Clingman's Dome

In July, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a week in one of my favorite places – the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. My sister, Jacklyn and I rented a cabin in Gatlinburg and took the Doodle along for a week of peace and quiet on the river. Since I’ve been there a few times, most of the vacation was going to be about relaxing and visiting some of our favorite “craftsman” type stores – not the “commercial” crap that downtown Gatlinburg seems so famous for now.

On Monday, we decided we would take the scenic 20+ mile drive to Newfound Gap to Clingman’s Dome, at 6643 feet , the highest point in TN and the third highest point east of the Mississippi. The trip sounded awesome for two overweight, out of shape sisters, who wanted some great mountain pictures – a scenic car ride and a simple “half mile hike” to the top of Clingman’s Dome with outstanding views of the mountains. We stopped at the visitor’s center, got our brochures for the trip and started out.

It’s everything I hoped it would be. The brochures tell you that the temperatures would be 10-20 degrees cooler up the mountain than in the city, so it was fun to watch the temperature drop on my car’s gauge – it was 82 degrees when we left Gatlinburg, it was 66 when we got to the parking lot at Clingman’s Dome. As I’m driving, Jacklyn is reading the history of the trip and the marked sights along the way. With the windows down, for the first time in my life, I understood what they meant by the phrase “clean mountain air” – you could actually smell nothing but pine! It was gorgeous.

Near the end of the drive, she mentions that the “hike” to the Dome is only a half mile on a paved trail, however, it is 330 feet straight up! I am NOT kidding you here. I can’t find anything that tells me what angle it’s at, but I am positive it was at least 90 degrees! From the parking lot, I told her she was crazy – though it was only a half a mile, it was quite a hill and I didn’t think we’d be able to make it. But she was determined to try, so off we went. It would have been nice if we would have thought to stop at the visitor’s center/gift shop and buy some water. J Because of the altitude, you are warned that breathing may be more difficult and stop and rest along the way, and that even those in the best condition would take at least half an hour to make the hike. There are rocks in the side of the mountain and benches along the way in order to sit down and catch your breath.

I think it was probably 1/10^th of a mile before we stopped. Then it seemed like we stopped every 20 feet. I remember getting to 2/10^th of a mile and wanting to quit – but realizing at that point, we were almost halfway there. I kept looking up that hill and thinking “we’re never going to make it/might as well quit now/ I can’t do this anymore/my thighs, calves, hips, feet hurt and are on fire”. I kept looking up and thinking “how much further/we’re not going to be able to do this”. I kept looking at people coming down the hill hoping for any words of encouragement “oh it’s worth it/oh it’s beautiful/oh it gets easier around that curve” – nothing – what I did realize was that everyone coming down the hill was in a lot better physical shape than us and a lot younger and we probably looked like idiots. I watched as people passed us by. I never rushed, but I wondered how many people thought “those fat girls are crazy”.

I kept looking up that hill, my calves were on fire and I wanted to quit. And Jacklyn kept saying “but it’s only a half mile” and I kept saying “we might as well go back” – then something hit me. I knew I needed to change the way I walked and put more effort into thighs and but tocks. I noticed right away my thighs weren’t burning anymore. The Olympics were on this week and I had been faithfully watching – and hearing over and over the story of Ryan Lochte and how he trained by flipping 650 pound tires. I kept thinking how badly those athletes want those medals and how important it was – and how much training they had to endure and I realized it was quite pathetic that my body wasn’t going to take me a half mile. I kept looking up that hill.

Then suddenly I realized I had to stop looking up the hill and look at the ground in front of me. Instead of thinking I had so far to go, I became concerned with the 3-4 steps in front of me. My attitude changed and I was determined to get up the hill no matter how long it took or how tired I was. By 4/10^th of a mile, we were almost done. Very thirsty and silently cursing ourselves for not even thinking about water. Finally, someone said, “around that curve it levels out”.I took off and kept telling myself I could do it. I never looked up, only at my feet and the few steps ahead of me. Around the corner, it leveled out and I knew I’d make it.

I crossed the Appalachian Trail! That was pretty neat. I got to the base of the tower and realized it was probably another 100 yards uphill. I rested for awhile, then set out again for the top. It was beautiful. I had to laugh because a little girl of about 12 said “wow that was really worth it” and I couldn’t help but agree! I had made it to the top. My half mile journey was done. I was so proud of myself. I took pictures, remembered to stop taking pictures and BE IN THE MOMENT. When I was done, I turned and started down the hill.

Because of the steep angles, the walk down was almost as difficult as the walk up, my ankles, knees and lower back really felt the impact of every step. I would have pushed someone off the mountain at that point and taken their water bottle for a drink. On the way down, I passed a gentleman pushing a man in a wheelchair. I tried to be encouraging! I told everyone on the way down that it was SO worth it.

We stopped at the gift shop on the way out and bought water and I bought a hiking patch. I’m not a hiker and will probably never own another patch, but for me, conquering that walk was SO important. It was no longer about the beautiful scenery at the top. It was no longer about the half mile hike. It was the realization that I was the only person telling myself I couldn’t do this. My sister never once said “we can’t do this” – I was the one that said we’d never make it. I was the one who said “let’s stop/we might as well quit/we are never going to make it”. At the end of the day, I realized that for all the negativity in my life, the lack of support I feel, the lack of encouragement I get, I was the one telling myself I couldn’t do it. But you know what, I did. All I had to do was stop looking at the mountain ahead and how far I had to go, and start looking at the few steps in front of me that got me all the way there. It was a lot easier to take one step, than it was to walk half a mile. I felt PROUD of me. Thanks to Clingman’s Dome for being the first thing I have been proud of doing in a long time.