Gatlinburg, oh my

Made it to Clingmans Dome NP, which is where I decided I wanted to hike the AT several years ago. It was a sweet morning hike UP to the highest point on the trail. I teared up when I got close to the spot where I took "the" picture that hangs on my wall...the one where the dream was born! We got some trail magic on our way up, biscotti and goldfish crackers! Oh yeah, the others shared a single Mountain Dew. With the approach trail mileage this puts Croft and I over 200 miles!!! We took some pics and then needed to get a ride to re-up our food. Cranium gladly helped us hitch hike and scored us a ride to Gatlinburg to pick up our packages. Thankfully we got a room and met up with Trail Budz and Sleepy. So there we were, all 5 of us sharing a small living space just like in the shelters. It was awesome! So...Croft, Santa (aka crusty bits), Trail Budz, Sleepy, and me (now Curlz) did what hikers do and soaked our feet together in epsom salt. 3 of us shared the tub and the other two had the sinks, it was hysterical!! Then we played a gross jelly bean game and thankfully drank beer...I got a skunk jelly...EWWW!! Lots of people here and we definitely had a sensory overload, thanks to the wine and moonshine tasting we seemed to get through it okay. The fellas left this morning leaving Santa, Croft, and I to take a zero day in Fatlinburg! We've done it all here and are so ready for the trail. The mountains are calling us home!  Santa, Curlz, and Croft!  Trail magic! Clingmans dome! Croft, Curlz, Crusty Bits, and Cranium. The spot where the dream was born... Cranium and his hitching magic leg trick! The jelly bean game in the guys room😜 The trolley ride when Croft had enough...that's not a high five she's looking for! Tourist suck and we need to get back on the trail. Bye Gatlinburg, it's been fun! I couldn't forget Sleepy!! He took a few pics for us and missed out...so here he is on the dome.😉 Soaking the feet in Epsom salt...hiker life