Day 18, Mt. Collins Shelter to Peck’s Corner Shelter

Just as yesterday, the trail continued through the spruce-fir forest. In the misty morning it felt primordial, as though I might turn to see at any moment a dinosaur crashing through the trees.

Instead, it was mostly just me splashing down the muddy trail.

One unusual sight that appeared more than once was a large, uprooted tree. The soil is so rocky here that trees are unable to establish deep roots. If they grow tall, it seems, storms can easily topple them.

When a large tree falls over, it pulls up its entire root structure, often while clinging to rocks.

As I headed toward Newfound Gap, the sky began to clear a bit. It never got sunny, but at least it was no longer a blanket of thick clouds.

The trail remained wet because there was not enough sun to dry it out.

The trail follows a path that is roughly parallel to the road from Newfound Gap to Clingman's Dome. Occasionally, I could hear cars on the road, but usually could not see them.

At one point, though, the trail entered a clearing, which was adjacent to a parking area from the road. This was at Indian Gap.

The Road Prong Trail also intersects at this point. Just as the Sugarland Mountain Tail was closed, this trail is also currently closed because of damage from last fall's fires.

The trail was part of an old Cherokee Indian trail, which by 1839 had become the preferred route for traders, farmers, and later for Confederate soldiers, to cross the mountains.

It wasn't until 1872 that Newfound Gap was "found" to be the lower gap. Arnold Guyot proved that with his elevation measurements during his exploration and study of the Smoky Mountains.

Later, during development of the park, U.S. Highway 441 was constructed, passing through Newfound Gap.

As the trail continued to Newfound Gap it crossed a fenced area. This was one of several such spaces created in the park to protect certain plants from feral pigs that run rampant in the area and have become a big ecological nuisance.

Near the intersection with Newfound Gap I noticed a sea of Spring Beauty wildflowers. They were so abundant it looked as if snow covered the ground.

Entering Newfound Gap was a bit of a shock to my senses. After being surrounded by nature all morning long, I was suddenly thrust among cars and people.

A monument there recognizes the important contribution of John D. Rockefeller Jr. to making the park possible.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially dedicated Great Smoky Mountains National Park from this spot on September 2, 1940.

There were a lot of tourists here today. For many, this will be their only time outside their car while in the park. The rest of their visit will be spent in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, wandering T-shirt and salt water taffy shops instead of in nature.

Many posed for photos at a sign marking the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina.

As I stopped here to eat lunch a couple people realized I was a thru-hiker and asked me questions about my hike.

After finishing my lunch I left Newfound Gap and continued on the trail. From here, the trail made a climb from 5,049 feet back to above 6,000 feet. Much of the climb was over large boulders.

Though the trail through this section was drying out more than before, the obstacles presented by these large rocks slowed down my pace.

After about 1.7 miles the AT passed a junction with the Sweat Heifer Trail. This is a steep trail, as much as a 16 per cent grade in some places, that is part of a route down to the Oconaluftee River valley.

It's said the trail gets its name because farmers used this route to bring cattle up to higher elevations, but I don't think they would have been brought all the way up to where the trail meets the AT. There simply aren't any large areas here where you could graze livestock. The AT mostly follows a narrow ridge line though this section.

Continuing on, I met Don Dunning, who was clearing water bars. Don is a trail maintainer and member of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, the volunteer organization that maintains the AT within the park.

SMHC is one of the oldest hiking clubs in the country, having been founded in 1924. There are more that 600 members of the club.

Don told me the weather has been so cold and the ground so frozen, this was the first time he and other maintainers had been able to take care of some of the important tasks like clearing water bars.

Water bars help channel water away from the trail to prevent erosion. Over time they can become blocked by mud, twigs and other debris, so it's up to volunteers like Don to shovel them out.

After chatting with Don I moved on. I stopped for a quick lunch at Icewater Springs Shelter and then filtered water at a spring that was on the trail just beyond the shelter.

From there the trail began to open up with more views. Though it was still cloudy, it was possible to see deep into the valleys below.

At times, the ridge became very narrow, with the trail traversing its top edge.

In other places you could see where the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who built this section of trail in the 1930s had to carve through solid rock to make room for the trail.

Though I was pressed for time, I tried to pause when there was a view from the trail. There were many.

Eventually I came to the realization that I was not going to make it to Tricorner Knob before dark, so I reset my destination to Peck's Corner Shelter.

It was about this time that I came upon a hiker with a large pack. As I approached, she turned around, hunched over by the weight of the pack.

It was Broken Arrow, a 70-year-old woman who is thru-hiking solo. She told me she started her hike on February 28.

Her pack was so large and heavy because she must carry more food than most hikers. She cannot keep up with the pace of younger hikers, so it takes her more days to get between resupply points.

Broken Arrow was also hoping to get to Peck's Corner before dark. I wished her well and moved on.