Date: 2019-05-13
From: Gatlinburg 

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Sunday, May 12th - We started at 10:30am and arrived at camp at 8:20pm. I could tell as we walked the ridges today it would have been a day full of absolutely epic views, but today they were masked by a shield of fog. When I got to the shelter it was "full", needless to say, I'm typing this from the shelter... on a rainy night, until a shelter is legitimately shoulder to shoulder, it's not full. The smokies have been great but I am very ready to be out of them. The flocks of section hikers are a bit overwhelming. There is currently at least 30 people at this campsite. 15 in the shelter and 15 in tents. Less than half are thru hikers, it's nothing against section hikers and more just about volume. On a positive note, some things I love about weekenders is that they always pack too much food. Something I am happy to help them out with . Tomorrow its about 13 miles to Cosby Knob Shelter and that is the goal. I would love a dry day, but am fully prepared to cruise through another rainy day with a smile on my face! PS Happy Mothers Day to the very best Mom I could ever ask for! Thank you for always being there for me, and supporting me and my adventures, no matter how crazy they may be!Monday, May 13th - Wednesday, May 15th - Well folks, first of all I'm sorry for the delay! The smokies were amazing and technologically frustrating. My Garmin In reach that has always been full proof, all but stopped working. (It needs an update that requires a computer), making it just about impossible for me to communicate with Michelle for these journals. This process ended up really stressing both her and I out, so I kinda just gave up on it. I was keeping notes though with the intentions of doing one long journal post as a recap. (Here is that post)Monday night we slept in Tri corner Knob shelter, there was a group of men from Alabama with 4 horses. I didn't mind them being around but Udo wasn't thrilled to be around the "Giant Dogs". Tuesday night we spent the night at Cosby's Knob Shelter and it was the coldest night of this trip, with temps dipping to the low 30's with 20 mile an hour winds. Three section hikers rolled into the shelter around dusk and tried to flex their reservation passes for the shelter. ( Section hikers get preference in the Smokies), we all chuckled at them and told them to hop on in and that more bodies equal more heat. They didn't find it as funny as we did and that's okay! Wednesday morning was that same, low 30's with sustained 20 mile an hour winds. I was truly concerned about my fingers for a little bit, but as we got hiking we warmed up. We made great time because every time we stopped for water or a break you felt like hypothermia was kicking in. Last night we broke a rule and slept in Mt Camnerer fire tower. (Shhhhh) The tower offered some of the best views I have ever seen in my life! We watched both the sunset and the sunrise. The fire tower is fully enclosed which made for a warm, wind free night! Today (4/15) was a quick and easy 8 miles to Standing Bear Farm Hostel. (The most popular hostel on the AT) Most importantly, we left the Smokies today which was an absolutely phenomenal feeling! As my start date was April 15th and today is May 15th I feel a mile count is in order, my total miles hiked in my first month on trail was 241.1. This pace is slower than I had hoped to start, but definitely not horrible in my opinion. I am hopeful to do closer to 400 miles from May-June! I want to get more miles in, but will never lose track of the fact that "it's about the SMILES not the MILES." Thanks for being patient with me and these Journals! Love,"Crocs n socks" & UdoPS: Go hike it will change your life!Pss: I miss my family and friends so much! Love y'all!