June 16, 2012
Today we hiked 9 miles up and down the biggest hill we could find in Pace, Florida with our loaded packs. In two weeks we will be leaving to conquer the Great Smoky Mountain National Park section of the Appalachian Trail. For five weeks we have been walking around the soccer field and going up and down the bleachers building up to 1000 reps on the bleachers and 6 miles total walking, 3 times a week. Our plans included 3 additional weeks of training before we take off, but our schedule has changed and we will be starting our journey on July 1.
The good news for us is that our packs are much lighter now than they have been in the past. We have traded in our No Limit sleeping bags weighing 5.25 pounds for military patrol bags weighing 2.6 pounds each. Our new JetBoil stove and smaller fuel canister weighs 1.5 pounds compared to 3 lbs for the old Coleman single-burner propane stove and fuel. We will be carrying no tent because in the park we are required to stay in the shelters. Plus, with the amount of rain we are experiencing right now, we will be able to use our Katadyn water filter instead of carrying so much water in our camel backs.
We have called the National Park Service to register for shelters in the park. Our itinerary had to change because they have closed the Cosby Knob Shelter due to bear activity. This will make for longer days for us, oh well!
http://www.wate.com/story/18659760/black-bear-activity-closes-some-areas-in-great-smokies
We had planned to take day four off in the middle of our hike, but when we called to register for the shelters, the park ranger could not fit us in to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter on day five so we had to register for day four at the shelter and forget a day off.
Here is our projected itinerary (subject to change). We have decided to hike south-bound on the first leg because the the incline going up Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the AT, doesn't seem to be as bad as north-bound. We have called the park service office and registered for the shelters.
Travel Day - Drive from home to Fontana Dam. Leave the car at the dam and have Donna shuttle us up to Cherokee or Gatlinburg to spend the night.
Day One - Newfound Gap to Silers Bald Shelter, 12.5 miles
Day Two - Silers Bald Shelter to Russell Field Shelter, 14.7 miles
Day Three - Russell Field Shelter to Fontana Dam, 13.5 miles
Drive the car up to Gatlinburg, stay at Carr's Northside Cottages and Motel (good reviews on Trip Advisor).
Day Four - Suttle to Newfound Gap, hike northbound to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter, 15.6 miles
Day Five - Tri-Corner Knob Shelter to Davenport Gap, 15.7
Shuttle back to Gatlinburg to our car and spend another night at Carr's before heading home the next morning.
Thes last two days will be the longest days we have done so far, but we have read that this section is not too hard and many people get their fist 20 mile days here.
P.S. We did not go to the GSMNP when we expected to because of the Heat Advisory in that area which began the weekend that we were planning to drive up to start our hike on July 1. It is at least 10 degrees hotter there than the average temperatures.