Final Day: May 4 – 10th hiking day – 10.5 AT miles

Derrick knob shelter to Clingmans Dome

About half the people at our shelter slept in because we all planned on taking a zero day because of the storm, but then a guy who works for the park came in and told us the storm was gonna get a lot worse tonight and stay really bad sun and mon, so if we wanted to get out, we had to do it by this afternoon

So everyone jumped up and started getting ready. Fast Eddie, the nice 70 yr old man said he was hiking with me cuz he wanted to make sure I made it with my knee issues and all that. We got out of camp by 9:45 and sped to the next shelter 5.5 miles away and got there around 1. That was so intense and cold I didnt know if I would make it another 5. The winds went up to 50 mph sometimes with a steady Rain all day. Everyone else had already gotten to the shelter and started a fire so we all ate and filtered water and tried to stay warm

We left there around 2 and I stayed behind Fast Eddie the whole way and went his pace. During the first half, I would pass him on the uphills and then he would pass me on the downhills since I have to take those slow cuz of my knees. It helped a lot going his pace uphill too. It doesn’t wear u out as much. I was praying that those 5 miles wouldn’t be too terrible, and they were answered. The first 3 miles weren’t too bad. I wasn’t getting as tired because of the slower pace, and it wasn’t all steep uphill and downhills. It was a constant gradual uphill. Then the last 2 miles were so crazy. The winds went harder. The rain came down harder. It got colder as we went higher up in elevation. It was so slippery and muddy, and my feet and hands were soaked. I didnt bring my heavy gloves because I didnt think I would need them til New Hampshire. I just had those light cotton ones that get soaked thru. Finally we made it to the top. This was quite a way to end my AT hike (for now at least). We hid in the bathrooms while waiting for a cab to Gatlinburg. I have never loved a warm bed and shower (the first since Tuesday by the way) and pizza so much 🙂

I’m happy. Sad I’m failing at this, but I have gotten paranoid I’m destroying my knees by continuing. Now I can find out what’s wrong and get better so I can try again. Sucks it is over for now, but it was an awesome experience while it lasted