Date: 2014-04-28
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Today the Smokies started showing what it's got to offer and man it's good. The morning was a rainy one, I was woken up by the section hikers who stayed in the shelter, a bunch of teenagers who thought it would be cool to play with their headlamps and shine them into my tent at six in the morning. I passed out for another hour and then forced myself up. There was a lull in the rain so I raced and got everything packed up and moved to underneath the shelter and had some breakfast-some kind of Danish and since carnation breakfast/powdered milk/ protein powder mixture, needless to say I've had better.   Today I hiked out with Yogi and Delaware and we had a choice of eight miles to a shelter or hike another six miles to the next one. The weather cleared up, it was breezy and blue skies, perfect hiking weather. The trail was pretty flat and meandering for a while with gradual uphills that led to amazing balds, which are exposed tops of mountains, they provide great views needless to say. We were over the five thousand mark in elevation and would pretty much stay there for the rest of the day and will be for the whole time in the Smokies.   We arrived at the first shelter at around one and apparently we hiked fast, about these miles an hour, what they neglected to tell me was they both took a caffeine pill in the morning and had some extra pep in their steps. We had some lunch and decided it was too early to stop so Yogi ventured on and I stayed back with Delaware and had some lunch of tuna, snickers and some cookies. We eventually headed out and she took lead, my knee started up again and had sharp pains from time to time shooting up the knee. I haven't been using the Icy Hot the last few days at camp because I didn't want the scent to attract anything, there is fresh bear scat all over the trail.   Eventually we and Delaware hiked solo, luckily the trail was pretty steady for the next 5.5 miles. I had to force myself to slow down even though I was ready to hike fast. Yogi gave me one of his caffeine pills and alone enough it kicked in and along with some Dropkick Murphy and Decemberists playing on the iPhone, I was feeling good and picked up my pace. The landscape was beautiful with tiny wildflower growing in the meadow right up to the edge of the trail and with a stiff breeze, it was a great way to end a day,our longest mileage yet.   I got to the shelter and Yogi was already there, I took out my tent to let it dry in the sun, nothing worse then having a set tent to sleep in. The shelter was empty when I got there an decided to stay in the shelter as it looks like some nasty weather is coming in tonight with some thunder and lightning and maybe some hail. The shelter is a stone structure that holds twelve on two rows of bunks. It has a fire place inside and an overhang outside with places to sit sit and cook your food. This one even has some skylights, it's rustic looking. I like having a dry tent and the shelter is roomy and it two level so I took a spot on top. We are only five miles from Clingmans Dome which is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail and has some really great views so we're going to we how the weather plays out and if it's still raining in the morning, we may wait around to see if it clears up and we can build up and get some views. The next town is Gatlinsburg, Tennessee and it's a split amount the group whether to go there and resupply before heading to Hot Springs where I have a resupply coming (thanks pops). I'm probably heading in, do a quick resupply and head back, from what I hear it's a tourist town where Dolly Parton's Dollywood is so you know that town is full of excitement. We're at mile 194.6 so tomorrow should put us over the two hundred mile mark which is exciting, have to have little milestones to get you through this journey. The wind is picking up and blowing the tarps protecting the front of the shelter back and forth. The sky is darkening so it looks like the weather is coming in, the shelter is full with twelve people. More than two weeks later it's weird to me that strangers from all over the country cram together in shelters to sleep, all having one common goal of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail but it's all part if the lifestyle of living out here. Time for some reading and then to bed.                                                                                                                           Keepin' It Steady