Hiking the Appalachian Trail in the Smoky's
The starting point: Newfound Gap
This trip was one that our friends planned. None of us had much vacation so it would be a short trip, from Friday after work to Tuesday. Tim got the backpacking permit and reserved two shelters for us. We stayed at an Airbnb in Seveirville and met them at Fontana Dam. Along the way, we were on the Foothills Parkway and before long, were on a very windy road. I was starting to feel queasy and we kept passing photographers pulled off the road. It looked like they were taking photos of us so we figured there was an event and they wanted to focus their camera by taking our photo. We decided to ask one of them and he told us the road was called the dragon or "Tail of the Dragon" and it was quite famous. They even have a tree for parts that fall off of motorcycles and cars.
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We left our cars in the parking lot and took a shuttle to Newfound Gap. The shuttle was from the Hike Inn and our driver, Tom, was awesome! I would highly recommend them. It was a beautiful day at Newfound Gap. We took a few photos and hit the trail.
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Eventually, we arrived at Clingsman Dome, the highest point in the Smokey Mountains at 6,643 feet. It was the first day the road opened for cars to drive to Clingsman Dome so we were definitely the only ones with backpacks!
Left: Tree of Shame
Top: Foggy view off Foothills Parkway
Clingmans Dome along the AT
We began to see more and more thru hikers as we continued. The first night we camped at Silers Bald. We arrived at dusk and the shelter was getting full. Fortunately, we had reservations so we could stay. It was very windy! It took a very long time to boil water for dinner. I used my sister's 20 degree sleeping bag and it kept me warm enough. We woke up at 6:30 the next morning and began making breakfast and packing. The thru hikers all woke up early and got out of there. We were the last ones to leave camp around 8:30 AM. We stopped to eat lunch at Derrick's Knob. The sun was shining and Kait and I stretched out on the grass. We did not want to get up to finish the hike! We definitely underestimated the terrain for the upcoming stretch. It was tough hiking, with most of it uphill. The downhill portions were really straining Kait's knees even with the hiking poles. It was becoming so painful that we all decided to stop at Spence Field shelter instead of continuing to our planned stop, Russell Field shelter. We also heard that our shelter might be closed for bear activity and we were not sure how the park handed those situations.
Views along the AT heading towards camp
There was a ridge runner at this shelter. She works for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and allowed us to stay the night even though our reservations were for the shelter that was another 3 miles up the trail. She said it worked out well because 2 thru hikers really wanted to tent camp but unless the shelter was full, they would not be allowed. We moved our items into the shelter and the couple set up their tent. They quit their jobs to hike the AT and were hoping to finish it in 4 months. They had been hiking 20 miles per day! Since we arrived earlier, we were able to get to know a lot of the other campers. Most were thru hikers. This year had been especially difficult because of the colder-than-normal temperatures.
Shelter along the AT. Each shelter had "bunk beds" and this one had around 14 people staying. Shelters vary slightly in size. The shelters in the Smoky's had tarps on the fourth side.
We were surprised that backpackers eat right outside of the shelters. Most places we have stayed require campers to eat a specified number of yards away from where you sleep. Fortunately we did not have any issues with mice but I have heard some of the shelters have a lot of them. The ridge runner said people would just eat by the camp anyway so they just have the table tops in close proximity. We made our food and were sitting outside of the shelter when someone pointed at a large black bear headed towards our camp. They believed it was the same black bear that stepped on two tents the evening prior. I quickly grabbed our food in case the bear approached so it would not associated food with people. Without any hesitation, the ridge runner ran towards the bear yelling and hit its rump with a rock. The bear scooted off into the woods but eventually circled camp again.
Black bear after it went into the woods
The couple that had their tent set up decided to take it down. We hung all of our packs outside, even if they did not have a scent to keep from tempting the bear to come into the shelter. As far as we knew, no one saw or heard the bear overnight. If the bear continued to approach people, it would be relocated. We were all pretty sore the following morning and Kait was still having knee trouble. In an effort to cut down on miles, we hiked out towards Cades Cove and got a shuttle back to our cars. There is no direct route so we ended up going around the mountains on the Tail of the Dragon (again). Once we arrived at our cars, we went straight to McDonalds then to Asheville. While in Asheville, we had a nice BBQ dinner and went to some breweries.
In Asheville, we ate at Buxton Hall Barbecue and followed up with drinks at Green Man, Burial, and Wicked Weed. Our trip was complete! We had a good laugh about food and drinks tasting even better after you have been living on backpacking food.
