Chapter 8 Summary

Bryson and Katz persuade some student day-hikers at Clingman's Dome to give them a ride to Gatlinburg, which is a tacky tourist trap with motels, junk shops and overpriced fast food joints. There they see a large-scale map of the AT and realize what slow progress they are making. They decide to skip over the rest of the Smokies and pick the trail back up in Virginia, where it is flatter and more pleasant. They hire a wise-cracking cab driver to drive them to Knoxville, where they can rent a car and drive to their next starting point.

Chapter 8 Analysis

If the Appalachian Trail represents what remains of the American wilderness, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, represents a brash denial of that wilderness. Situated just outside the Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg is a Mecca for mountain tourists looking for T-shirts and expensive corndogs, tattoos and...