TRAINING AND ITINERARY FOR GSMNP

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.   

Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam

APRIL 20, 2012

Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam - Moderate

15.4 miles in 7.5 hours

The Cabin in the Woods, Stecoah Gap

Today we slackpacked.  Whoo – What a relief!  We woke up bright and early in the beautiful Cabin in the Woods, made our breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, packed up our lunch, water and a few snacks and called for a ride.  Phil, Donna's husband, had us up to Stecoah Gap in ten minutes.  We started our hike at 8:20.  As was to be expected, it was a steep climb out of the gap.  But without our backpacks it was an enjoyable hike and a welcome break.

The Cabin in the Woods,  back porch with a view of the mountainside.

The Cabin in the Woods, Stecoah Gap

By 9:30 we were at the Brown Fork Gap Shelter but since it was off the trail, decided not to go in to see it.  We would have seen some of our comrads there; a few who had made this shelter their goal the day before. A few had stopped at Locust Cove Gap.   So, we were without our usual company today and we missed the camaraderie, but did meet another young man today who was thru-hiking and trying to be the first to make it to Mount Katahdin wearing the skele-toes.  We are interested to hear if he made it all the way, since they did not look too stable to us.

At Cody Gap we needed water, but found that the water hole was off the trail down a steep bank, so decided to take our chances and walk on, hoping to find water on the trail.  We did find a very good water stream right before Yellow Creek Gap. 

Can you see Fontana Lake down there?

At 12:00 we stopped for lunch at Yellow Creek Gap, SR 1242.  We had hiked 7.6 miles in 3.5 hours.

The remainder of the day was up and down (literally), but nothing compared to the day before.  The ups were steep but not too high, and the downs were not too bad.  Many welcome gaps of rolling ridge-walking.  Some spots were rocky, some spots were muddy and slippery.  

See Fontana Lake through the trees?

We first spotted Fontana Lake from the top of the mountain long before we got to it.  It was a welcome sight, but we didn’t know at the time that it would be a long time before we actually got to it.  It was a long descent into the valley.  We finally came to NC Highway 28 right before the Dam Marina.  We still had 1.4 miles to go over a mountain to get to the dam and the Visitor’s Center.  After a bathroom break at the marina, we began climbing again to cross over to the Fontana Dam.  We were tired and ready for it to be over; therefore did not welcome the climb that was ahead of us.  Putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, we finally made it to the Fontana Dam at 4:00. 

Hwy 28 goes through Fontana Village.

We wanted to see the “Fontana Hilton” shelter, so made ourselves trek down the hill for a glance.  It indeed was the largest shelter we had seen.  It was two levels on each side of a center breezeway; built to shelter 24 people.  The showers and water fountains that were advertised in our 2011 Thru-Hiker’s Companion though were not in service and looked like they had not seen water in awhile.  There were showers, though, at the Visitor’s Center, but we didn’t have a towel or soap with us, so we were unable to use them.

Our vehicle parked in the Visitor’s Center parking lot was a welcome sight. The first thing we did was take off our boots for more comfortable shoes and then went to the soda machine for a cold drink.  Unfortunately, my camera quit working before we got to the dam and we could not take pictures to prove that we had made it—but I promise you that we did!! 

91 miles in 8 days.    

Nantahala Outdoor Center to Stecoah Gap

APRIL 19, 2012
Nantahala Outdoor Center to Stecoah Gap  - Strenuous
13.6 miles in 10 hours

River's End Restaurant at NOC.

We visited River’s End Restaurant again for breakfast before setting out on the trail at 9:00 a.m.  This section of the trail was everything we heard it would be – very steep and a long uphill climb.  Eight miles of elevation climbing from 1723’ to 5062’ at Cheoah Bald.  It was definitely the most strenuous day we have had on this section.  We reached Cheoah Bald at 3:00 p.m.  It was a beautiful view from the top of Cheoah Bald.

A view of River's End Restuarant from across Nantahala River.

Nantahala River at NOC

Nantahala River at NOC

Wesser Bald Shelter to Nantahala Outdoor Center

APRIL 18, 2012
Wesser Bald Shelter to Nantahala Outdoor Center - Strenuous
5.7 miles in 3.5 hours 

This morning everyone was up bright and early, I believe we were all weary of the sleeping arrangements by that time.  Eight people in a shelter built for six is a bit crowded, but we made the best of it. After our breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, we were the first out on the trail.

We have a short hike today, mostly downhill.  But it was still raining and the trail was wet and treacherous.  In fact, Wait-up slipped down by stepping on a root again.   We saw the privy of the A. Rugus Morgan Shelter from the trail above a LONG time before we actually got to it.  It appeared to be just a little way down, but it seemed like it took us forever to actually get to the shelter.  It was a small one, and we heard later that it was jammed packed with people too the night before in the rain. 

Our first view of Nantahala Outdoor Center from the descending trail.

 It was a long descent into the Nantahala Outdoor Center gap; but our first site of the building from the trail above was a welcome sight, knowing that we would have a night in a bed tonight.  We decided to upgrade from the basecamp, which is actually a hostel with no linens to one of their cabins so that we could enjoy it more.  They sometimes rent out Cabin D as a motel, they said.  We saw several of our fellow hikers in the cabin where we shared a common living area and a small kitchen and laundry room.

Even before we went to our cabin though, we took advantage of the River’s End Restaurant for one of their famous pizzas.  Clyde and Nightwalker were already there eating with Nightwalker’s wife who had met them there from Greenville, SC.  They told us they were going into Bryson City to spend the night. While we were eating Joshua and Caleb came in also. 

The AT crosses right over the NOC bridge.

After lunch and a shower, we restocked our backpacks from our supplies in the car.  This was the first time we had seen our car in six days.  We could finally retrieve our Thru-Hiker’s Companion and feel like we had the information we needed about the waypoints.  We had arranged for a shuttler named Donna to meet us at Fontana Dam this afternoon to leave our car there and bring us back to NOC to spend the night. 

The Nantahala River is famous for Whitewater rafting.

We drove into Bryson City to Ingle’s Grocery store to pick up a few groceries that we had decided on, then on to Fontana Dam to leave the car.  Donna met us there.  On the way back to NOC we found out that Donna lives and has a hostel and cabins for rent at Stecoah Gap, we drove right past it.  We could have stayed at her place tonight if we had known; but we already had reservations at NOC.  

We had heard good things about the hamburgers at the River's End, so we heated up our leftover pizza in the microwave in the cabin, then took it with us to the restaurant where we ordered a burger and fries to split along with our pizza.  While there, we met a nice couple from Kansas who had bought some property near by and were working on building a log cabin on it.  They told us they were staying in The Little Cabin in the Woods.  Small world - we told them that we had just met Donna when she shuttled us here.  They always stay in one of Donna's cabins when they come to work on their house.

We walked back to the cabin with Ryno (well, not exactly, he ran up the hill because it was raining). We went to bed early hoping for a good night's sleep which we did - except for the guy above us who had heavy feet and walked around until late at night above our heads.  Oh well, we finally got to sleep and it was good.

Cabin D, Room 6

Beautiful peonies at the River's End Restaurant.

Us on the bridge after getting cleaned up.

Wayah Shelter to Wesser Bald Shelter

APRIL 17, 2012

Wayah Shelter to Wesser Bald Shelter - Moderate
10.6 miles in 7 hours

No storm last night as forcasted.  That was an answer to prayer, we could just see our tent washed down the hill with a gullywasher. 

We climbed 3 or 4 steep inclines before reaching Cold Spring Shelter where we stopped for lunch and water.  We met Nightwalker going back down the trail lickety split.  He had forgotten to take his GPS equipment off "Pause" at their last stop.  Uh oh!  He had to retrace his path almost a mile and back.

Several men had reached the shelter before us.  As usual, I immediately looked for the privy and noticed that, standing in front of the shelter, you could see directly into the privy to the seat.  Well, I just said, "Turn your head, boys, cause I gotta go." And I went.

The mosquitos were very thick at this shelter.  Out came the repellant again.

Burningtown Gap, Elevation 4236

View from Copper Ridge Bald Lookout, Elevation 5080'

 Copper Ridge Bald Lookout was a pretty place for pictures so we took a few.  From there, it was a lot of downhill hiking to Tellico Gap. 

Rocky Bald Lookout, Elevation 5030'

At Tellico my breath was taken away with the beautiful wild azaleas in bloom in pink and red.We had seen lots of them sprinkled throughout the forest already, but here they were concentrated in one area and close to the trail. 

Beautiful orange wild azaleas at Tellico Gap

Beautiful pink wild azaleas at Tellico Gap

Winding Stair Gap to Wayah Shelter

APRIL 16, 2012

Winding Stair Gap to Wayah Shelter - Strenuous
11 miles in 7 hours

After a good night’s sleep at Sapphire Inn, we were ready to go again.  We walked over to McDonald’s for breakfast and got extra to eat later on the trail.  We were packed up and ready for the return shuttle to Winding Stair Gap before 9:00.  Unfortunately, our shuttle driver was not so ready.  It was 9:45 before we were on the trail and ready to start our day’s hike. 

On the ride to the gap we met two interesting men, Clyde and Nightwalker.  Nightwalker has been commissioned by the Appalachian Trail Conversancy to update the AT distances.  He had 7 or 8 pounds of equipment in his pack.  They started at Springer Mountain in early April and it was our privilege to coincide with them on this part of the trip.  We leapfrogged with them to the NOC but lost them when they decided to slackpack backwards from Stecoah Gap. 

The walk through Swinging Lick Gap and Panther Gap was pretty pleasant; several times the trail went right down the middle of a stream. 

Swinging "Lick" Gap, Elevation 4100'

Panther Gap, Elevation 4480'

Suddenly at the top of a hill, we came to a wide open clearing which looked like an excellent place to sit in the grass and take a break.  Going off to the north of us was a grassy knoll with a trail running the length of it leading to the top of Siler Bald.  I understand it is a very popular hike for locals to come for the magnificent view from Siler Bald.  In fact, we hiked part of the way up with a gentleman who was doing a day hike to Siler Bald.  However, we did not feel that we had the energy to make the extra distance to the bald, so after our break, we continued following the white blazes of the AT. 

Our hiking buddy going up to Siler Bald.

Siler Bald

Wayah Gap, Elevation 4180'

From an elevation of 4600’ we dipped back down to 4180’ in Wayah Gap, then had a strenuous climb back up to 5342’ at Wayah Bald.  I have often said the AT wouldn’t be so bad if it were not for the gaps – they always go down, then you have to go back up to where you started from.

We met a young man named Josh and his female friend thru-hiking together.  They had started hiking on April Fool's Day at Springer Mountain.  We saw them frequently along the trail although they seemed to get a late start each day and hiked until bed time usually.

A frequently seen sign at the gaps on the highways.

We passed Qwyatt on the trail and chatted with him for awhile.  We found out that he had stayed at Saphhire Inn last night with his wife; he saw us walking back from McDonald’s this morning when they left.  So he got an earlier start than us. We asked about his destination for the day and he said as long as he could find two trees close enough together, he could stop anywhere and hang his hammock; he usually doesn’t try to make it to a shelter.  We warned him of the storm which had been forcast for the night and he said he didn’t worry, he had a cover.  That’s the last time we saw Qwyatt, we wish him well.  He was a very nice man.

Big Spring Shelter to Winding Stair Gap

APRIL 15, 2012

Big Spring Shelter to Winding Stair Gap - Easy

9.1 miles in 5 hours

Today was suppose to be a 12.2 day which meant it would be late when we get into Franklin tonight and not give us much time to rest before starting again tomorrow.  But, thanks to our decision yesterday to go on over Albert Mountain, we will have more time to restock and do our laundry this afternoon when we go into town.  That’s one of those decisions that you hate at the time, but are glad you did it.

After an uneventful night in the tent and a good night’s rest, we left camp at 8:20 and had a fairly easy hike.

As we were approaching Rock Gap Shelter from the trail above, I couldn’t help but notice that we could see right into the privy as we passed by.  Good thing no one was in there!  In fact, we found this to be true of several privies in NC- not very private.

Elevation 4160'

First view of US 64 from above.

At the paved road intersection beside the sign pointing the way to Standing Indian Campground, we met Qwyatt, a thru-hiker, waiting on his wife to come spend the night with him in Franklin.  He offered us a ride into Franklin but we still had 3.7 miles to go before we quit, so we continued across the road and into the forest again. He promised to pick us up at Winding Stair Gap if we were there when they went by.  We found a good water source just past the intersection and refilled our water bottles. 

We reached Winding Stair Gap along with four young men.  They gathered beside the parking lot while I ventured out to the side of the road to stick out my thumb to hitchhike.  They said to my husband that I should not be playing like that because someone might stop.  He said I wasn’t playing; I was really trying to hitch a ride into town.   Wait-up joined me in my efforts and in about 15 minutes a car suddenly pulled over to the side of the road.  A nice lady inside said “Y’all look like good folks.”  “We are,” I said, to which she said, “Well, get in!”  So we stuffed one backpack in the already-loaded trunk of her small car and another one we crammed in the back seat with me.  I don’t know how many times that sweet lady said, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”  Well, I couldn’t believe we had hitchhiked either but we did, just part of the AT experience! 

Catch-up hitchhiking into Franklin.

Lynn is a retired educator, just like us as it turned out.  She took us right to the Sapphire Inn where we had already reserved a room.  If you read this, Lynn, let us say again “Thank you!”

Wait-up hitchhiking into Franklin.

Standing Indian Shelter to Big Spring Shelter

APRIL 14, 2012

Standing Indian Shelter to Big Spring Shelter - Moderate except Albert Mountain, strenuous
14.4 miles in 10 hours

We left the shelter at 7:45 a.m. after an uneventful and restful night.  We had a short uphill to reach the summit of Standing Indian Mountain then started down to Beech Gap.  It was relatively easy like “a walk in the park” with lots of switchbacks and trails on the crest of the mountain under shade.  The weather was cool and pleasant.  Beech Gap is a beautiful stopping point with large Beech trees and a large, nice camping area.  Although we needed water, we decided not to trek downhill ¼ mile from Beech Gap to get it, hoping we would find some on the trail.  In fact, we did find a couple of very nice springs directly on the trail as we went north just a short distance.

Beech Gap, Elevation 4460'

View from Timber Ridge Trail, Elevation 4700'

Beautiful violets could be seen all along the trail.

Blue Ridge Gap to Standing Indian Shelter

APRIL 13, 2012
Blue Ridge Gap to Standing Indian Shelter - Moderate

11.4 miles in 7.5 hours

   


The rough road leading up to Blue Ridge Gap.

To begin the North Carolina section of the AT, we shuttled to the drop-off point at Blue Ridge Gap and began to climb the rough, slag road up to the AT.Too bad that road is not maintained, it could be a good access point close to the GA/NC line.

The beginning of the AT at Blue Ridge Gap.
 

It was a tough ascent but we got to the AT and began our journey at 9:00 a.m.

Here the trail enters the Nantahala National Forest.

At 10:40 we reached the tree where the GA/NC line sign is posted and took the same pictures we had taken in September when we were here at this point on our first section hike.Read all about that one on the Georgia Section blog. GEORGIA SECTION BLOG

Elevation 3840'

Past the sign tree we were beginning unchartered territory for us. We reached Bly Gap just past the line and saw the other famous tree with an interesting shape in the middle of the trail. In spite of the training we had done, it was a rough morning for me. On each incline I was gasping for breath and at each level spot I wanted to shout “Thank ya, Je-sus!” like Flo frequently does in the Yada Yada Prayer Group books (by Neta Jackson). However, at the end of the day I did not have sore muscles like last time, so the training must have done some good.

The famous tree in the middle of the trail at Bly Gap.

Elevation 4300'

Muskrat Creek Shelter for a lunch break.