The Smokies Come Through With Some Cold

Leaving Fontana I did 14.9 miles and stayed at Russell Field shelter on 4/5. On 4/6 I did 16.4 miles and stayed at Double Spring Gap shelter. On 4/7 I did 13.8 miles and stayed at Icewater Spring shelter. On 4/8 I did 12.6 miles and stayed at Tri-Corner Knob shelter. On 4/9 I did 25.3 miles and stayed at Groundhog Creek shelter. On 4/10 I did 6.4 miles and stayed on top of Max Patch. On 4/11 I did 19.8 miles and am staying in a hostel in Hot Springs, NC.

So it's been a while since my last blog update. Unfortunately the Smokies are not good for having cell signal and I had to wait until I hit town after that so I had a combination of signal and battery. When last I wrote I was looking toward to the Smokies to bring in some colder weather. The weather was fantastic for the crossing of the dam and the climb up into the mountains, as you can see. This post is going to have a lot more photos then normal.

After that lovely, cool day things got rather wet. Some people complained a lot but it only rained at night so I didn't think it was that bad. The trail was a constant stream and basically all of my hiking clothes were soaked but hikers live in the woods, what can we expect? The day after the torrential downpour the temperatures dropped significantly. For the following two and a half days I was hiking in a below freezing cloud. As you can see my spirits were really getting down.

What this did was allow my to hike in a temperature that I enjoy, low 30's, and it made the scenery beautiful. Most other people were annoyed by the complete lack of views but I have seen an amazing number of mountain top views in the last two years. I have seen far fewer amazing frozen mountaintops. Here is a small collection of the photos I took.

As soon as I hiked down from the Smokies it was warm and sunny. Some people were just elated to get the cold and ice of the Smokies over with. I think I would like a bit more of it. All too soon I will be sweaty from the first step in the morning until I finish the day. Having to put on my hat to hike is a great change of page. I understand I like cold weather more then most people and I have the appropriate gear to sleep in it but cold temperatures are far superior to hot temperatures. Lastly, I slept on top of Max Patch again this time on the trail and I convinced basically everyone I had talked to in the last two days to do so as well. It did not disappoint. It remains in my list of most amazing places on the trail. We had quite the hobo gathering on top, complete with bango and fiddle music. Here are some photos of that great night.

Lastly, my mom is leaving this weekend for an adventure of her own. She thinks she is fancy and is using something called wheels, new tech if you ask me, to go from the south to the north. She will be biking from the Gulf of Mexico to Niagra Falls along a path of the Underground Railroad. I hope her journey is as amazing as my trail journeys have been and continue to be. She is blogging at http://bikehomeugrr.blogspot.com/?m=1