Day 17 of AT in TN NOBO

Newfound Gap Parking Lot (mile marker 207.8) to Peck’s Corner (#218.2).
Daily Mileage: 10.4

Mike the shuttle driver picked me up at my hotel in Gatlinburg and dropped me back off at Newfound Gap at Noon. A very funny 65 year old guy with Dad jokes galore. The 25 min drive back up the mtn went by quickly.

My hike began by checking out the bathrooms where many a hiker has had to camp out (sometimes for days) during winter weather when the road down to Gatlinburg is closed, which it often is in bad winter weather. They keep the bathrooms open all year round just in case. The opposite is also true that sometimes a hiker will get down to Gatlinburg in Jan-April, but then they close the road for up to 6 days and you are stuck in G unless a nice snowplow dude takes mercy on you and agrees to take you back up to Newfound!

It was a much more moderate afternoon as far as hills go, so it was a very pleasant ridge-run to Peck’s Corner Shelter in the nice but cloudy 50 degree weather. The highlight of the afternoon was getting to Charlie’s Bunion, a jagged, rocky outcropping that tests your nerves with severe drops to the valley below. I got close to the Bunion itself, but was happy to stay back a bit and take a picture of a young couple sitting mere feet away from doom. You know, no big whoop.

Got to the shelter at @ 6pm with 12 hikers already sitting around eating and swapping stories. This was a new crew I hadn’t met before. More than half were men & women in their 60’s & 70’s out for 1-2 week section hikes. 8 of us stayed in the shelter that
Night and had some great discussion (or at least I sat back and heard some great “life observation” stories I may or may not have asked to hear! 😉).もっと詳しく