Date: 2016-10-16
From: Newfound Gap

To: TriCorner Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

We¢re back from CA and 2016 is not over yet, so we¢re headed south to finish the sections of the Appalachian Trail that we missed earlier this year. We decided to start back by doing the section through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). It¢s probably not the best place to rebuild our trail legs, with lots of long, steep climbs and tough terrain, but there are several mountaintops over 6,000 ft and if we wait much later in the year we can expect snow and ice. So we agreed to get it out of the way as early as possible and this time the weather was our friend.We plan to pursue the same ¢slack-pack¢ philosophy as before, but the Smokies are the one section of the trail that we can¢t slack pack ¢ we have to backpack and camp in the woods. There is really only one reasonable road (441) that crosses the trail at Newfound Gap, so most of this part of the AT is inaccessible by vehicle. We divided the total distance through the park into a ¢southern¢ section from Fontana Dam to Newfound Gap, and a ¢northern¢ section from Newfound Gap to Davenport Gap. We decided to split the northern section into two 1-day hikes with one overnight stay, and the southern section into three 1-day hikes. So we had to dust off our backpacks and break out the tent, sleeping bags, pads, etc. in preparation for 3 overnights along the trail. We left Norfolk on Oct. 14 and headed for Princess¢ brother¢s house in Blue Ridge, GA. He graciously loaned us his car so that we could pre-position his car at the end point of each section and avoid the need for additional transportation. We stayed overnight at his house, and left the next morning with both cars. After parking his car at the end of the first section, we drove back to a motel in Sylva, NC. This turned out to be the peak weekend for fall-foliage and the motels were slammed. We drove up the mountain early on October 16, parked our car at Newfound Gap, strapped on our heavy backpacks loaded with 2 days of food, and headed up the mountain. Newfound Gap is actually on the TN/NC border. The weather forecast for the week was warm temperatures (50¢s to 70¢s) with very little chance of rain ¢ excellent hiking weather. Since we started on Sunday, the parking lot and the trail were very busy. Initially we encountered many day hikers who planned to hike up the trail for a few hours and then return back to their car. As we progressed further from the gap, we met more long-distance hikers who planned to stay out on the trail. GSMNP requires that any AT hikers who plan to camp in the park overnight along the trail must secure a permit and reserve space in specific shelters for specific days. GSMNP does set aside 4 spaces in each shelter for AT thru-hikers (1st come, 1st serve) since their schedules are uncertain and if the shelter is full where they stop they are allowed to set up their tent in the vicinity of that shelter. So hiking through GSMNP does require some planning and preparation. Fortunately, we were able to find space in shelters for all 3 nights we spent in the park. But in hindsight, I might have preferred to stay in our tent ¢ more on that later.Even though we¢ve done this trail twice before, it¢s surprising how little we remember. There are certain spots, certain views or features that suddenly strike a bell, but most of the trail seems like a new day. And of course it changes from year-to-year and depends on the season, so we still enjoy it. We started out with about a 1,000 foot climb from the parking lot and much of it was through mist and clouds. There were a few scrambles over rocks, but it¢s not hard and the trail is clean, well-travelled, and in good shape. Eventually the clouds cleared somewhat and revealed some longer-range views. October is a great time here, the mountains are multi-colored and cloud shadows playing across the mountain contours is incredibly dramatic. I took a few photos, but it¢s really hard to capture how awesome it is.This is the first time we¢ve carried our loaded backpacks in quite some time, so we were grateful when we finally reached our target ¢ TriCorner Shelter after about 15 miles of hiking. This shelter is adjacent to the AT (some are further off the trail and we try to avoid those). It¢s not a large shelter, but it¢s comfortable and we¢ve been here before. There was a good trickle of water emerging from a rusty pipe and a relatively new privy. There were also plenty of bear cables (lots of bears in the Smokies, so you have to pack your food, cooking utensils, anything aromatic, etc. in a bag, and hoist it up on a cable that passes over a pulley an appropriate distance above the ground). Even cooking is not permitted in the shelters to avoid any odors that might attract bears into the shelters. The shelters are 3-sided structures, open or with maybe a tarp on the 4th side, so there¢s nothing to stop a bear from coming in if they want to. The GSMNP shelters are stone masonry structures with tin roofs, dirt floors, wooden platforms for sleeping (usually multi-level), and often with a fireplace built into one wall. On the positive side, they keep you and your stuff dry if it rains, but they can be very noisy (hikers come in at all hours and snore), dusty, and lots of rodents also live there. Most people become accustomed to the drawbacks after a few days or weeks, but we were re-starting so we had a hard time sleeping.