The Smokies
Day 17 of the Trail: 17.6 miles hiked
Day 18 of the Trail: 11.8 miles hiked
Day 19 of the Trail: 12.1 miles hiked
Day 20 of the Trail: Zero miles hiked
Day 21 of the Trail: Zero miles hiked
I am going to cover these first few days of the Smokies in one LONG blog. It's a mutual characteristic that they will share. What I mean, is the Smokies have felt like one long day so why not write about it in one long post for the first half and one for the second.
Day one we woke up before the sun was up and I recall laying there staring at the stars because we were cowboy camping, and I thought to myself that we were lucky to start this hike into the Smokies with such calm and mild weather. The night was very still and the stars were brilliant. The temperature was cool enough it would keep us comfortable while climbing. Leaving out of our campsite we had to cross the Fontana Dam and pick up the trail on the other side. Now, apparently the dam is closed and there is an alternate trail that takes you to the base of the dam and then back up on the other side. Well, when it's so early that the sun's not up then it also means there is little guidance for hikers and maybe we missed the alternative route and just walked across the dam. Yes, we walked across the dam that is apparently closed for construction but it was a non issue and probably saved us a headache with not having to climb up the downside of the dam.
When we reached the base of the Smokies we dropped our permits in a little metal box that the park placed there to collect hiker fees. Coming out of Fontana there is a long climb up to altitude above 5000 feet. The good news is it's fairly gradual and once you are up there it's a lot of ridge walking which cuts down on ups and downs. That first day we feel good. The wind does pick up and it's gets considerably cooler at altitude but we are crushing the miles. It's amazing how we can look down off the mountain and see Fontana get farther away. Before you know it, we have walked farther than we could see from Fontana. Over 17 and a half miles on day one. At this pace we would be on track to reach Newfound Gap early on the third day.
The Smokies were only about to wake up and unleash their wrath. Night one we camped in Spencer Field Shelter. In the Smokies you are required to stay in the shelter unless it's full. Either way you have to stay at an official camp site. Initially, we were the only ones at the shelter and we immediately claimed our spots, which we learned is very important or you run the risk of someone showing up and tossing their sleeping bag right in front of your backpack like it's not there. We gathered some fire wood and started our routine chores of getting water, making dinner, and kicking our sore feet up. John had done an awesome job keeping step all day. Considering Thomas and I had already walked over 150 miles and John was only a few days into the trip, plus, we had just hiked our longest hike to date. Eventually about 10 or more people showed up to the shelter that night. The weather also got colder. A small amount of sleet fell that evening and the wind blew furiously.
Day two we got up before everyone. Yeah, we are those guys who get up early and make noise stuffing our bags into our stuff sacks. To be fair we tell everyone that we are early risers and to expect it. Now, typically we would be up before daybreak but when I woke up at 5 am the fog was so thick I nearly got lost just 30 yards from the shelter. It was insane, I have never experienced fog so thick but that's the Smokies, so we left out just as it got light enough and started on our way to one of two shelters we had planned. Option one was to hike almost 12.5 miles to Double Spring Shelter or hike a shorter distance of about 11.8 to Silers Bald Shelter. Well the word on the trail was that most people were going to Double Spring so we were content to stop at Silers.
I need to expound on something with the hikers in the Smokies. There are motivated hikers and there and unmotivated hikers. We began to call the unmotivated hikers squatters. Squatters only hike minimum distance between shelters. Squatters are a pain and this is why: in the Smokies I explained you have to stay in or at the shelter sites. Things can get congested because of this. When the unmotivated hikers only hike 6 or less miles between shelters they increase the congestion at shelters. This is even more of a problem when there is an issue with Norovirus on the trail but I'll get to that.
The hike was slower and a bit more tiring than the day before. It's just a culmination of all the previous day's adding up, we hiked over 70 miles since our last zero day and we were feeling it.
When we show up at Silers, Thomas was the first to poke his head inside the shelter. This is actually funny. By this point we are exhausted and cold and looking forward to a roomy shelter and some rest. To our surprise the shelter is almost completely full. Squatters! Errr, Thomas wasn't having it. He snarled at the shelter full of hikers and "asked" in a very aggressive way, "who's leaving?". In a very trimmed way, like school kids who got caught passing notes in class, about five people raised their hands and said they were gonna leave. Thomas, still sounding frustrated and authoritative said, "Good because he had a group of three that needed the space." You could tell he wasn't in the mood for any crap and when I stood next to him nobody was gonna say anything to a couple of 6'4" bearded up hikers that had that crazed look.
A good portion of the hikers at the shelter who were there or showed up later were in the squatter group. Hikers who didn't feel like doing more than the distance between one shelter and were now cluttering the trail. How do they have food to go so slow through the Smokies? Why won't they hike farther and get the hell out? The Smokies aren't that great this time of year. It's cold, windy, and now it was snowing and sleeting. To make it worst, one hike had just gotten over the Norovirus. You know that stomach bug the you always here about people on cruise ships getting and then they spend half the cruise in the bathroom. Well, that virus can stay with people for several days and now this hiker was staying with us in a shelter that was jam packed full of people. I get not wanting to stay in a tent outside because it's snowing and because you may not feel well but come on! You risk infecting everyone else.
Day three I wake up about 6 and go outside to check the weather. Once again it's foggy but on top of that there is about 3 inches of snow on the ground. The trail is only visible by a slight depression and the white blazes painted on trees have been covered by the snow. We would need to wait till it was light outside to start our hike again. We had about 12 miles to Newfound Gap and a little snow wasn't going to slow us down.
We were one of the first people out of camp that day. It's a tricky thing hiking in the snow. If you blindly follow the footprints of the guy in front you run the risk of following them down a wrong turn. After about 4 miles we made it to Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the AT, it was covered in ice and snow but we didn't hike that far to just pass it by. We hike to the top of the tower located there and took some pics than continued down the trail. We hiked on pretty hard with minimal breaks so we could get to the gap as soon as possible. To our surprise when we made it there there was a church group with trail magic. This was an awesome turn of events, we were excited to sit down and grab so sandwiches, chips, and deserts. No sooner did I sit down than an elderly gentleman asked if I needed a ride. Once again the trail gods smiled on us. He had room for all three of us and took us into Pigeon Forge where our hotel room was. The first thing we did at the hotel was shower then walked about 0.7 miles to the laundromat. After that we stopped by Texas Roadhouse for dinner and then the hotel hot tub to soak our sore muscles.
It was about 2:30 am when I woke up that morning of the fourth day. Thomas was awake and taking a shower. When he got out I asked if he was okay and he said his back was cramping and had to shower to try and relax. About thirty minutes later I knew I needed to hit the bathroom in a bad way. I had to crap and it was an emergency. Then I started to feel sick. And just like clockwork so did Thomas and John. Thomas' muscle cramps were likely due to the sickness we were all suffering from. It was the Norovirus hitting us hard. Vomiting, diarrhea, soreness, and headaches. We had been infected by the squatter! The whole day we spent taking turns in the hot shower, on the toilet, and in bed. The Smokies were still extracting their wrath on use.
We would spend day five at the hotel trying to hydrate and do things like resupply, which we couldn't do the day before, to get ready for the second half of the Smokies. A side note: it turns out that the rest of the Warrior Hike group got stuck in Fontana the day we hiked out to Newfound Gap. Apparently, the park service warned of extreme weather and didn't recommend hiking that day. So that half of the group got shuttled to Maggie Valley the next day and skipped the first half of the Smokies. That leaves just me and Thomas as hiking everything, so fa,r but with an extra day to recoup then and the group getting shuttled to Newfound Gap after a day in Maggie Valley we are now behind everyone.
No big deal, I am sure we can make up the miles somewhere.
