Are the Smokies Always so Wet & Smoky? – Day 19-25

Today is National Trails Day and I knew I had to finish a blog post to celebrate! Between not having service, being tired, having camp chores to do, and simply enjoying nature and the people in it, it had been difficult to keep up here!

I want to start this long post off with a huge thank you! Thank you to those reading and following along with my adventure. And thank you to Taylor and family, Maggie and familt, my incredible friend and boss Kurt, Cora and the Allans, Ben-jamin, my partner John, Even & Emmaline, and my wonderfully supportive family. Even on the tough days I’m so thankful to be following this wild dream of mine and I wouldn’t be able to without the support from home.

Day 19 – Birch Spring Tentsite (172.6) to Spence Field Shelter (184)

My first night in the Smoky Mountains was a little rough. I had an intense fear that a bear would attack camp and a few gusts of wind felt exactly like a bear shaking my tent. I did finally fall asleep and wake up with no bear incidents, though.

I packed up camp and was ready to race to a shelter before the rain came in. In GSMNP, hikers have to stay in shelters – no stealth camping allowed. This puts some restrictions on how many miles you can do a day and the shelters are pretty sporadic. Sometimes there’s only a mile or two between them and sometimes you need to travel 10 more miles. 

The shelters themselves are great! They’re large and have two levels to sleep on. They have a fire place inside the shelter and most have a large tarp across the open wall to keep warmth in! However, section hikers have priority over thru hikers in shelters. So if a section hiker has a spot reserved and the shelter is full thru hikers have to set up their tents around the shelter area. 

The most fun thing about some of the Smoky Mountain shelters is they have “toilet areas” instead of privies. I’ve since learned this is a Tennessee thing – large areas they encourage everyone to use for all toilet needs.

I was in a rush to finish early for the day. I wanted a spot inside the shelter with the rain coming. And I also wanted to get to the first privy in the park and was being stubborn about not using toilet areas.

I made it to the Spence Fields Shelter around 2pm and was happy enough to set up for the night – a little restless, maybe. I waited as long as I could to make dinner and then devoured the warm Ramen and bundled up.

I slept on the top level of the shelter and got to watch the rain fall on the roof. It ended up storming badly through the night and I think all the hikers in the shelter sighed relief to not be in tents tonight.

• Total miles: 11.4
• First shelter in GSMNP

Day 20 – Spence Field Shelter (184) to Double Spring Gap Shelter (197.5)

I woke up early and went to the water source to fill up while I ate my unfrosted blueberry PopTart. I also uses the privy and was thankful it was so clean and pleasant considering it is literally the first one in the Smokys!

With more rain on the horizon I wanted to get as many miles as I could done with quickly. Although, I have found I’m not usually the last one out of camp but definitely never the first one!

The fog was settling in quickly but I did get a quick view through the clouds. It was short lived and visibility got lower and lower.

It was an eerie day. The shelters would materialize through the smoke so suddenly it felt like witchcraft was afoot. I was loving it!

Unfortunately, as the day went on the rain came in and the temperature started to drop. Whenever I stopped moving for more than a few seconds I got so cold. My sights were on the last shelter before Kuwohi but the shelter before that was mighty tempting. 

I was afraid the next would be full but pushed on anyway. Within a few yards a friend had a gnarly wipe out in the mud. I laughed so hard I wasn’t thinking and stepped in tbe same spot and took a spill into the mud myself. I was so ready to get to the shelter and REALLY hoping it wouldn’t be full.

Thankfully I walked up and only Goatman and Lookback were there! I shed my wet rat look and layered up all my dry, warm clothes. The shelter did fill up pretty quickly as more hikers chose to stop and get warm than push another 6 or so miles to the next.

• Total miles: 13.5

Day 21 – Double Spring Gap Shelter (197.5) to Newfound Gap (208)

For some reason every hiker in the shelter got up at 4am, except me, Tagless, Goatman, and Lookback! Once the shuffling of packs and stuffing of bags was done I went back to sleep and woke up closer to 7am.

I went to the table outside and had some coffee with Walmart who had walked up from the last shelter. 

Walking through the evergreen forest filled with moss was breathtaking. The smell of spruce-fir needles on the trail was comforting but I received some texts through my Garmin satellite phone that pulled my attention away from the views.

I found out in quick succession that my beloved guinea pig, Micheaux, was sick and passed at the vet. I stopped and cried. I cried for the loss of my pet. I cried for my partner who was going through this alone. And I cried for being selfish enough to be out of reach.

Micheaux and her sister, Étouffée, lived long and spoiled piggy lives. They had a two story, custom built home and absolutely adored their pig papa. I haven’t found anything that makes losing a pet easier. However, the forest that has seen so much life and death, beauty and rot, light and dark, will be a place that always reminds me of our sweet piggies.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t simply stop and mourn. I did my best to keep hiking and had my long cry on the phone later on. The sun was doing it’s best to fight the smokey fog as I approached Kuwohi.

I felt so lucky when I reached the top and small pockets of clarity opened through the clouds. Little windows of view appeared and disappeared all around me.

I came down Kuwohi and back to the trail and finished my hiking for the day at Newfound Gap. It started to rain and while I wanted to start asking for a ride to Gatlinburg, I did not have the mental energy. 

Thankfully, there’s a free shuttle that runs a few times a day (thanks to the baptist church) and it wasn’t long before the last one. I got to Gatlinburg, had my long cry on the porch of the NOC, set up in the hotel room a friend got, and began the search for food.

We ended up going to the local brewery and arrived just in time to lose horribly at trivia! With only about 3 points left at the end, I was still thankful for the people I was hiking with – I needed the laughs.

• Total miles: 10.5

Day 22 – ZERO day in Gatlinburg!

I started my zero day early and the first stop was laundry! Bearskin Lodge allows hikers to do laundry even if they aren’t staying there which is very kind. Once that was done I was off to the thing I’d been waiting for: my free Zero Day Burrito!

Taco Trail is a brand new restaurant that opened this season. The owner is a hiker and they offer a free burrito to thru hikers! 

We all wanted to do some fun, touristy stuff in Gatlinburg. We walked the main street and took some photos. Our next stop was the Moonshine Mountain Coaster! I had a blast but others felt it was a bit slow and boring. I can have fun stating at a wall, though!

My next goal for my zero was working on my blog and the best place to do that was Taco Trail – I love that place! As I sat down to work I saw a whole group of awesome hikers and ended up hanging out with them and getting little work done. 

After some laughs and a quick trip to Food City to resupply, we went to Mellow Mushroom! Shout out to Twister, a triple crowner who works there and came to chat with us for a few minutes!

The zero day flew by and I ended it with a little food organizing session back in the hotel room. I always carry too much food and hope to one day learn.. but not today.

• Total miles: ZERO!

Day 23 – Newfound Gap (208) to Peck’s Corner Shelter (218.5)

I started the day early again and ran down to the coffee shop for another delicious latte and some postcards. A bunch of us planned to catch the second shuttle out so we had time to eat, organize, and loiter around the outfitter talking about gear and resupplies.

Back at Newfound Gap and my crew was ready for the woods! It was another wet and foggy day – is this just what the Smokies are always like!?

My friend Chef and I are both very view driven hikers and we were super excited to get to Charlie’s Bunion! It stopped drizzling just in time to climb up and get some good views and cool photos.

I don’t really consider myself to have a fear of heights but I do know they are dangerous! I chose to only go to the first part and safely scoot on my bottom back down with essentially 5 points of contact. Unfortunately, my booty scooting backfired this time and I cut my leg on the jagged rocks. Something you’ll hopefully only hear on the AT: “I cut my butt on Charlie’s Bunion!”

It started raining again and the rest of the day was wet and slippery. By the time we reached the shelter I was so muddy and so ready for bed. I was happy to have a spot in the shelter and bundled up.

• Total miles: 10.5

Day 24 – Peck’s Corner Shelter (218.5) to Cosby Knob Shelter (231.4)

Day 24 was another foggy and drizzly one – seriously, it must always be like this. I was captivated by every fallen tree that took its roots with it.

While it was pretty cloudy we got a few views. It almost feels even more special when the wind cooperates enough to clear a small window to the rest of the world.

Thankfully, the day cleared up as we hiked. By the time we reached Cosby Knob it was sunny and we could actually see blue skies above!

I tried a new meal and met some new-to-me hikers. We all hung out at the shelter and it filled up quickly so some friends were tenting and hammocking around the shelter.

The views were great here and the vibes were even better. We listened to Scooby play his ukulele and then crawled into the shelter to rest for our last day in the Smokies!

• Total miles: 12.9

Day 25 – Cosby Knob Shelter (231.4) to Groundhog Creek Shelter (249)

I woke up early enough to see the sunrise shining through the opening of the tarp wall. I walked to the privy and was blown away by the view! What a way to start the morning!

As we all got up, did morning chores, and packed up for the day I took in the beauty of Cosby Knob shelter. It was also Scooby’s birthday so we lit a stick candle and sang to him as he played ukulele.

As a big fan of views and blue blazes, I knew I would be taking the 0.6 mile side trail to Mt. Cammerer lookout tower. The trail itself was gorgeous and reminded me of Cape Cod for some reason.

Farout comments had me second guessing this side quest but I’m so glad I didn’t listen. The views were great and we spent a good chunk of time taking photos and soaking in the beauty. And eating snacks, of course!

Next stop was another drop box in the woods – this one marks the end of Great Smoky Mountains National Park! I excitedly put the other half of my permit in the box so ridge runners know I made it out safely.

The rest of the day was a long hike to the next shelter as we all decided to skip the famous Standing Bear this time around. We stopped at a waterfall and took some time to soak our sore feet and, again, eat more snacks.

At Groundhog Creek Shelter, I made dinner and got myself set up inside the shelter. I spent a few minutes socializing at the fire and meeting some more hikers. We all decided this had to be the worst privy we’ve ever seen. To make it worse it was in the middle of the shelter and tent pads so you could see whoever was using it from pretty much every foot of the area. I chose to skip the privy and went right to sleep!

• Total miles: 17.6