Today I hiked 24.3 miles from Spence Field Shelter to Newfound Gap. This took me over Clingmans Dome which at 6,643 feet is the highest point on the AT. The picture is of the Clingman Dome Tower. As you can see the weather was terrible and I was being pounded in the head with sleet.
It basically rained the second half of the day and poured the last two hours of the hike. I reached Newfound Gap at 8:30pm in the dark and downpour. A good old boy and his family offered me a lift but I would have to sit in the bed of the pickup with their gear and coolers full of beer. I accepted their offer and was told to help myself to the beer. I had one but it was just to cold sitting back there for fifteen miles in the rain to have anymore. They were a damn cool family.
They dropped me in downtown Gatlinberg which reminds me of the Jersey Boardwalk. I checked into The Riverside Motor Lodge and am watching TV, drinking beer and drying out. I plan on taking a zero day tomorrow.
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