(Daily Mi: 21.0) Rained hard last night. Walked off and on with Brother and Laura to the top of Clingman's Dome. This is the highest point on the AT. It is 50' higher than Mt Washington but is somewhat less spectacular as the summit has heavy tree cover. It is also at least as irksome as Washington in that there is road access and a giant parking lot .1 mile from the summit and as such literally crawling with people which I can only handle for so long.

Saw the Trucks as they predicted about 1 mile south of their finish at Clingman's!

Had a snack about two miles on w/ Brother, Laura, Flutterby and Brown Trout, and then hiked like a turk the last 6.5 miles to the shelter. Made it in just under two hours which was pretty good over elevation. Extremely crowded shelter (15 people in). Got the last open slot which was good because it started to rain hard and I was in no mood to pitch a tarp in the mud. Found Poppa Husker camped nearby and he was excited at the news that Brown Trout and Flutterby were just behind us.

Brother and Laura came in an hour behind me. They stopped in and cooked dinner but finding no room hiked on in the dark to find a stealth site to pitch.