AT Days 10 to 19 - Side Quests and Snow in the Smokies
Day 10
Today was meh. I started the day sick as hell to my stomach. The sketchy quesadilla I had in town was my undoing... Because of this, I slept poorly, and I wasn’t really able to enjoy my town bed or breakfast this morning. After breakfast, we checked out a local outfitter before catching a shuttle back to the trail. Also, we had decided to nero instead of zero, which didn't help my mood. Due to my gut, I was moving slowly, and I ended up hiking alone for most of the day. It was also incredibly cold and windy… Despite all of that, my spirits were heavily lifted when I arrived at Wayah Bald and saw the absolutely fantastic view there. After taking a snack break out of the wind, I was able to crush the remaining 5ish miles quite quickly despite the climb. I ended up hiking the last 5 miles with Frosty and Wendy, whom we had met at a shelter a few nights prior. We are staying at Cold-Spring shelter tonight, which is a fitting name considering that it’s below 20 degrees! I'll see how tomorrow goes, but I might stop at the NOC for a night. I grow tired of hiking solo every day, and would love to find some new people who hike at my speed. Despite it all, it was still an awesome day!
Day 11
Another cool day! I got up early due to the bright sunrise on the ridge, and ended up crushing some early miles. I had my breakfast on top of the Wesser Fire Watch tower, which had an amazing view of the Smokies. After that, I completed the epic ridge line descent down into the NOC. Towards the end of the 2000+ft drop, my knee started to bug me a bit. Once I arrived at the NOC, I went to the restaurant to grab a meal and noticed the white water rafters paddling past. I then decided to stop for the day and signed up to raft the following morning. This would also give my sore knee some time to rest, avoiding a potential overuse injury. Stairmaster and Catch caught up, had lunch with me, and then decided to hike on. I was able to rope a few more hikers in to go rafting tomorrow, so fingers crossed it goes well. I also had a ridiculous brownie sundae at the restaurant here, which I strongly recommend to anyone else who passes through!
Day 12
I ended up taking my first zero today in order to go white water rafting!!! I managed to snag Dough Boy, The Alchemist, Stealth, and Bluesclues into freezing themselves and joining in the fun. We sang sea shanties the whole time and had an absolute blast. Afterwards, I sat on the bank of the river with a pack of ciders and my Kindle, and enjoyed the day. Eventually, several other faces I recognized rolled into town, and we had a massive dinner together at the restaurant. Overall, an absolutely fantastic day, and I am incredibly happy that I took a zero for it!
Day 13
Today was a wet and cold one. It started with a tough climb out of the NOC in the drizzling rain, and then it very quickly turned cold and windy. When I stopped for lunch at Sassafras Gap, I ended up having to throw on my fleece, gloves, and glove liners, and I was still freezing. After another few hours of slipping and sliding in the mud, I made it to Stecoah Gap, where I met up with Sour Patch, Major, Gonzo, Dough Boy, The Alchemist, and Darren, who had booked a room for the night since the weather was forecast to get worse. I was incredibly thankful to be included in their plans, so after 8ish hours of slogging through the rain and mud, we were able to dry our things out. When we arrived at the hotel room, I quickly discovered that I had once again torn a hole in my pack liner, and part of my quilt was soaked along with some of my clothes. This made me even more thankful for the hotel! Still having a great time on the trail, especially with the camaraderie built with those around me. I’ll need to address the pack liner situation as it is not working for me. Likewise, I’ll need to figure out how to resupply tomorrow before we hit the Smokies. But those are both problems for tomorrow!
Day 14
Excellent day! Woke up today to clear cool weather, and immediately hit the trail after a quick pack up. It was a bit frosty at first, but after a quick hustle up hill, I warmed up and enjoyed the icy branches on the ridge line. The day flew by as I hiked with Sour Patch, Connor, DB, and Gone-zo. I’m incredibly happy to be hiking and talking to others again, because I felt a bit isolated the past week or so. It also made the day fly by, and I enjoyed learning more about those I had surrounded myself with. We wrapped up the day with trail magic at the fancy Fontana Dam shelter, and I am absolutely stoked to be entering the Smokies tomorrow!
Day 15
After a long night at the “Hilton” shelter, we packed up and headed into the Smokies. It was incredibly cold all day, and I felt like I kept having to stop to adjust my layers as we climbed higher and higher. We stopped at the sketchiest Shuckstack Fire Tower, and despite the weather, we did actually have a view from on top! I didn’t do much talking today, but from listening to Darren, Conner, and Sour Patch, I learned a lot about the history and famous producers of pop (not something I expected to learn on trail). Once we arrived at the shelter, the temperature plummeted to the single digits, and I was happy that we had a tarp to cover the one open side. The shelter also had a fireplace, which we built a large fire in, and then took turns maintaining at night. Likewise, nearly everyone was huddled up together to stay warm. The extreme cold isn’t fun, but it’s amazing how everyone pitched in to help without anyone having to be told. As a final note, hiking with others has absolutely lifted my spirits and made these rougher days significantly more enjoyable!
Day 16
Another cold day, but with some incredible views! The “cuddle puddle” of everyone huddling next to each other at night has continued, but more organized, and I’ve been able to sleep a bit better. Major, DB, Gone-zo, and I hiked together for half the day, and then I ended up walking the other half solo to process my thoughts. I caught an absolutely amazing sunset before quickly chowing down and crashing for the night. I feel like I’ve been eating significantly more food recently, but it’s been keeping me warmer, and climbs have been easier. Only a short post tonight as I am way too cold to continue having my fingers exposed. We ended the day at Double Spring Gap Shelter, which had a gorgeous forest walk right before it.
Day 17
We started the day with a deer sighting and shooting the shit with some hilariously unprepared 17 year olds that stayed in the shelter with us. None of them had sleeping pads, and all of them were wearing cotton... After Dough Boy finished trying to impart some wisdom on them, we departed and quickly summited Clingmans Dome (the highest spot on the AT) and took in the amazing 360 degree views. I helped DB take a nice video for his documentary before we took off down the trail. What followed was an hours long slog over thick ice where we each ate it at least once. I had my first trail fall and came down hard on my arm. So hard that it swelled up, and I was forced to take some anti-inflammatories. Blissfully, we did encounter a bathroom with running water, which did help make the day better. Hopefully, the weather continues to hold until we escape the Smokies, as it has been gorgeous. Oh! We also crossed into Tennessee! We ended the day at Icewater Spring Shelter, which seems like an ominous name!
Day 18
Today was pretty dang rough, and I’m honestly not sure if I would have made it without the help of Sour Patch and Darren. The weather was cold and rainy, and the trail completely turned into a slick ice rink. Thankfully, those two had thought to pack out micro-spikes, so they were able to help escort Major, Dough Boy, and me through the rough patches. The rest of the day was a long, misty, muddy slog, which ended with me trying to cram into a little space left over in the shelter. I was planning to hike to the next shelter, but the group managed to squeeze together to make enough space for me to sleep on the small front step of the shelter. I'm hopeful that it will actually warm up tomorrow and that conditions improve. That being said, I am incredibly thankful and fortunate to have found this amazing group of people! We stopped at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, which was all mud, and had only one viable tent site.
Day 19
We woke up to more clouds and light rain, but thankfully the weather finally broke and we were rewarded with gorgeous misty vistas for our long descent out of the Smokies. Thankfully, there weren’t any major patches of ice, so we were able to easily cover miles. Because of our quick pace, we were able to take a side trail to check out the Mt. Cammerer fire tower. From there down, it warmed up into the 70s as we rapidly descended several thousand feet. At the base, we had to cross under I-40, and a passing car gave us all White Claws to enjoy. Finally, we completed one more semi-strenuous climb up to Standing Bear hostel, where we crashed for the night, caught up on camp chores, and said goodbye to Darren before he headed off to Asheville. At Standing Bear, we ran into many other hikers we knew, enjoyed hot showers, actual bunk beds, and a nice hot meal. I’m excited to open up the next chapter of my Far Out guide, signifying that we have survived the Smokies and completed a significant chunk of the trail already!
