Corridor 9

After my ordeal with the eyes, I wasn’t looking forward to staying in camp the next night alone. In addition, I knew that the next morning I would be meeting Coy at the Cades Cove Ranger Station around 9AM. If I got up as late the next morning as I did this morning I wouldn’t be there on time. It’s about a 2 hour walk back to the ranger station from the campsite which would mean I’d have to get up by 6AM to eat, pack, and head out.

Being as how I woke up early due to the scout leaders talking, I decided that maybe I’d get up, take a trip into Gatlinburg, and do the tourist thing for a day before heading out onto the trail. I cooked myself a bit of breakfast, and headed back out to the Jeep. I packed a light day pack to carry some stuff around Gatlinburg and then drove the 1 hour, 24 mile, trip into town.

The only place that I really stopped was The Happy Hiker. It’s run by a gentlemen named Barrett Ogle who is a very knowledgeable hiker, and all around good guy. One of the interesting things in the store is the mass number of thru-hiker pictures that line the walls by the water fountain. Years worth of pictures document the number of hikers who have passed through the store. After talking with Barrett about the Camelbak Filter Adapter Kit, I finally broke down and bought one. I was tired of trying to hold my MSR filter and CamelBak in the same hand while filtering water. Now I am able to filter straight back through my drinking tube, rather than having to get the bladder out of my pack, unscrew the cap, and precariously hold the filter over the inlet hole.

So I left The Happy Hiker and decided to head down the main strip. I wasn’t there long though as there were a great number of people crowding the streets. Apparently there was some sort of church convention in town in addition to the college kids partying during the MLK weekend. After getting frustrated a number of times I hopped back into my Jeep and headed back to Cades Cove.

It had been a number of years since the last time I took a trip around the loop, and since I had already decided to sleep in the campground that night, I decided to drive around and snap a few pictures. At one point in time I had to stop for dear crossing in front of my jeep, and there were quite a few horses grazing in the thick grass. I pulled over about 3/4 of the way around the loop, got out, climbed about a 100 ft hill, and just sat there relaxed with a book in my hand for almost an hour.

That night I drifted away to sleep having thoroughly enjoyed the day that I was given.