After about 130 the weather changed, fast, it actually hailed briefly then the sun came right back out. I wanted to get to a shelter/camp site 2 miles past the Dome which was 6 miles away and by 2 pm knew I wud need to push to make it by 7pm. Twice already I had to back track in the Smokys cuz of the stupid signage and the park is loaded with crisscrossing trails, that really makes ones ears steam (this being a family blog). It's about 5 and it starts hailing again. The good thing about hail? It doesn't stick and soak in and as long as it's pea sized it doesn't dent ur skull. Then (there's a lot of "thens" coming) it starts raining. Cold rain. Cold rain makes hard rocks and roots slippery, yeah. Down, up, up, down, up, up, up, down, up, up, up... Get the drift? Visibility is about 65 ft. I'm approaching the dome without hope of a pic especially as phone, battery charger and go pro are dead or on its doorstep.
No shitaki mushroom it starts snowing! I'm crawling up and down rocks and roots trying to go as fast as I can. My gloves r buried in the pack but I need to check the guide book anyway. The gloves, as D.O.D. wud say; I hope the SOB that designed these gloves dies a long slow painful death. They r not waterproof and AND!!! They actually make ur fingers colder so u hafta pull them into the palm which u can't do with trekking poles in each freezing flipping hand!
There's 1/2 inch of snow, late April, as I pass the Dome lookout tower without any hope of a view. I've got to get to this shelter yo!
I come to a sign. The sight of that sign will be with me to the end. It says AT .5 back the way I just came. That .5 took about 45 minutes! Plus that's a mile! .5 and .5!
I lost it, I think the clinical term is completely decompensated. My dad the Navy man wudve been both proud and blushing at the soliloquy of swears I strung together against the morons whose only job in this life is the signage at the most visited National Park in the entire United State of America. I flipped out, I'm literally yelling in the woods on a mountain freezing, soaking and wondering what in the world I was gonna do? Another sign points to a visitor center .1 mile away. It's 630 and almost dark. I'm not going .5 back down that icy trail. I walk up to the visitor center. There's no one. To the parking lot, there r 2 cars. One is parked like it's been there and the owner is probly at my shelter. The other is running, with lights on, stopped but facing the exit. I'm freakin out. I start toward the car w lights on and sure enough, it takes off!
If if if if I have signal and if if if my phones not dead maybe just maybe I can call for a shuttle. It's that or pitch my tent with fingers quickly approaching frostbite.
Ya just can't make this stuff up.
As the world is coming to an end, no lie, no lie; a voice from up top of the large parking lot "hey, is somebody down there?" "YES!" I yelled.
"Is there someone there?" "YES!!! I'm down here!!!"
As the guy, with a pack, starts coming down my jaw like drops, ya can't make this up. Remember this guy:
I jet, no lie, I open the passenger side door, look in and say only this: "are you an angel?" The guy just smiles.
Can you see what's happening here? One minute I'm hopeless, seriously. A few minutes later I'm getting that 2x4 across the forehead kind of deal as in "gee where's all that faith when u need it, Sparky?"
Ru still with me? It's not over, ohhhhh no.
Turns out the drivers name is not Gabriel nor Michael but Jeff. I ask if he might be heading toward Gatlinburg, he wasn't but said he wud bring us anyway! It's a good 25-30 minutes away. He lets me plug my phone into his charger, I'm in the back seat with my wet 50lb pack on my lap sitting next to Vu. No ones in front passenger seat.
Jeff it turns out is retired and is now a freelance photographer who thought by the time he rose to the Dome he might have gone above the weather to capture a sunset, not happenin.
We head down the mtn. It's 7pm and the heater is on full blast.
Again we are in the Smokys, there are these pull offs every couple of miles to talk know, view the view. As we come to one Jeff asks if we mind stopping. There's a band of clouds above and below an orange window of brightening sunlight.
That's the pic I took. Jeff gets out of the car with keys, (no more charger) opens trunk and starts setting up equipment. He comes back and says sunset isn't till about 815. I decline his offer of snacks. Cars off now, cold is returning. Doesn't Vu, sitting on the side with the view, reach for his own one gallon ziplock bag of trail mix? I cringe. I've seen him, or should I say, I've HEARD him eat before.
My dad told me there were name changes in our history. I'm guessing it's from homicidal reactions to people who smacked. But Vu doesn't just smack, he talks while he munches and smacks handfuls of crunchy munchy!
There's more.
The sunset is coming together. Vu keeps using his forearm to wipe just enough of the moisture off the window to say "hmmmfff wow hrrrmmmff that's chomp munch hmmmmff incredible!"
By this day I've had several friends ask me to send them sunrise n sunset pics. Oh gee look, phones dead, Go Pro is no go. Each time I lean forward to see this amazing sunset, sure enough, so moves Vu's big chomping head. This goes on for at least 30 years, I mean minutes. I finally just started chuckling to myself, probly sounded like a lunatic.
No lie, NO LIE....Jeff the free lance photographer gets back in the car and his very first words??? "Guys that was a once in a lifetime sunset". The second thing he says (again this to one whose 2 cameras were both dead) no lie, "that sunset made the hair go up on the back of my neck".
Aaaaaaaaagggghhhhh!!!!!
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I spewed out my pain and angst and just the incredible ridiculousness I had just endured.
As we drive away Jeff thanks us and tells us we made his day! He also asked for our email addresses.
Jeff is a funny name for an angel, but Jeff is no joke here's his website: http://www.firefallphotography.com/
And here's the sunset neither of my cameras could've possibly taken:
Once in a lifetime.
Holy Shitake mushroom that is a once in a lifetime sunset!! Gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteYikes! Prayers for your protection answered! Glorious ending and amazing photographer. I would have loved to capture that photo! Photographers motto - F8 and be there
ReplyDeleteThere's a face in the clouds. Just to the right of center.
ReplyDeleteBreathtaking! Glad you can look back and appreciate the lesson.
ReplyDeleteSo you said that's only half the story, when do we get to hear, "the rest of the story"?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the amazingly mystically breathtaking sunset picture on my birthday (4/30)! I mean really, maybe you didn't have to be so dramatic about it, but it is spectacular. ;-) Stay safe!!
ReplyDeleteIncredible!!
ReplyDeleteI have never had to face hail directly. However, most of the people who have had encounters with it, who I know, have never met the pea sized variety. It always falls at a size which is quite capable of doing damage. Fortunately, it is not a common weather phenomenon. It is interesting that you encountered it so many times on your trip.
ReplyDeleteRefugia Stein @ Container Domes