Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 207.7 Tough to be a good tourist when it’s raining so much, even harder than yesterday. Besides breakfast, I holed up in my room, mostly in a reclined position. Gave my feet and legs a rest, snacked, watched some TV and starting a new book. The hardest task was submerging my Thermarest NeoAir pad in the bathtub looking for a possible pinhole leak. None found. Starting tomorrow, the weather looks good this week. I should…
Daily Miles: 12.2, Total Miles: 207.7 A couple came into the shelter last night and noisily set up their tent right next to me. I guess the payback was I got an early start this morning – I honestly tried to be quiet. Today’s challenge was to summit Tennessee’s highest mountain, Clingman’s Dome at 6,643′, also the highest peak in the Smokies and the entire AT. First time on this trail that I have been in a predominantly spruce and…
Daily Miles: 17.8, Total Miles: 195.5 I woke up to a misty morning, wet but no rain – I think we are in a cloud. The second day in the Smokies started off well but slowed down as the steep uphills and downhills resumed. I saw my first bear scat today just before I got water at Spence Field Shelter. Met a hiker there who had already had a bear bag full of food stolen out of a tree by…
Daily Miles: 13.4, Total Miles: 177.7 I slept great at the Fontana Dam Resort, had a nice breakfast and took the first shuttle back to the marina with several other hikers. The first task was walking across the Fontana Dam, a pretty impressive structure. Just on the other side, I entered the Great Smoky Mountains NP (GSMNP) which requires a permit for backcountry camping. Another nearly 5k ft vertical gain on a warm and humid day. For some reason, I…
Daily Miles: 20.0, Total Miles: 164.3 Around 9:30pm last night I heard a lot of hooting and hollering in the direction of Sassafrass Gap Shelter downhill from me. Sure sounded like a bear visitation. While having lunch yesterday at NOC, I was doing some planning. I decided to set my sites on Fontana Dam and the hotel/resort tomorrow, a 20-mile day with good elevation gain. So I was up and at’em early. A tough day with seemingly endless and sometimes…
Daily Miles: 17.3, Total Miles: 144.3 The wind was blowing but not as noisy as I thought it might be. It was chilly on the mountaintop – warm in the quilt but not excited to put the hiking clothes on. Wore my balaclava and gloves for a few hours this morning. Hot Lips and Caveman came by while I was packing up and I passed them later in the morning. The trail first took me to Weser Bald which probably…
Daily Miles: 17.6, Total Miles: 127.0 Thunder, lightning and rain started very early in the morning. Still going strong when I woke up at 6am. Rain was expected to continue until 9:30am so I delayed my shuttle pickup until then. By the time my shuttle arrived at Winding Stairs Gap, it was clearing fast. I enjoyed some coffee and donuts with trail angels before setting off. The first task was a steady four-mile climb to Siler Bald. By the time…
Daily Miles: 0, Total Miles: 109.4 I must have been more tired than I thought sleeping in to 8:30am, a big sleep for me. Big breakfast, my favorite town meal, at the nearby Country Kitchen, and I met a few hikers there. Wandered to downtown Franklin to Outdoor 76 for a gas canister then for another coffee. I took advantage of faster wireless, unlike the motel’s snail mail. Franklin is a nice little town. I had good chats and catchup…
Daily Miles: 5.3, Total Miles: 109.4 Two cups of coffee this morning on a “going to town” day. Probably close to freezing again last night but Is stayed toasty in my quilt and puffy. Pretty hike this morning mostly on ridgelines before dropping down to Winding Stairs Gap. Just as I arrived, a van pulled in and three hikers jumped out. The trail angel, who was on a van-life adventure, took me straight into Franklin, first to the post office…
Daily Miles: 17.7, Total Miles: 104.1 Cold and clear last night, in fact freezing. I had to heat up slushy water for my coffee. I enjoyed the sunrise from my tent and finally got on the trail by 8:30am. A very pleasant hike for the most part with some flat or at least gently grading stretches. Most expansive views on the AT so far. The best being next to the fire tower on Albert Mountain reached by a very steep,…
