[at-l] Smokies section hike

[icw@xxxxxxxxxxx (Clark Wright)]

With the caveat that each person's hiking style is different, my
personal experience in the Smokies on the AT in 2001 was that the cold
weather fired us up and we ended up doing more miles per day than we had
up to that point - so much so that we ended up hiking the entire Smokies
section in about five days.  We started out in early afternoon from the
Lake Fontana Dam, hiked 13.6 miles into Russell Field Shelter [where we
had a great winter storm come thru that night], then hiked 14.5 miles
the next day thru the beauriful snow to Silers Bald Shelter, then hiked
12.5 miles in some nasty freezing rain and fog up to Newfound Gap, where
we decided to hitch into Gatlinburg; we ended up spending two nights
there due to the lousy weather [freezing rain], then we hitched back up
  to Newfound Gap around noontime [note:  it is MUCh harder to hitch
back up to Newfound Gap than it is to hitch down] and hiked 15.6 miles
over ice, mud and massive tree blowdowns in a looonnnnggg half day to
reach Tri-Corner Knob shelter, the next morning we hiked 15.7 miles to
Davenport Gap.  In summary, we did the entire Smokies in less than five
whole days, with mileages of 13.6; 14.5; 12.5; 15.6; and 15.7; while it
was hard work, we actually came to enjoy the hard work of longer miles
as a way to combat the cold and keep warm.  I was the oldest of our
small group at 44 years old, and everyone was in relatively good shape,
but none of us were any kind of major athletes or anything like that.
THE most important thing is to keep youself fully fueled with food, and
to recognize your own "best" pace in terms of ability to avoid nasty
falls, enjoy the beauty around you, etc.  Now that I think more about
it, another reason we hiked pretty hard was to avoid shelter congestion;
the shelters were full every night due to the fact that we had snow,
sleet or rain every single night.

thru-thinker

Pete Fornof wrote:

> Whoah,
>
> If you aren't in good hiking shape, these mileages are a little aggressive
> for the Smokies. Early April can be pretty bad weather-wise too. I've been
> there at that time and the temps were 15 degrees with snow and ice on the
> trail. Remember, you'll be above 5,000 feet most of the time. The trail
> south of Newfound Gap is pretty chewed up (eroded) and with the combination
> of ice or snow, you'll get pretty tired doing these mileages.
>
> Of course, these mileages are doable but I"ve seen thru-hikers who have come
> from GA struggle a bit in the Smokies. I'd plan on 7 to 10 miles a day at
> first, see how you feel, and increase mileage after that. There are some
> long pulls north of Fontana also. I know you have to make reservations for
> shelters in the Smokies, so you don't have much choice on mileage, but if
> this were me, I'd cut the mileage back a little. I've thru-hiked the Smokies
> several times and it doesn't seem to get any easier. It is one of my
> favorite places on the trail, even though it is now considered the most
> polluted park in the country (air pollution).
>
> Broknspoke
>
> Subject: [at-l] Smokies section hike
>
>
>
>>1 - Mollies Ridge - 11.3 miles
>>2 - Derrick Knob - 11.7
>>3 - Mt. Collins - 14.1
>>4 - Pecks Corner - 15.3
>>5 - Cosby Knob - 12.3
>>6 - Davenport Gap - 7.1 - will go to Standing Bear or Mt. Momma's
>>7 - Groundhog Creek - 10.7
>>8 - Roaring Fork - 11.5
>>9 - Deer Park Mountain - 11.7 or may just go into Hot Springs
>>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>>From the AT-L mailing list         est. 1995
> Need help?  http://www.at-l.org
> Archives: http://www.backcountry.net/arch/at/
> Change your options or unsubscribe:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l
>
> Stay on topic!
>
>
>