Hi all. Just writing to you from an unscheduled stop along the great Smoky Mountains.
The weather was pristine when we started off on Saturday: Sunny, in the 70s... shorts and T-shirt all the way. The next day was a little colder, and we actually got dusted with snow along our trek up and down the peaks. This made for a very cold night though (someone recorded a 25° temp), and we awoke Monday to two inches of snow on the ground, and it didn't look like it was letting up.
During our hike that day, we ran into a ridge-runner who informed us the temperature would dip into the teens that night. Since I own a 20° bag, this was not an option I wanted to go with. Everyone else was in agreement, so we had to find a way off the mountain. The only option was to catch a side trail off to a parking lot for Clingman's dome. From there, we had to walk 7 miles down a winding paved road to a shuttle. There were eleven of us in all, but we made it.
So after cramming into the 8-person van, we were off to Gatlinburg, the Tackiest Place on Earth ™. Seriously, the whole town is like a carnival on steroids. There are tons of restaurants and hotels, wax museums, haunted houses, Ripley's Believe it or Not, mirror mazes...the list goes on. I guess all this stuff is a hit with the southern tourists who probably don't take to kindly to us hiker-trash. But you can just feel the money being sucked out of your wallet. Luckily all of us scored a couple hotel rooms that came down to $6.25 a head. That, I can deal with.
Well, now it's off to the grocery store and outfitter. And tomorrow, we'll pick up where we left off!
- Long-shot
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10 comments:
Glad you stayed warm. Moochie and Fred are here-it must be spring!
Mom
Mom is still getting used to posting...
Rock, Blues, and Rap music share a common ancestor in the post-slavery club music of the early 20th century. Country music came down from the traditional white music of the mountains, which in turn was inspired by the particularly lame British music of the colonial era. Over the course of the last hundred years, Rock, Blues, and Rap have continued to evolve, pushing the boundaries of their respective genres, generally defined by their chord progressions and the idiosyncrasies of their percussion. Arguably, these genres have evolved beyond their classic definitions, with MathCore bands like Dilenger Escape Plan and Freestyle Lyric Jazz groups utilizing new and interesting timings that have clear roots but are not traditional Rock or Rap music. Blues music has also evolved, but doesn’t tend to find commercial viability, as whitey doesn’t like having his buttons pushed. Hence Country music. Modern Country music has evolved from a mountain sound to Rock music. Country now relies on the same prominent backbeat and 1/4/5 chord progression that was ground breaking for Rock and Blues 2 generations ago. The characteristics used to define modern Country are merely gimmicks: slide guitar and nasal singing. Rock, Blues, and Rap continue to look to other styles, such as folk, the early rock subgenres, traditional African, South American, and Chinese sounds, and even polka to push the boundaries of their respective genre. Country music has lost all of its traditional charm, becoming a generic, insufferable, and divisive bastard child of Rock. The elite white nature of Country is laughable, given that General Lee would have balked at the core-rattling, soul-stirring beats brought to this continent on blood-stained slave-ships. Fuel for the fire. Seriously, if you pick up their accent or have to move back down there to care for your unplanned mountain baby I'll be very disappointed.
Woohoo Gatlinburg - it is the tackiest place on earth - glad you didn't have too much of your money sucked away though!
good thing you have a superior multivitamin to keep you nourished, and to complement your diet of dehydrated fruits, beef jerky, and the occasional yet delectable assortment of animal feces when mom and dad's packages arrive late
I can't beat your mom's triple posting, but I can say keep on trucking, git 'er done, and have a ball doing it, which it sounds like you are...animal feces excluded...
go logan, go!!
also, mountain babies?
Longshot,
Hello from "Hatteras." Glad to read all continues to go well for you. Plus you got the full experience of spring in the Smokies. I recall similar experiences in 2003. I got to meet more of your fellow thru-hikers this past Friday (April 18) while doing the trail magic thing at Sams Gap. Most of this group is a bit ahead of you but not by much.
later,
Hatteras
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