The word on the trail is that the free shuttle from Newfound Gap leaves at 10am, so everyone at camp (all 20+ of us) was getting up and going as early as we could to get down the 5 miles between camp and the gap by then.
I hiked out with Alex and a few other guys from camp who were booking it to get to the gap for the shuttle.
Unfortunately, since everyone else had the same idea, the small church van in the gap parking lot (which probably fit 6 hikers max) filled up immediately and wouldn’t be back up the mountain for another run for about 1.5 hours.
Alex the section hiker who had his car at the gap parking lot had already promised a ride to another group of hikers and said his goodbye, leaving a group of 5 of us wondering what to do.
We contemplated (and maybe even attempted) hitching a ride from the hundreds of passing tourists, and may have received a child’s innocent thumbs-up out a car window in return!👍
It was cold and no one was interested in picking up a group of dirty hikers, so we took up the offer from a shuttle driver who was hanging around the parking lot. $15/person to get to Gatlinburg felt like a rip off when the free shuttle had just left, but as previously stated, we were cold and hungry and ready for town food.
After a cramped and windy ride down to town, I ran into even more familiar faces! Zen and Fraggle, who I hadn’t seen since my first or second week on the trail, One Hour (another section hiker), Sweets, Sammy (Tour Guide), and Frickles!! They were all on their zero day having come into town the day before, but the timing lined up for us to grab lunch together.
A local taco shop had some major trail magic with free burritos for hikers, so I got one of those for the road and got to enjoy it back at the hotel room I was sharing with Fancy Pants. Roomies again! We get along well and like quiet and sleep, so sharing a room again just made sense.
After some downtime just chilling in the warm bed, taking a nice long shower, and clipping my nails, it was time for more food!
To say a proper thank you to the taco shop giving out free hiker burritos, we went back as a group to spend some money. Their fish and shrimp tacos were so good and definitely worth the money. I was very happy to enjoy a modelo with the fish tacos and just have a nice dinner with friends.
My original plan for Gatlinburg was to dash in on the shuttle, get my box of food resupply from the friend who was holding onto it for me, and get back out on the trail the same day. Instead, plans changed due to the weather, and I got to catch up with familiar hikers and enjoy some delicious tacos.
Sometimes, plans change for good reason, and were all just here to enjoy the ride.
The clouds after the evening’s thunderstorm were gorgeous, but left my jacket soaked. Good thing tomorrow will be a zero so I can get everything fully dried and feel refreshed for the next 3 days of whatever unpredictable weather events the Smokies have to offer.
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