Day 13-16 (Made it through Smokies with great weather✔️)

Day 13 was a tough day hiking in the Smokies, difficult conditions with loose rocks and debris. The weather was gorgeous. We ended up in a shelter that had had a college group and another couple tenting. We set up our tent just before sunset, ate dinner and then my dad had to deal with malfunctioned bear cables. All of the functioning ones were taken. He was able to rig something up that was functional enough. 18+ miles, 5400 ft of climbing.

Day 14 was a shorter day, 12.7 miles to get to Newfound Gap to spend the night in Cherokee, NC and resupply before finishing the Smokies. We went out to dinner in Cherokee and each had a high protein dinner. Plus dessert, I never skip dessert on town days!! Next morning (Day 15) we were back at it. We ate breakfast at the hotel and got shuttled to    Newfound Gap. A NOBO thru hiker a few days before, Humble, who had thru hiked the AT twice in the past told us the second half of the Smokies is like a Disney Park. He was not wrong, from Newfound Gap to Tricorner Knob Shelter felt like Disney. Night 15 we stayed at Tricorner Knob Shelter where we met Creek and spent a pleasant evening with him. We ate dinner all together and we all got to know each other and really developed a special friendship in a short amount of time. He was hiking to raise money for Tunnel to Towers Foundation. This shelter didn’t have much for tent sites. With just Creek and my dad there, it felt like the perfect night to sleep in a shelter for the first time. I’ve been very intimidated by shelters because of rodents and fear of getting sick. Creek reassured me he hadn’t seen mice in shelters and since it was only us I felt like it was the night to try it out, especially since Creek was such a kind human.

First night in the shelter was a success. My dad and I slept decent. There were no critters that visited us as far as we know. We packed up to start day 16 and finish the Smokies. It was another gorgeous day. From Tricorner Shelter to Davenport Gap there were a number of blowdowns from the recent storm a couple weeks back. This included one very difficult blow down area right after Cosby Knob Shelter that required us taking our packs off to maneuver around. Day 16 stats include 17 miles, 7,470 ft total descent and 3,022 ft total ascent. We got picked up at Pigeon Bridge Parking Area and got shuttled to Asheville to meet my husband Ryan (Yayy!!) who flew out on this day to meet us for a week of hiking.