This past Fri,Sat,Sun we hiked from Newfound Gap to Davenport Gap
Pre-hike activities: met Lady Di in Cosby area and dropped off vehicle at the ranger station, found the Smokey Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg and cleaned out the kidneys, stayed at the Grand Prix motel and did a 3am swim to loosen up the legs
…nice climb out of Newfound beginning at 52 degrees Friday morning…combo of mist and rain for two days but did get quick (5sec.)glimpses of the beyond the Bunion views…We liked the removal of the chain link fences at some of the shelters-hope they keep up the trend because it forces hikers to be clean and that meant less mice. Also was very impressed with the moldering privies-amazing how they DONT stink! Def. something that should spread in use…last day was sunny but we were past most of the viewpoints in this section by then. The last shelter was Cosby Knob-what a dump, they should burn it down and start all over.
Enjoyed our hiking companion-Lady Di- who came down from PA to do this section completing her Smokies quest, she was full of tidbits the one I will assimilate is the use of a collapsible bucket for bringing much water back to the shelter at one time.
New equipement used: the GVP-4 was awesome, loved the fact that my spare socks were the padding for my shoulder straps and my mittens were the padding for the hip belt…a better version of the mousetrap as compared to the Golite which I have used for many hikes-let Pam use it for the first time and she used a hip pack to transfer some weight to her hips…For 14 ounces the GVP-4 absolutely rules, the z-rest is excellent for framing the pack but in my opinion worthless for shelter use (remember you have to stay in the shelters in the Smokies). The z-rest pad would probably be much better on the ground where you could augment it with pine straw,leaves, etc.
Most memorable scene: The Bunion of course
Worst climb: up Cosby Knob only because we didnt know about it!
Worst downhill: to Davenport, not really bad but reminded me of the drop to the Colorado River on the Bright Angel Trail
Biggest mistake: 4 pounds too much clothes…could have left some at home and taken the ThermaRest but you never know about the weather in the Smokies even in July…would love to try a ThermaRest/z-pad combo…
Next hike: Clingman’s Dome to Fontana in August and that will get me from Fontana to I-77 outside of Pearisburg…
Hikers met and remembered:
Plantman-out of Appalachian State University, a botany student (he had green hair), getting paid 1000 dollars to catalogue invasive plants from GA to VA on the AT, met him at Mountain Momma’s Resturant, and an emphatic yes to their cheeseburgers!
Jim Moore-retired international 747 pilot out of Memphis who is sectioning the whole AT, stays at home for 2 weeks then does 100 miles then repeats the process, he said that Castaway was not realistic from a big jet pilot’s point of view.
Michael Farr-who gave us an unbeliev. concert at Cosby Knob Shelter on the guitar…unreal to find such talent on the trail when you least expect it.
Dachonkin