AT--2.4 PD, Goshen Prong—7.7 N, Little River—3.4 PD

I originally thought that I would have to go up Goshen Prong with whoever would volunteer so that we could do a key swap. However, on Monday Bill Broome advised me that he had volunteers to move cars from Clingmans Dome to Elkmont; at 8:00 at Food Lion there were even more volunteers if we needed them. We left for Clingmans Dome in three cars from Sugarlands (12 hikers and 3 car movers) at ~9:00; my passengers were Dave Wayland (who had volunteered to drive my car to Elkmont) and Bill Broome, Mike Miller, & Dale Teague. At about 10:15 we began our hike.

Two hikers took the lower trail segment to get to the AT while 10 of us took the upper. When we reached the Goshen Prong trailhead some of us waited for the two but to no avail. The group that I was in (Bob Bolinger, Diane Scarbrough, BZ Lane, Cecil Rowe) then proceeded down Goshen Prong and reached Campsite 23 ~12:45 where our first contingent was just finishing their lunch. Just as the latter were about to leave, our two hikers caught up with us; I was very thankful. My group left shortly thereafter; after a couple of miles I decided to go a little faster so that I could ice my knee without having to keep my riders waiting at Elkmont. At 2:12 I finished the last leg of Goshen Prong (3.3 mi) and hit out on the 3.4 mi. section of the Little River trail. I motored here and caught the last of those who started earlier; I arrived at my car at 3:14 p.m.