Day 17: Top of the world!

Hiked 21 miles, camping at Mt. Collins shelter.

Ok, maybe not the top of the world, but we are at the top of the AT!  I'll get to that in a minute though.

What a tempest we had last night.  The wind was absolutely whipping across the mountain and the rain came down in buckets.  Luckily we were safely stuffed into the shelter.  There were a ton of branches falling onto the shelter roof all night, our tents could have been in trouble.  The lightning was like someone shining a flashlight around the shelter and the thunder echoed all over the mountain.  Being in the safety of the shelter it was really cool to be in the middle of.  I might have been a little concerned if I was still hiking.

We survived the night and the rain had mostly stopped by the time we got up.  We were in and out of a dense fog all morning.  It was great to hike through, although some of the great views we were supposed to have were obscured which was unfortunate.  We can't have perfect weather the whole time though.  Long Gone and I were hiking together for a while and we saw an enormous wild turkey this morning.  Wish I could have gotten a photo but I'm still relying on Why Not's camera.  Later in the afternoon while hiking with Titan we came across an earthworm as long as my arm.  The wild flowers are just starting to poke out and we are starting to see buds on trees and bushes so spring is coming and it's already starting to become very pretty at lower altitudes.  It is amazing the difference that a few thousand feet will make on the progress of spring.

Hiking up to Clingman's Dome

Getting a little higher...

The trail was a river in some places from all the rain and deep mud in others.  We made great time this morning though getting 12 miles by 12 o'clock.  As I said I hiked with Long Gone for a while and then hiked with Titan and occasionally Giants Bane who we saw this afternoon. 

As we continued through the day the clouds burned off more and more until there was not a cloud in the sky.  We got to Double Springs shelter around midday and found a really nice ridge runner and chatted with him for a bit.  He informed us that we should really head up to Clingman's today given the current weather and that our plan for sunrise on top might not be the best given that Clingmans usually has fog on it in the morning even on a perfectly clear day.  Given what he said we decided to try for sunset today instead.  This meant a four mile night hike over Mt Collins with a new moon (so no moon light) but it was absolutely worth it.  We got to Clingmans around 4 and hung out for a while.  Why Not and Srocket decided to skip the sunset and just go to camp, so only Titan and I stayed.  Nothing more manly than two dudes watching the sunset together drinking hot cider...

On top of Clingman's Dome tower

View from Clingmans

Why Not on Clingmans

Why Not, Me, Srocket and Titan

Me on Clingmans

Why Not and Srocket at the base of the Clingmans tower

We spent our time waiting for sunset eating dinner and talking to tourists.  It was cold so we got all bundled up but it was worth it to spend the 4-5 hours just taking in the sights.  The sunset did not disappoint.  Wow.  Pictures just can't do it justice.  Our view from Clingman's was extremely rare.  The ranger indicated that due to the fact we could see Mt. Mitchell clearly at 73 miles away our viewing distance was at least 100 miles.  Theoretically we could see 5 states I think he said.

Sun is setting now

Huddled up at the top of the tower, waiting for sunset

Shadows are getting longer

Add caption

Outline of Titan and I (I'm on the left)

Cool profile picture with Titan

Gatlinburg

It was so cold up there (well below freezing) that while observing the sunrise we would stand up in our sleeping bags, bunny hop to the edge up the platform, expose just our hands to take the photo and bunny hop back.  We posed quite the picture for the other tourists that came and left the tower quickly, but we got some great photos to remember it!

As soon as it was over we packed up and headed out quickly.  Off we went to Mt. Collins shelter.  The stars were pretty great (though we couldn't quite see the milky way) and we got an excellent view of Gatlinburg skyline in the distance for a bit.  The hike was quite muddy given the rain and snow melt so it was tricky in places but after about 2 hours we made it to camp and as quietly as possible pitched our tents, set our bear bag and passed out.  What an excellent day!