Days 28 and 29: from Dollywood highs to Trail lows

As much as I would love to dedicate an entire blog post to rambling about how much fun I had wooden dollsI don’t know if everyone reading this wants a complete coaster-by-coaster breakdown.

(Though personally, I could absolutely provide one.)

So, here are the SparkNotes.

• Dread Pirate and I left early using the Gatlinburg Car / Pigeon Forge to get to Dollywood, and we were ridiculously excited.






• Since Narwhale wasn’t coming, he got stuck. laundry servicefor which we are very grateful. Truly an act of service.






• There was a Flower and food festival happening, which included a tasting pass where you could get five menu items for a much cheaper price than buying everything individually.

And let me tell you—

Hiker hunger appeared.

Baked potatoes with breast.
Honey BBQ Macaroni and Cheese.
Berry ice cream.

The list goes on.

And yes, we absolutely got our money’s worth.

• We also buy TimeSaver Passes.

Was it excessive?

Maybe.

Do we regret it?

Not even a little bit.

We knew we probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon and wanted to ride as much as possible without spending half the day in lines.

And honestly?

It’s worth every penny.

We rode everything we wanted and had a great time.

After a day like that, sleeping was easy.

Unfortunately, so did reality.

The advantages of going to Dollywood:

• It was amazing






• It was magical






• It was one of the best zero days in history.

The cons:

• We still had to resupply the next morning.






• We still had to get back on the trail.






• The Smokies were still waiting for us.

Cruel.

Pirate and I took public transportation to food city to resupply, load up on food, and then head back to catch our ferry.

And I won’t lie

I was very sad to leave.

I had so much fun in Gatlinburg that returning to the Smokies (where I had recently been cold, wet, miserable, and questioning my life choices) wasn’t exactly exciting.

But once the gang was back together, I felt a little better.

I’m going to say this:

The views were beautiful.

And after the misty, miserable stretch we’d had before reaching the city, that felt like a gift.

We even ran into some younger hikers who had just graduated and stopped to chat for a while before continuing on.

Those little interactions on the trails really make the day better.

But although the views were good…

Not my stomach.

Apparently, eating like a leprechaun in Gatlinburg doesn’t easily translate to returning to life on the trails.

Shocking, I know.

The kilometers began to be difficult.

Then, mentally, things got worse.

I slipped into a really bad headspace.

Many feelings that I hadn’t fully processed began to surface.

Things he had torn down.

Things I thought I had overcome.

Things he perhaps hadn’t wanted to look at too closely.

And finally I cried.

A lot.

He felt horrible at that moment.

I felt exhausted, frustrated, and honestly, pretty miserable.

But getting it out into the light, really allowing myself to feel everything instead of keeping it locked away helped me, even if I couldn’t fully see it yet.

Sometimes the trail doesn’t just exercise your body.

Sometimes it also brings everything emotional to the surface.

And you can’t always choose when.

When I finally got to Pecks Corner ShelterI was completely exhausted.

Physically.

Emotionally.

Socially.

Just… done.

There were quite a few people there, and I’m pretty sure everyone could tell just by looking at my face that I wasn’t having a very good time.

And that sometimes is just a trace.

Not every day there will be sunshine and rainbows.

It’s not every day there will be scenic views and life-changing pizza.

Sometimes it’s roller coasters and berry ice cream.

Sometimes you cry into your hiking poles on the way to the shelter.

And somehow—

Both are part of the experience.

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