Beautiful views and faceplanting in the Smokies

This morning my alarm went off and it was super loud! I realized I had accidentally left my alarm set on the highest volume. In my sleep it took me a minute of scrambling before I could turn it off. It was too late though and I could hear everyone in the shelter moving around. My brain’s first instinct was to try to go back to sleep, but I felt too guilty after waking everyone up and got moving too. 

I packed my stuff up and went over to the picnic table to make my breakfast. My mass wake up call ended up being a happy accident, since nobody seemed to mind being woken up and I was ready to go by 7:45. The earliest I’ve gotten going on trail! 

The trail was smooth and cruisey, and I startled a deer on the trail pretty early on. The ground was flat and easy to walk on and I made good time. The only obstacle was the copious amounts of horse poop on trail; the Smokies are one of the only places on the AT where horses are allowed.

After only an hour had gone by, I reached the turn off for the next shelter, which was 3 miles in. I was pleasantly surprised that I had managed to maintain just a fast for me pace. Cyborg was standing on trail just after the shelter, gearing up for the day. He was so surprised that I had caught up once again and said my trail name should be “The little Engine that Could”. I wasn’t such a fan of this name, besides for the obvious that it was incredibly long. I’ve been working hard to get to this place, and I did it gradually so my body was able to adjust without getting injured. I don’t think it’s that remarkable that I’ve been able to keep up pace and even be faster than guys who maybe pushed too hard too fast and are now dealing with the consequences. The name Cyborg suggested implied that I shouldn’t have been able to keep up, and that’s definitely not true! I’m young and healthy and I’ve earned these trail legs. 

I continued along ahead of Cyborg, and started a bunch of little climbs to beautiful rocky tops and great views. I started listening to music and was getting a great momentum going, when my ankle twisted and I fell forward. Because of the slight downhill, there was no way for me to catch myself and I fully face-planted, thankfully into a patch of grass. I fell hard enough that my nose felt a bit sore, but I was thankful that I had fallen into grass as this terrain was super rocky. I got a few cuts and knew I would have some bruises but was able to get up and felt fine, just a little shaken. I continued on, walking slowly until I got to a good spot to sit down. 

I really enjoyed the morning views.

I wet some toilet paper and cleaned off the blood from my legs. The cuts were small and had mostly stopped bleeding. I applied some hand sanitizer since I didn’t want to go searching through my pack for my antibiotic ointment, and then ate a snack and drank some water. 

More cuts and scrapes not pictured

The trail continued downhill and was very rocky and rooty. I slowed my pace down significantly, still reeling from my fall, but only a few minutes later got my foot caught under a root and went flying again. Thankfully this time I was able to break my fall with my arms and prevented my face from hitting the ground, but I was covered in dirt and even more battered. 

I slowed my pace even more as the trail filled with loose and slippery loose rocks. I would much rather be slow and not injure myself than be fast and get seriously hurt. About 15 minutes later, I ran into Ridgerunner Collin going south. She was really sweet and was encouraging to me. She told me to take it slow after my fall but to tell myself that my legs and feet are strong as a mantra. 

After chatting for a few minutes, she continued on, but not before warning me about the nasty descent coming up. At first there were a few more little climbs and I thought she might have mixed it up, but sure enough the descent was waiting for me and it really was nasty. It was extremely steep and rocky, with some rock and wood stairs in the mix. When you weren’t climbing down from boulder to boulder, the trail was covered in loose medium sized rocks that would move underfoot. 

This tree looked like a elephant’s face and trunk to me.

Eventually, the descent evened out and I made it to the Derrick Knob Shelter for lunch by 1 pm. I took the steep side trail to get water, where Bearbait, Underdog, and Barefoot were just finishing up. Once my water was filtered, I ate a tuna packet and some cheezits for lunch and got ready to go. I gave Barefoot one of the gummies I’d been carrying, trying to pawn them off since I hadn’t been wanting them. I was surprised that he took the entire gummy right then and there since there were so many miles left in the day. 

I was ready to go at 2 but the guys were waiting for Cyborg to show up. We wondered if he had ran into the Ridgerunner and been busted for not having a permit. Yesterday Barefoot was able to tip him off that the Ridgerunner was heading towards him, and Cyborg hid by a log near the trail and ended up falling asleep on the log. Bearbait had passed right by him without noticing!

Just as I was leaving, Cyborg showed up going on about how the Ridgerunner had gotten pissed at him and fined him the $1500. It honestly sounded kinda believable knowing him, and it took a second to realize he was kidding. The Ridgerunner wrote him a permit and took down all his contact info since he didn’t have the cash on him to pay for it. I didn’t really get why he wanted to try to get through the Smokies without a permit, but he claimed he was bad with technology and didn’t know how to get one online.

I love these lush green sections of trail

I moved quickly leaving the shelter, feeling good and the trail cooperated with easy to navigate terrain. I had to get off trail to dig a cathole, which took some extra time. When I was back on trail I started debating whether I should call it at the next shelter or continue on an extra 1.7 miles to the one after. I had set the Silers Bald Shelter as my goal and the Double Spring shelter as my stretch, depending on how the day went. 

Any guesses on what animal these prints belong to?

The last couple of miles to the first shelter were all uphill, and I felt super hungry and tired. The climb felt like it would never end and I was moving slower than I had all day. By the time I reached the shelter, I had come to peace with the idea of stopping here for the day, even though it would only be another 1.7 to the next.

When I got to the shelter, Underdog was there and I told him I planned to stop there. He planned on continuing on. I ate a snack and realized this shelter had no service, but the next one was supposed to have some. Underdog gave me some extra water so I didn’t have to go down the side trail to the water source, which I appreciated. After my snack and water I felt much better and was thinking I might push on after all. My motivating factors were cell service and a privy.

Underdog and I set off together and did one last little uphill section. I struggled to keep up with him on the incline, but caught up on the downhills. The trail went up and down a few times. On the last downhill, I fell trying to catch up to Underdog, but it was only knees down. There was one last little climb which I knew would be short, and then we arrived at the shelter. We made it in 40 minutes, which was great time. 

Trying to remember to take photos with my face in them!

There were lots of hikers there, including a few thru-hikers I hadn’t met yet, and a bunch of weekend hikers. One of the weekenders had thru-hiked in 2018 and had lots of advice and was great to chat with. He told us we had finished the hardest part of the Smokies and could probably do a 20 mile day if we’d been able to maintain 15+ mile days the first two days. I definitely wasn’t ready to try that yet though!

There was also a 19 year old kid who was doing a shakedown for his 2026 thruhike. He had a mind blowing 7 pound base weight, which I found so hard to believe! He had been doing research for over a year and felt like he was really locked in. I don’t think I could have managed having so much time to plan; having three months to prepare was the most I could handle without getting stressed. I wished I could have gotten his lighter pack so I could see the breakdown, and I wonder if he’ll have to add weight once he actually starts. Most people rework their gear and try to lose pack weight, but I found with a 14 lb ish base weight that I was needing to pick up little odds and ends I’d forgotten rather than get rid of anything. And this kids base weight was half of mine, and he had a framed pack too!

Another character I hung out with was a Marine named Hunter out for a two day trip. He is currently on a contract with the Marines and put up with all my ignorant questions about how it works there. More people kept rolling up, and eventually there was no space in the shelter. Underdog found a good spot for two tents and I set up and had to go get water in the dark. It was pretty late (AKA close to 10) once I was ready for bed and I went to sleep shortly after that.