Appalachian TrailAugust 15 – 23, 2015

Pickin’ up where we left off…

The Plan1. Start where we left off in September 20142. Time on trail limited to one week3. Make it all the way through the Smokies4. Have fun5. Try not to die

The route

Winding Stair Gap, NC mm109.8

I-40 Crossing, TN mm240.0

Reviewing the Rules:

Rule #1: Always Look CoolRule #2: Never Get LostRule #3: If You Get Lost, Look Cool

Day 1Date: Saturday, August 15

Rain: Yes 20%Trail Miles: 11Elev. Gain: 3,408Depart: 12:30Ended: 6:00

Start: Winding Stair Gap, Franklin, NCEnd: Wayah Bald Shelter

Highlight: Feeling good!

Special Guests: Lots of people on the trail today, “the hot dog lady”

Wayah Bald Shelter

Day 1: Ready to Go!

Ummm, yeah…

Robin dropped us at the parking area (mm 109.8), on que, it started to rain.

Miles are passing easy.

Light sporadic rain.

Stopped for a break and snack at Wayah Gap (mm 115.7)

Day 1: On the trailStopped at the Wayah Bald observation tower (mm 119.9)

Arrived at Wayah Shelter (mm 120.8) at 6:00

Day 1: In Camp

Randy’s stealth camp

One of the most interesting nights on our journey. There were 9 people at this shelter. Hands down the most people in one shelter that we have stayed at. We crammed into the shelter head to butt. Randy decided to take the tarp route. Probably should have done the same. Met a loud, kind of funny, woman from Boston-Denver. She was later referred as the “Hot-Dog” Lady. Also a thru hiker with vacuum-packed food bags. Ever seen a deflated Little Debbie cake?

Day 2Date: Sunday, August 16

Rain: NoTrail Miles: 16.5Elev. Gain: 3,393Elev. Loss: 7,649!Depart: 8:15Ended: 5:30

Start: Wayah Bald ShelterEnd: Nantahala Outdoor Center

Highlight: Pizza & Beer!Special Guests: Pissed off red-head, Assorted day-hikers

Wesser Bald Observation Tower

Day 2: On the trail

Obeying Rule #1Cold Spring Shelter (mm 125.6)

Day 2: On the trail

Copper Ridge Bald (mm 126.3)

…one step up, two steps down!

No rain today and some nice views.

Just Because…

Day 2: On the trailBy late morning we each found our pace and got a little spaced out.

While climbing from Tellico Gap to Wesser Bald, we each met this exhausted and pissed-off girl coming down the mountain behind a guy and his dog. And the conversation was repeated (x3):

Q: Am I almost to the parking lot?

A: Not really.

Apparently that was the wrong answer.

Day 2: On the trailWhen John arrived at the Wesser Bald observation tower (mm 130.6) Drew was not there (he passed the side trail and went on to the next shelter for lunch).

John stayed for awhile to take pictures, but left before Randy arrived.

It was the only time all week when nobody knew where anyone was.

Day 2: On the trail12:50 Drew arrived at Wesser Bald Shelter (mm 131.4).

Read through the entry journal and found this sketch. Still waiting on John & Randy, opened up the Bible and read Luke 17.

2:00 Everyone back together, getting ready to depart when a group of 5 girls and 2 guys arrived SOBO. After the usual small talk the group started down the hill when one girl at the end of the line calmly and randomly asked:

“Have you read any good books lately?”

Day 2: Down to the river…

The “jumpoff” (mm 133.0)

Day 2: Down to the river…5:30 Arrived at NOC (mm 137.3)

Dinner: We ate at Rivers End Restaurant. Randy ordered a chicken philly sandwich. John and Drew shared a 16” gyro meat, mushroom, BACON pizza. Also, had a Railhouse Ka-bar brown ale. Yums! Good recovery meal.

Sleep: After scaling half a mountain we finally found our bunk house, Kephart 2. A basic bunk house with cold AC. Also did a load of laundry and took a shower; it was nice to smell good for a little while.

Day 3Date: Monday, August 17

Rain: Yes – all afternoonTrail Miles: 15.8Elev. Gain: 6,774Depart: 8:00Ended: 6:00

Start: NOCEnd: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

Highlight: This day was mostly void of positivity.Special Guests: Patrick and Dad from FL, Ultra runner

Brown Fork Gap Shelter

Day 3: Climbing…8:00 Left NOC and climbed all morning. Any optimism from the previous two days was crushed today!

Day 3: On the trailAny excuse to take a break…

Swim Bald (mm143.1)

Day 3 - Cheoah Bald1:45 Arrived at Cheoah Bald (mm 145.2)

Day 3 - Cheoah Bald

Sometimes, it’s just not enough to look cool…

Day 3: On the trailMet a SOBO ultra runner. FKT attempt?? Only slowed a few seconds for a high five and “Peace Man”.

4:35 Arrived at Stecoah Gap (mm 150.7) Random bus, drove to the top of this mountain and turned around. Strange, wonder the story behind that!

Randy: What’s ahead?Drew: 2.4 miles of accents, descents, accents, descents, accents…Randy: Are you just guessing?Drew: NoRandy: Oh! Randy: 5 miles ago you said it was 5 miles, and believe me, I know 5 miles when I’ve done it. Drew: Apparently not!

Day 3: Climbing…“Jacobs Ladder” (mm 151.7)

And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! Genesis 28:12

600 ft. net elevation gained in 0.5 miles

John looking down

Day 3 – Climbed out…6:00 Arrived at Brown Fork Gap Shelter (mm 153.1) and there was a father and son from FL with their tents set up INSIDE the crappy shelter. Eventually, we made them adjust there configuration so we would have a place to sleep. They were worried about mice…

Just have to be quicker than they are…and Drew was!

It rained hard all night. Impossible to get comfortable. Between the cold, the rain, the snoring and the mice, it was a bad night following a bad day…and the worst part is: tomorrow we have to “give it all back!”

Little mouse was not fast enough

Day 4Date: Tuesday, August 18

Rain: Yes - afternoonTrail Miles: 12.7Elev. Gain: 2,842Depart: 9:00Ended: 3:30

Start: Brown Fork Gap ShelterEnd: Fontana Dam Shelter

Highlight: Short day, light packs and a hot showerSpecial Guests: Nancy from The Hike Inn, Zack the Aussie Lawyer

Fontana Dam Shelter aka “The Fontana Hilton”

Day 4: On the trail9:00 Departed Brown Fork Gap Shelter and started “down” the trail

Between Hogback Gap and Cable Gap Shelter, there was a note attached to a branch pulled across the trail:

WARNING: Wasp nest ahead!

Thank you! TAXI MAN

11:45 Arrived at Cable Gap Shelter (mm 159.2) and there was a college boy from Maryland still eating breakfast.

Day 4 was planned to be the easy day. But by early afternoon, it was raining steadily and we all had aching knees from the pounding decent.

Hogback Gap

Day 4: On the trail3:00 Arrived at Fontana Marina (mm 164.7)

Drew and Randy stayed for awhile to charge phones and John went ahead to the shelter to retrieve our resupply box.

Day 4: On the trail

Busted! Yoo-Hoo with Flare!

Day 4: Fontana Dam

3:30 John checked in at the Fontana Hilton (mm 165.8) then climbed up the hill to the “Verizon phone booth” to arrange for delivery of our food for the rest of the week.

Nancy from The Hike Inn arrived 45 minutes later with a 30 pound box of food. It looked like it was going to clear up. Wrong!

View from the Verizon phone booth

Day 4: Fontana Shelter

Brilliant! Why hadn’t we thought of this before?

The largest and cleanest shelter on the trail. Met Zack, a Lawyer from Australia who was taking a zero before entering the Smokies.

View of the lake and rainbow from inside the shelter.

Day 5-9Great Smoky Mountain National Park: All hikers must have a permit to stay in park shelters. Permits can be purchased 30 days in advance and are only valid for the specified shelter on the specified night. No backcountry camping is permitted in the park. Translation: No flexibility!

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Day 5Date: Wednesday, August 19

Rain: Yes – all dayTrail Miles: 13.8Elev. Gain: 5,591Depart: 7:15Ended: 3:30

Start: Fontana HiltonEnd: Russell Field Shelter

Highlight: Finding water in the rain?!?Special Guests: Bear!!

Russell Field Shelter

Day 5: On the trailRained all night and still pouring when we left the shelter at 7:15. Made one last pit-stop and the rain stopped as we were crossing the dam.

Day 5: On the trail

8:00 GSMNP boundary (mm 167.1) and started a 7 mile, 3000 ft climb. Oh yeah, it poured most of the morning.

Still raining…

Time for a Quiz?Which trail hazard is more dangerous?

A: Wet ROOTS B: Wet ROCKS

Time for a Quiz?Which trail hazard is more dangerous?

A: Wet ROOTS B: Wet ROCKS

CORRECT!!

Day 5: This sucks!

“View” from Shuckstack fire tower (mm 170.5) 90 steps to the top - Probably not

worth it. Yup, definitely NOT worth it

So we started the day with an extra 10 lbs of food each and sufficient water to reach the first spring part way up the mountain. When we arrived at the “spring” at mm 169.4 and it was just a shallow mud pit. The next possible water source is 6 miles and 2-3 hours of steep climbing away.

Between the three of us, we have less than 1 liter of water. This just got real!

Day 5: This sucks!

Rain everywhere, but nothing to drink!

To be honest, this was the mentally and emotionally the worst part of the trip (steep climb, hard rain, afraid to drink what little we had, uncertain if the next source would be dry too). Too much time to think, and can’t get out of my head…

12:30 Arrived at Ekaneetlee Gap (mm 175.4) relived to find a weak spring down the hill

1:30 Mollies Ridge Shelter (mm 176.8) for lunch

3:30 Arrived at Russell Field Shelter (mm 179.6)

Nobody on the trail today…

“Bear!”

Nearly dark and almost asleep: “Guys, there’s a BEAR in the shelter!”

Enjoyed the view… Left out at 1:00pm

Just looking for your pic-a-nic basket Boo-Boo!

“Bear!”

So here’s the thing…Had it been 10 minutes later, it would have been pitch dark and we would never have known it was in there. Was a long night after that!

Day 6Date: Thursday, August 20

Rain: Yes – in/out of cloudsTrail Miles: 14.7Elev. Gain: 5,241Depart: 8:30Ended: 5:00

Start: Russell Field Shelter End: Silers Bald Shelter

Highlight: Out of the green tunnel!Special Guests: Mom/daughter with big packs, Father/son from Indiana/Knoxville arrived just before dark.

Silers Bald Shelter

Day 6: On the trail

We are now following the TN/NC line, so the views have started opening up.

Day 6: Rocky Top/Thunder Mtn10:15 Hiked in and out of the clouds all day. Caught a break late morning crossing Rocky Top/Thunder Mountain (mm 183.7 – 184.3)

Views to the NW, so looking over Cades Cove area, but it was obscured by the clouds.

Day 6: Rocky Top/Thunder MtnNo exactly sure why this mountain is called “Rocky Top”. It looked like most of the Smoky Mountain balds.

Found some rocks!

Day 6: Gaining elevation…

5:00 Arrived Silers Bald Shelter (mm194.3)

Day 7Date: Friday, August 21

Rain: Yes – mid afternoonTrail Miles: 15.5Elev. Gain: 4,280Depart: 7:30Ended: 4:15

Start: Silers Bald Shelter End: Icewater Spring Shelter

Highlight: 100 miles and new energy!Special Guests: Hundreds of tourists, kids wanted shelter to party, Mom from K’ville joined family for the night.

Icewater Spring Shelter

Day 7: On the trail

Cold rain all night. Got up early and put on cold/wet clothes. Had to get moving, so left shelter before breakfast.

New ecosystem over 6,000 ft

Day 7: On the trail

Confession time: John and Drew violated Rule #2 by taking the trail leading down to Clingman’s Dome Parking Area. Had to retrace 0.5 mile, but did it quickly, so Rule #3 remains intact!

Clingman’s Dome – elev. 6,655Looking West…

Arrived 10:15 (mm 199.1) on a rare sunny day. This is pretty cool!

…NE – Mt. LeConte

…South

Day 7: Clingman’s Dome

Posing for pictures…It’s what ALL visitors to the 2nd highest peak east of the Rocky’s do, right?

Day 7: Top of the trail

Strange observation: random white rocks (quartz or marble?) pop up in unexpected places. Where did they come from?

The trail from Clingman’s Dome to Newfound Gap felt like the Pacific Northwest. Conifers, ferns and thick moss covering rocky ground. Again, pretty cool!

Day 7: On the trail

Neat spring coming out of a rock (mm 203.4) stopped here for lunch.

Many trees fallen with huge root bases sheltering the trail. This one pulled a big rock up with it. (Note: the rock is not wearing a blue shirt.)

Day 7: Newfound Gap

“Hey honey, I smell like a homeless person!”

3:00 Arrived (mm 206.8) and there were people everywhere! Turns out civilized tourists would rather not interact with stinky hikers! Seriously! Won’t even make eye contact…

Day 7: On the trail

4:30 We arrived early enough to wash clothes and hang them in the sun to dry, except we forgot to tell Randy that the spring was located in the middle of the main trail. While ringing out his ExOfficio’s he had some explaining to do to an unsuspecting trail running couple!

Climbing out of Newfound Gap, we passed a group of college kids from NC. We were unpacking at Icewater Springs shelter, (mm 209.8) when they walked up celebrating “We’re here!” until they realized WE would be spending the night at the shelter. Disappointed, they went on to find another place for their party.

Day 8Date: Saturday, August 21

Rain: Yes – 20% late AMTrail Miles: 12.6Elev. Gain: 3,399Depart: 8:30Ended: 2:30

Start: Icewater Spring Shelter End: Tri-corner Knob Shelter

Highlight: Charlie’s BunionSpecial Guests: Goodbye to Mom, Austin from Tufts

Sunrise at Icewater Spring Shelter

Day 8: Charlie’s Bunion9:00 Charlie’s Bunion (mm 210.7) - Probably the best views of the week! The eastern Smokies are much steeper and more rugged than our last three days in the western section.

Day 8: Charlie’s Bunion

View of Mt. Kephart and Mt. LeConte to the west

Day 8: Charlie’s Bunion

The name “Charlie’s Bunion” was dubbed in 1929 by Horace Kephart in feign homage to fellow GSMNP champion Charlie Conner’s widely known foot affliction while they were exploring this section of the central Smokies.

Day 8: On the trailHiked in the clouds for much of the morning.

Day 8: On the trail

12:00 Stopped for lunch at Eagle Rocks (mm 218.1)

Day 8: On the trail

Eagle Rocks – looking straight up the valley all the way to the Pigeon Forge strip.

This rocky and exposed section of the trail is aptly named the “Sawteeth” where in some places the ridge was literally only as wide as the actual trail. It was an interesting and fun section to hike.

Day 8: On the trail2:30 Arrived at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter (mm 222.4). The next shelter is 7.7 miles away, but our permit will only allow us to stay here. Starting to really dislike the GSMNP permit system; there’s still lots of daylight left and we are feeling like we want to keep going…

Now, what to do for entertainment for the next six hours?

Tri-corner Knob Shelter

ADA Compliant Privy…on top of a mountain…accessible only by a 15 mile strenuous footpath

The handicap hardware probably cost more than the wood to build the shelter.

It’s common-sense regulations like this that made this country the envy of the modern world.

Day 9Date: Sunday, August 22

Rain: Yes – late AMTrail Miles: 18.4Elev. Gain: 2,498Elev. Loss: 6,777Depart: 6:45Ended: 1:45

Start: Tri-corner Knob Shelter End: Little Pigeon River (I-40)

Highlight: Stick a fork in it!Special Guests: Carol and Sam Adams

Day 9: On the trail

View from north slope of Mt. Guyot mm 225.3 (Mt. Guyot is the 2nd tallest mountain in TN)

It’s going to be a big day, so we hit the trail as soon as it was light enough to see. Stopped as soon as we could get a “bar” to send Carol a

text with our earlier projected ending/pickup time.

Day 9: On the trail

11:00 - After the last big climb of the trip, arrived at 0.6 mile side trail to Mt. Cammerer lookout tower (mm 232.9); it was cloudy and raining. Decided to skip it.

Randy led the way off the mountain in record time!

Day 9: On the trail

The lower elevations really do feel different.

Day 9: On the trail

1:45 Arrived at Little Pigeon River (mm 240.0) and soaked in the cold water while waiting for Carol.

Day 9: Celebration!

To good friends, good health, and good beer!

Drew’s multi-tool.

2015 By the NumbersAverage Departure: 8:00Average end time: 4:15Total Miles: 131Average miles/day: 15.4Total elevation gain: 37,426 ft.Average elevation gain/day: 4,403 ft. Total hours* on trail: 65.75Average miles/hour: 2.0

A Little Perspective:1. Roundtrip on the Bright Angel trail from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the

Colorado River is 16.0 miles with 4,380 ft of elevation gain.2. Mt. Everest, at 29,029 ft, is the highest mountain in the world. But, its base-to-

summit height is actually only about 12,000 feet.3. The cruising altitude of a 747 is about 35,000 feet above sea level.4. There are 1,576 steps to climb the 1,050 feet from street level to the top of the

Empire State Building.

* Excluding 30 minute daily lunch stop