The AT Trail in the Smokies

Four years ago, my friend, George and I hiked to the summit of Chimney Top in the Smoky Mountains National Park and spent the night.  Even though it was a little difficult, I wanted to do more of this "hiking".  We decided to tackle half of the Appalachian Trail in the Park the following year. The AT in the Smokies is 71 miles across entering Fontana Dam on the south end of park, tracking over mountains, knobs, thick forests and grassy ridges exiting on the north end.

We started preparing for the hike months in advance and training at the local YMCA Boot Camp program made a big difference in our physical capabilities. If I had not trained, I probably wouldn't have made it through the first day on the trail. Backpacking on trails far from civilization requires research, too! We chose our packs carefully and filled them sparingly. I still carried 25 lbs the first trip and 28 lbs on the second trip this year.

Inside the park, you are required to obtain permits and must stay in shelters. So reservations must be made in advance. We decided to hike 31 miles from Newfound Gap to the north exit. Since we were new at distance hiking, we had planned on averaging 7 miles a day and spending 3 nights in shelters exiting on the fourth day.

We were excited to get started on the trail. However, a mile or so into the hike, the excitement soon wears off. Especially when the trail ahead is all up the mountain and no end in site. We took several 1 and 2 minute breaks, making it a little easier on the legs.  About mid morning, we took a short detour off the trail to Charlies Bunion overlook.  One of the most splendid views in the park and well worth the extra time and foot work!

The second day got a little easier. We would get to a ridge and stay on it for a while, helping our legs and our load. On the third morning, after a night with no sleep, (I'll explain later), the hike was very intense going up. Very rocky and sometimes steep, but we made good time. We took our breakfast break at the crash site of an F-16 that hit the side of the mountain several years earlier. Interesting site!

We made it to the third shelter by noon.  Exhausted from lack of sleep, we looked forward to an afternoon of rest.  Often on this trail, its not uncommon to meet back up with fellow hikers from the last shelter. Shortly after we arrived, a fellow who snored loudly all night at the last shelter showed up and planned on staying at this one. We had just hiked 7.5 miles and still had another 7.5 miles to go before finishing this section of the trail. Rather then spend another sleepless night, we decided to hike out.

The trail was rough going down the mountain. We were struggling with extreme fatigue by mid afternoon but our determination to finish was far greater than exhaustion. I tripped and stumbled occasionally, but tried to stay focused. We finish the hike around 6 pm and although we were drained of every ounce of energy, George and I had a good feeling of self satisfaction and accomplishment.

We tackled the other half of the AT in the Smokies this year. We started at Fontana Dam and came out at Newfound Gap. This trip was 40 miles long and the most difficult hike yet. We hiked to the summit of Pikes Peak last year, but dealing with altitude could not compare to the hike this year. (Another Blog).

We started this hike with switchbacks that seemed easy enough, but soon the trail was steep inclines and descents with little or no breaks in between. There is very little easy terrain to the Appalachian Trail on this half of the Park. We hiked a difficult 10 miles the first day, a grueling 12 miles the second day reaching the summit of Rocky Top and Thunderhead. Thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion when we were on the summit of Rocky Top. Had to bite the bullet and go on, we still had another 6.5 miles to our next shelter and we heard the sound of thunder in the distance from a storm.  Judging from the movement of the clouds and where the rumble was coming from, we were safe for the present. Its dangerous to be on the trail with lightening striking, could be deadly.  We made it to the shelter by 6 that evening and it had just started to rain.

You meet some interesting people on the trail.  Some are through hikers doing the entire trail.  Others hike half way and flip flop.  And some, like ourselves, section hike.  On this night, however, we had a fellow who had hiked from Georgia and was going to flip flop since he got a late start on the trail.  He was very talkative and some of the stories he was sharing with the folks in this shelter seemed a little hard to believe.
He did enjoy talking and continued to do so for a good while after dark. George and I were able to get some sleep once he and the other hikers decided to pipe down and be quite. I didn't even hear the little chipmunk tear up the tissue paper I had put between George and I. Actually, it was between our heads! The little critter was within inches of our faces!

We didn't get up as early on the third day. We had only an 8 mile hike. We enjoyed a hot cup of coffee and had breakfast. The forest around the shelter was absolutely beautiful. There was mist in the forest and sun rays penetrating through the trees, allowing for perfect photo opportunities of which I took full advantage of. We got on our way and didn't feel as pressed for time. This leg of the trail was rough but not like the last two days. We made it to the next shelter around 4 pm.

Something I need to mention, as we approached each shelter, the ground around the area was torn up. We were told about the wild hogs before we started on this hike. Most shelters do not have toilets, you have to dig "cat holes". So we made sure to take a bathroom break before dark. We did not want to encounter wild hogs or possibly a bear!!

The shelter was full of hikers by late evening, 11 total. Shelters normally hold 8 to 10. Two hikers decided to get an early start the next morning. I mean early, as in 3am, waking the entire shelter up. After little or no sleep, George and I got up at 6:30 am, had some coffee, a power bar, filled our water bottles and left. We hiked up onto the ridge into some clearing and had an awesome early morning view. I wanted some morning light to get a few good pictures. We were 2.5 miles from Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the park. Different hikers said it was a difficult hike up. George had mentioned bypassing it. We didn't do it. I had to summit. Actually, it was a "piece of cake" compared to what we had hiked three days prior. We were there by 10am. At the top of Clingman's Dome lookout, we could see our final destination by the tiny uplift of smoke coming from the construction area near Newfound Gap. We had 7.5 miles left to go, seem like a hundred miles from the Dome.

The final miles were not easy. We were hot, stinky, hungry and exhausted. We wanted this to be over! Two miles to go, we still had another point where we had to ascend up and then back down. We had an additional power bar since breakfast and were starting to fill the effects of hunger. Finally, we could see a stone wall with the trail running parallel with it and the highway. That last 200 feet to the exit took forever!! Not really, just seemed that way. We exited out at 3 pm.

We hit the first little bar and grill just as you enter Gatlinburg. It welcomed hikers and bikers.
We had 2 cold beers and a big hamburger. George and I talked early in the day and decided not to stop for lunch, we would feast when we got back to civilization. Images of beer and burgers in our heads kept us going.

I would like to do some more hikes on the Appalachian Trail. I once thought
it would be neat to hike the entire AT from Georgia to Maine, but after this last hike,
I'll stick to section hiking it.


Visit website:  http://backpacker.com/

Happy Hiking,

Patty Hall