Date: 2016-05-01
From: russell field shelter

To: silars bald shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: light rain

Day 20- May 1, 2016Last night was interesting. Around 1:30am, the bear that we had seen in camp earlier was now in the shelter with us not 10 feet away. I heard a loud banging sound from above me when some other hiker tried to scare away the bear going through our packs that were hanging up. There was about 10 people in the shelter and we all woke up immediately. The bear left the shelter but didn't leave the site. Some of the guys went out into the fog with shovels and made noise tiring to scare it off. The fog was so thick that you couldn't see 5 feet ahead of you and it was pouring rain. One of the guys saw that the bear had chewed up his mint scented camp soap and it had exploded everywhere. About 5 minutes later after all the ruckus, Funfact, who was a bear biologist, came in the shelter from his hammock and announced there was a bear out by him. The bear stuck around for a bit and then left. It wasn't until the morning that I realized the bear had also gotten to my pack and ripped open the side pocket after some pop-tart crumbs. In the process of the bear tearing that up, it also stole my camelback water balder. We searched for the bladder around the shelter and jack eventually found it near the woods. It was covered in bear drool and was missing the mouth piece. I found the mouth piece near my pack and went down to the small creek to wash the bladder and test if it would still holed water. I wasn't able to get all of the drool off but luckily the bear did not puncture it!! We got out on the trail at about 7:40am which was later than expected due to the eventful night. We had a 15 mile day planned that was going to be slightly challenging. As we hiked, it was a bit more than slightly challenging; it was extremely difficult and slow going terrain up steep mountains. Our reward for such hard work going up each mountain was a wall of fog that blocked the amazing views that people travel from all over the country to see. Our first real views of the Smokies were just smokey. We didn't get any real good views throughout the day, but the forest around us was lush and green. On our way up to a shelter where we would have lunch, two large wild turkeys appeared. They stared at us like we caught them doing something suspicious. Cautiously, the walked towards us and around us. Then they hopped back onto the trail and picked up some speed. It was awesome because typically wild turkeys run away from you before you even know they are there. After that cool experience, we kept hiking up to our lunch spot. We were greeted by loads of chipmunks everywhere we looked. They would get really close and run right by us. And they were fat little suckers. It was pretty cool. We had lunch and talked to two girl hikers at the shelter before heading on. The last 6 miles of our day were suppose to be easy but there were still plenty of steep uphill challenges. We met a couple along the second half who were training for iron man and they met back up with us at our destination, Silers bald shelter . We also met guliver at the shelter. He asked if he could take our picture with his travel companion, Jessica. He pulled out a little paper doll in a plastic baggie as her rain jacket. It wasn't until after the weird exchange that he mentioned it was for a YMCA children's group following his through hike. I took some time to sew up my bear-torn side pocket and am quite pleased with my handy work. It gives my pack character. Later, jack, Eli, and funfact joined the party. We all ate dinner and are currently getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is another 15 mile day.