Derrick Knob Shelter to Double Spring Gap Shelter

Appalachian Trail, 7.2 miles

A much shorter day today mileage-wise, but it stretched into a nearly 6-1/2 hour trek because of rain. It was beautiful all morning, but just as we stopped for a quick break at Silers Bald Shelter, a substantial storm blew in, so we ended up staying there for like two hours. It kind of put the brakes on a pretty well-paced day, but oh well. We were thankful that we didn't get soaked. We waited till the worst of the rain was over, then pushed on through our last two miles to Double Spring Gap while it was still sprinkling.

I had feral pigs on my mind today because of the two other hikers' boar sightings yesterday. Those animals scare me, probably even more than bears. They're reputed to be very unpredictable. We saw lots of cloven-hoof footprints in the mud today, and big patches where the pigs had rooted up dirt and leaves, looking for food. I worried about running into hogzilla every time there was a bend in the trail. A ranger told us that the pigs are a terrible nuisance because they're an invasive, non-native species with no natural predators, and they compete for food with the bears and the deer. They also eat all kinds of rare and endangered plants, including wildflowers and beech saplings. Apparently the pigs were introduced to this area accidentally when a handful of them escaped from a game preserve in Georgia several decades ago. They multiplied like rabbits and now they're all over the Smokies. The Park Service kills as many of them as they can, in an attempt at pig population control.

This morning I was running dangerously low on TP. I realized after we hit the trail that I only packed half the tissue that I intended! Crisis was averted, however, when I put on my rain parka this afternoon and found an entire package of Kleenex in the pocket. Woot! Must've left it there last weekend when we hiked the Poto.

Still no blisters, despite hiking through wet weeds and mud puddles this afternoon. My boots seem to be leaking quite prolifically, though, which does make for some discomfort. I don't think Gore-Tex boot linings are all they're cracked up to be.

We have been trying frequently to phone Jay and Pete, but still cannot get a signal. We had hoped we might get cell reception at the top of Silers Bald (here is Cindy at the top, cell phone in hand!) but it didn't work.

The shelter where we're staying tonight is one of the few in the park that still has a chain-link fence across the front. At one time, all the shelters in the park had this feature, with the intent of protecting hikers from bears at night. But the fences apparently made people feel a little too safe, because many started keeping their food bags with them overnight in the shelters instead of hanging them from the bear cables provided nearby. (Duh!) Then, in a really remarkable lapse of common sense, some began actually feeding bears through the shelter fence! All this, of course, compounded the bears' interest in hanging out at shelters. They learned to come around at dusk for their nightly feedings, and they started getting surly when hikers didn't pony up their goodies.

After a while of battling the bear problem, the Park Service decided to try removing the fences from just a couple of shelters. Hikers who visited those shelters obviously felt a stronger sense of responsibility for their own welfare, took care of their food properly as a result, and the bear problems at those shelters stopped. Now the Park Service has removed most of the fences.

I'm glad, however, that tonight's shelter still has a fence. Because when we arrived this afternoon, we were greeted by a Park Service guy named Dan, who has a gun, a snare, and night vision goggles. Dan's main job is to hunt and kill the wild pigs that live in the park. But tonight, he is Dan the Bear Man. He's here to corner and sedate a bear who has been frequenting this shelter and causing problems. It might be an eventful evening.

Four other hikers are here tonight.

Here are Cindy and I, nervously awaiting nightfall in front of our shelter, and wondering if the bear will show up.