Date: 2018-03-28
To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: light rain

Today was the day we entered the infamous Smoky Mountains. Only a week before now, there was a foot of snow covering many of the trails and temperatures were below freezing. Today I woke up inside the Hilton and we had all been graced with 60 degree temperatures and overcast skies calling for a beautiful day on the trails. I woke up with the remainder of the hikers as it's hard to sleep while 20 or more people zip their bags and pack their belongings. The goal really is to get all your stuff outside to pack up out there but noise is inevitable.I had a honey bun for breakfast and took my snack bag for the day and dispersed snacks into different area of my bag to eat as I hiked. It's been a great system so far and holds me from eating everything in a day. The hike from the Hilton required us to walk along the road and across the dam for about a mile. It was a beautiful morning and the dam provided great views. Shortly after walking past the dam I reached a small board noting the Southern Boundary of the Smoky Mountains. No trumpets, no applause, and not even a Snickers bar like at the start of the AT at Amicalola Falls. Just a small board and a box for thru-hikers to drop their permits in. That was it. Thru hikers must pay $20 in advance before hiking the roughly 70 miles within the smokies. It is considered the most "policed" section of the trail where ridge running forest rangers will stop and check your permits throughout the hike. We have a maximum of 8 days to hike the entirety of the smokys and must follow certain rules such as:- staying only at shelters- ensuring the shelter is full before tenting- only tenting around the shelter- forfeiting our spot in the shelter at any time to any backpacker or hiker who has a reservation for the shelter.There are a ton of rules to follow and that's exactly why the Smokies seem to be a sore subject for thru-hikers. There were many times where backpackers would show up to a shelter around 8pm, which is typically when people are headed to bed or already asleep, and force thru-hikers out of the shelter because they had an $8 reservation. Many hikers seemed to extend their days on the basis that they would show up to a shelter that was full and just be able to legally camp right away without worrying about being kicked out at night and forced to tent in the dark. It creates a fair amount of animosity between thru-hikers and backpackers that seems unnecessary.As I entered the smokies I immediately felt an eerie presence. I caught a glimpse of two white tailed deer in the distance, heard a woodpecker above me and saw more birds, squirrels and wildlife than the past 150 miles of trail as soon as I dropped my permit in the box. It was like a scene out of Cinderella or something. With the clouds creating an eerie dark glow, I began the butt-whooping climb uphill.We had heard negative things about the Mollies Ridge Shelter which was the first one within the smokies. Rangers had said that there was already bear activity and rumor was the noro virus had also been present here. The entire group of hikers was terrified of this shelter and bad vibes came off it as I approached. The smoky shelters are mainly all stone buildings with small fireplaces, three sides and a fireplace inside. They would be nice except for the tarps draped over the fourth side and the crazy musty feeling that radiated from them. Walking by Mollies Ridge Shelter, it seemed like a scene from the "Walking Dead." There was a laminated sign warning of bear activity, a wooden sign telling hikers to boil all water and it was deserted. Mist was swarming around the structure and I immediately felt the need for large amounts of hand sanitizer. I DID NOT STOP. My hike continued for another five or so miles until I reached my home for the night. I had met a few other hikers throughout the day that noted they all had to chase off a black bear that came to their campsite last night. Over 45min of noise finally got the bear to leave but the two stories together meant no messing around with bear bags and hanging anything that smelt. Being one of the first ones at the shelter gives you good hope of not being kicked out by backpackers unless a group of 20 were to show up. I hung around and waited for the crew to show up as Soothe Sayer and Green Grass appeared. We agreed on taking down the tarp on the shelter to remove the smell and air it out. We kept it down all night in hopes of returning it back to the way it should be. The gang of us all hung around as more hikers showed up and slowly the shelter reached capacity but never exceeded it. We had a great night.P.S: So apparently Tennessee doesn't allow privy's or outhouses at their shelters. Rumor was they are illegal but I was unable to check that as I write this without access to the internet. Regardless, the shelters within the smokies that fall over the border in TN do not have privy's where the shelters on the North Carolina side do have privys. With that being said, if there is no privy, the rule is to dig a cat hole at least 6" deep and then cover it after you do your business. I will tell you that that rule doesn't seem to be followed by many as a sign points to the "toilet area" near the shelter and small bombs lie every foot or so. It's disgusting and for the amount of foot traffic in the smokies and the popularity of the shelters it amazes me that something hasn't been done about this. This puts the water source at risk for even a Sawyer filter and often seemed to overload the shelters on the NC side of the trail as we literally walk back and forth across the border through the smokies.