ing cobwebs with one of the Daves and enjoyed the living hell out of that s=
ection of trail.  It was in turns, primeval and ancient, and newly groomed.=
  What a contrast!  I felt like I was in Middle Earth most of the day.

At about .1 mile from the sign for tricorner knob shelter, we were walking =
past a stand of rhododendron when I looked up to see the chipmunk or squirr=
el that was making such a racket.  It wasn't a rodent at all!  It was a Bla=
ck Bear Cub!  My damn camera was out of film!  Where was mama?  Susan's cam=
era is in her pocket! He's gone!!! Damn! Where's mama? Oh well, we at least=
 got to see him for a few seconds.  Even if there's no proof.

We feasted on blackberries and spiderwebs most of the day and ended up doin=
g the eight miles to the next shelter (tricorner knob) before lunch time.  =
We ate, filtered water, and decided to push on to Pecks Corner to sleep tha=
t night (only about 6 more miles, and most of that down)  Our decision was =
made certain when, as we were eating, a group of insane geriatrics (their t=
erm, not ours) came in for water on their single day Northbound hike from N=
ewfound Gap to Davenport Gap and told us that a horse camp was on their way=
 to where we were for the night.  They had 7 horses and 2 pack mules.  We h=
it the trail.

This is another outstanding section of trail with large boulders, massive r=
oot structures, fallen trees, and at times almost imperceptible trailbed.  =
We eventually ran into the horse camp only to discover that all of that hor=
sepower (pun intended) was for just 4 people!  How on earth could 4 people =
ever possibly use all of that stuff?

We made it to the sign for Pecks Corner with thunder booming all around us,=
 but only a few sprinkles.  The sign says .2 miles, but it's a damn dirty l=
ie.  It's really more like .7 miles.  It too has a new privy, as well as a =
fantastic new shelter renovation.  There are benches and a bar for cooking,=
 reading, etc. on under the roof at the front, a nice step up, tons of plac=
es to hang stuff and clean.  We spent that night with Ridge Runner Bob, two=
 of his friends from Chicago, a couple of guys on horses (4, 2 with saddles=
, and 2 with packs), and a family of 6.  It was a full shelter.

We were kept awake at first by the family of 6 who decided that they wanted=
 to have their loud laughing conversation inside the shelter instead of out=
 by the fire where the other 5 people were, but we soon remedied that situa=
tion.  I had brought ear plugs!  We snoozed hard and woke early. (insert ev=
il grinning chuckle here)

We were again the first ones off and although we were going to the same pla=
ce, we didn't expect to see the friends of Ridge Runner Bob again because t=
hey informed us that their 7 mile trip the day before had taken them more t=
han 8 hours to complete, and that was mostly down hill.  We set out trying =
to avoid the road apples and trying to find the smells of the forest again =
over the stable smells, and were thankful that the AT from here South was a=
 horse free zone.

This section of trail is where the grandest views were.  We could see for c=
lose to a hundred miles in any direction for most of the morning.  We occas=
ionally walked in clouds, but the trend for the day was going to be sun.  S=
usan was grouchy whenever we were in the sun.  She cursed.
We took lots of pictures here hoping that we would get at least a part of t=
he feel for this section.  It was incredible (sounding redundant again aren=
't I)

Then we started to see people.  We were getting close to Charlie's Bunion a=
nd there were people mucking up our wonderful solitude.  We opted not to ma=
ke the detour out to the bunion because it was socked in with a rare (for t=
he day) cloud bank and because that's were all the people were headed.

It only got worse.

We made it to Icewater springs shelter for an early lunch and were getting =
grumpier by the minute.  There was trash everywhere and half eaten snacks l=
aying around.  Even if we had wanted to stay in the shelter, we wouldn't ha=
ve because of all of the crap.  We moved on down the trail and things got w=
orse.

There was trash everywhere;  cigarette butts, corners of power bar wrappers=
, bottles and bottle tops.  Within a few minutes our pockets were full.  We=
 only had a couple miles to go before the parking lot and it was hideous.  =
We were starting to hear road noises and people yelling at their kids.  We =
were really grouchy now.

>From the parking lot at Newfound Gap to Charlie's Bunion is a little more t=
han 4 miles with an elevation gain in the first 2.5 miles of more than 1000=
 feet and a loss in the next mile and a half of more than 600 ft.

When we were about .1 mile from the parking lot, we saw an older gentleman =
walking with a cane.  He was there with his daughter (mid 30's) and it was =
close to 4 pm.  I made small talk with him and cautioned that the trail was=
 a pretty good climb for the next couple of hours and that I wouldn't recom=
mend it without water at least.  The daughter seemed concerned, but he didn=
't.  I didn't push the issue, but I felt bad the rest of the day for not do=
ing so.

A few minutes after that, we came upon a family of 8 from Korea.  They had =
two children under 4, and two grandparents over 60, no water, and all of th=
e women were wearing platform flip flops.  I warned them against going any =
further explaining that it would take them several hours just to get there =
and several more to get back to their car.  They also disregarded my warnin=
g.

We got to the parking lot with 4 pictures left in the camera.  We asked a c=
ouple to take our picture, we hugged, shook hands, loaded the packs in the =
car and drove away.  I was ready to chew steel I was in such a foul mood.  =
Susan was feeling the same way.  We both were so unhappy to be leaving the =
beautiful silence of our hike and the greatest insult of all was that we co=
uldn't savor our time the way we wanted to.  We had to share the place with=
 the largest pack of evolutionary rejects I had seen in a long time.  I kep=
t waiting to hear "Hey y'all, watch this!".  In addition, to the people, th=
ere was just too damned much noise.  People honking the freaking car horns =
every time they got close to a tunnel, Harleys all over the damned place ma=
king such a racket, I just wanted to run them over a scenic overlook.  What=
 a rotten way to end such a wonderful hike.

In the end, we drove to Knoxville, got a steak and hotel room and crashed f=
or the night.  We drove home in the morning when our senses were more adjus=
ted to the people, and no longer really remember why we were such ass-holes=
 about it.  We had such a brilliant hike that no amount of bad could out sh=
adow it.  It was supremely wonderful and we will definitely be doing it aga=
in.