The hikers spent a week backpacking on the Appalachian Trail through the Smoky Mountains, encountering rain, difficult climbs and descents, wildlife like a bear in their shelter, and meeting other travelers along the way as they made their way from Winding Stair Gap in North Carolina to Fontana Dam Shelter over the course of 6 days. Highlights included scenic views when the clouds parted and enjoying a hot meal and shower after a long day on the trail, but challenges included heavy rain, running low on water, and tough mountain terrain.

1. Appalachian Trail
August 15 – 23, 2015
Pickin’ up where we left off…

2. The Plan
1.Start where we left off in September 2014
2.Time on trail limited to one week
3.Make it all the way through the Smokies
4.Have fun
5.Try not to die

3. The route
Winding Stair Gap, NC mm109.8
I-40 Crossing, TN mm240.0

4. Reviewing the Rules:
Rule #1: Always Look Cool
Rule #2: Never Get Lost
Rule #3: If You Get Lost, Look Cool

5. Day 1
Date: Saturday, August 15
Rain: Yes 20%
Trail Miles: 11
Elev. Gain: 3,408
Depart: 12:30
Ended: 6:00
Start: Winding Stair Gap,
Franklin, NC
End: Wayah Bald Shelter
Highlight: Feeling good!
Special Guests: Lots of people on
the trail today, “the hot dog lady”
Wayah Bald Shelter

6. Day 1: Ready to Go!
Ummm, yeah…
Robin dropped us at the
parking area (mm 109.8),
on que, it started to rain.
Miles are passing easy.
Light sporadic rain.
Stopped for a break and
snack at Wayah Gap (mm
115.7)

7. Day 1: On the trail
Stopped at the Wayah Bald
observation tower (mm
119.9)
Arrived at Wayah Shelter
(mm 120.8) at 6:00

8. Day 1: In Camp
Randy’s stealth camp
One of the most interesting
nights on our journey. There
were 9 people at this shelter.
Hands down the most people
in one shelter that we have
stayed at. We crammed into
the shelter head to butt.
Randy decided to take the
tarp route. Probably should
have done the same. Met a
loud, kind of funny, woman
from Boston-Denver. She was
later referred as the “Hot-
Dog” Lady. Also a thru hiker
with vacuum-packed food
bags. Ever seen a deflated
Little Debbie cake?

9. Day 2
Date: Sunday, August 16
Rain: No
Trail Miles: 16.5
Elev. Gain: 3,393
Elev. Loss: 7,649!
Depart: 8:15
Ended: 5:30
Start: Wayah Bald Shelter
End: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Highlight: Pizza & Beer!
Special Guests: Pissed off red-head,
Assorted day-hikers
Wesser Bald Observation
Tower

10. Day 2: On the trail
Obeying Rule #1
Cold Spring Shelter (mm 125.6)

11. Day 2: On the trail
Copper Ridge Bald (mm 126.3)
…one step up, two steps
down!
No rain today and some
nice views.

12. Just Because…

13. Day 2: On the trail
By late morning we each found our
pace and got a little spaced out.
While climbing from Tellico Gap to
Wesser Bald, we each met this
exhausted and pissed-off girl
coming down the mountain behind a
guy and his dog. And the
conversation was repeated (x3):
Q: Am I almost to the parking lot?
A: Not really.
Apparently that was the wrong
answer.

14. Day 2: On the trail
When John arrived at the Wesser Bald
observation tower (mm 130.6) Drew was
not there (he passed the side trail and
went on to the next shelter for lunch).
John stayed for awhile to take pictures,
but left before Randy arrived.
It was the only time all week when
nobody knew where anyone was.

15. Day 2: On the trail
12:50 Drew arrived at Wesser Bald
Shelter (mm 131.4).
Read through the entry journal and
found this sketch. Still waiting on
John & Randy, opened up the Bible
and read Luke 17.
2:00 Everyone back together,
getting ready to depart when a
group of 5 girls and 2 guys arrived
SOBO. After the usual small talk the
group started down the hill when
one girl at the end of the line calmly
and randomly asked:
“Have you read any good books
lately?”

16. Day 2: Down to the river…
The “jumpoff” (mm 133.0)

17. Day 2: Down to the river…
5:30 Arrived at NOC (mm 137.3)
Dinner: We ate at Rivers End
Restaurant. Randy ordered a chicken
philly sandwich. John and Drew
shared a 16” gyro meat, mushroom,
BACON pizza. Also, had a Railhouse
Ka-bar brown ale. Yums! Good
recovery meal.
Sleep: After scaling half a
mountain we finally found our
bunk house, Kephart 2. A basic
bunk house with cold AC. Also did
a load of laundry and took a
shower; it was nice to smell good
for a little while.

18. Day 3
Date: Monday, August 17
Rain: Yes – all afternoon
Trail Miles: 15.8
Elev. Gain: 6,774
Depart: 8:00
Ended: 6:00
Start: NOC
End: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Highlight: This day was mostly
void of positivity.
Special Guests: Patrick and Dad
from FL, Ultra runner
Brown Fork Gap Shelter

19. Day 3: Climbing…
8:00 Left NOC and climbed
all morning. Any optimism
from the previous two days
was crushed today!

20. Day 3: On the trail
Any excuse to take a break…
Swim Bald (mm143.1)

21. Day 3 - Cheoah Bald
1:45 Arrived at Cheoah Bald (mm 145.2)

22. Day 3 - Cheoah Bald
Sometimes, it’s just not enough to look cool…

23. Day 3: On the trail
Met a SOBO ultra runner. FKT
attempt?? Only slowed a few seconds
for a high five and “Peace Man”.
4:35 Arrived at Stecoah Gap (mm
150.7) Random bus, drove to the top
of this mountain and turned around.
Strange, wonder the story behind
that!
Randy: What’s ahead?
Drew: 2.4 miles of accents, descents,
accents, descents, accents…
Randy: Are you just guessing?
Drew: No
Randy: Oh!
Randy: 5 miles ago you said it was 5
miles, and believe me, I know 5 miles
when I’ve done it.
Drew: Apparently not!

24. Day 3: Climbing…
“Jacobs Ladder” (mm 151.7)
And he dreamed, and behold, there was
a ladder set up on the earth, and the top
of it reached to heaven; and behold, the
angels of God were ascending and
descending on it! Genesis 28:12
600 ft. net elevation gained in 0.5 miles
John looking down

25. Day 3 – Climbed out…
6:00 Arrived at Brown Fork Gap
Shelter (mm 153.1) and there was a
father and son from FL with their tents
set up INSIDE the crappy shelter.
Eventually, we made them adjust
there configuration so we would have
a place to sleep. They were worried
about mice…
Just have to be quicker than they
are…and Drew was!
It rained hard all night. Impossible to
get comfortable. Between the cold,
the rain, the snoring and the mice, it
was a bad night following a bad
day…and the worst part is: tomorrow
we have to “give it all back!”
Little mouse was not fast enough

26. Day 4
Date: Tuesday, August 18
Rain: Yes - afternoon
Trail Miles: 12.7
Elev. Gain: 2,842
Depart: 9:00
Ended: 3:30
Start: Brown Fork Gap
Shelter
End: Fontana Dam Shelter
Highlight: Short day, light
packs and a hot shower
Special Guests: Nancy from
The Hike Inn, Zack the
Aussie Lawyer
Fontana Dam Shelter
aka “The Fontana Hilton”

27. Day 4: On the trail
9:00 Departed Brown Fork Gap Shelter and
started “down” the trail
Between Hogback Gap and Cable Gap Shelter,
there was a note attached to a branch pulled
across the trail:
WARNING: Wasp nest ahead!
Thank you! TAXI MAN
11:45 Arrived at Cable Gap Shelter (mm 159.2)
and there was a college boy from Maryland still
eating breakfast.
Day 4 was planned to be the easy day. But by
early afternoon, it was raining steadily and we all
had aching knees from the pounding decent.
Hogback Gap

28. Day 4: On the trail
3:00 Arrived at Fontana Marina (mm
164.7)
Drew and Randy stayed for awhile to
charge phones and John went ahead to
the shelter to retrieve our resupply
box.

29. Day 4: On the trail
Busted! Yoo-Hoo with Flare!

30. Day 4: Fontana Dam
3:30 John checked in at
the Fontana Hilton (mm
165.8) then climbed up the
hill to the “Verizon phone
booth” to arrange for
delivery of our food for the
rest of the week.
Nancy from The Hike Inn
arrived 45 minutes later
with a 30 pound box of
food. It looked like it was
going to clear up. Wrong!
View from the Verizon phone booth

31. Day 4: Fontana Shelter
Brilliant! Why hadn’t we
thought of this before?
The largest and cleanest shelter on
the trail. Met Zack, a Lawyer from
Australia who was taking a zero
before entering the Smokies.
View of the lake and rainbow
from inside the shelter.

32. Day 5-9
Great Smoky Mountain National Park: All
hikers must have a permit to stay in park shelters.
Permits can be purchased 30 days in advance and
are only valid for the specified shelter on the
specified night. No backcountry camping is
permitted in the park. Translation: No flexibility!
Wednesday
Thursday Friday Saturday

33. Day 5
Date: Wednesday, August 19
Rain: Yes – all day
Trail Miles: 13.8
Elev. Gain: 5,591
Depart: 7:15
Ended: 3:30
Start: Fontana Hilton
End: Russell Field Shelter
Highlight: Finding water in the
rain?!?
Special Guests: Bear!!
Russell Field Shelter

34. Day 5: On the trail
Rained all night and still pouring
when we left the shelter at 7:15.
Made one last pit-stop and the
rain stopped as we were crossing
the dam.

35. Day 5: On the trail
8:00 GSMNP boundary
(mm 167.1) and started a 7
mile, 3000 ft climb. Oh
yeah, it poured most of the
morning.
Still raining…

36. Time for a Quiz?
Which trail hazard is more dangerous?
A: Wet ROOTS B: Wet ROCKS

37. Time for a Quiz?
Which trail hazard is more dangerous?
A: Wet ROOTS B: Wet ROCKS
CORRECT!!

38. Day 5: This sucks!
“View” from Shuckstack fire tower (mm
170.5) 90 steps to the top - Probably not
worth it. Yup, definitely NOT worth it
So we started the day with
an extra 10 lbs of food each
and sufficient water to reach
the first spring part way up
the mountain. When we
arrived at the “spring” at
mm 169.4 and it was just a
shallow mud pit. The next
possible water source is 6
miles and 2-3 hours of steep
climbing away.
Between the three of us, we
have less than 1 liter of
water. This just got real!

39. Day 5: This sucks!
Rain everywhere, but nothing to drink!
To be honest, this was the
mentally and emotionally the
worst part of the trip (steep
climb, hard rain, afraid to drink
what little we had, uncertain if
the next source would be dry
too). Too much time to think,
and can’t get out of my head…
12:30 Arrived at Ekaneetlee
Gap (mm 175.4) relived to find
a weak spring down the hill
1:30 Mollies Ridge Shelter (mm
176.8) for lunch
3:30 Arrived at Russell Field
Shelter (mm 179.6)
Nobody on the trail today…

40. “Bear!”
Nearly dark and almost asleep:
“Guys, there’s a BEAR in the shelter!”
Enjoyed the view… Left out
at 1:00pm
Just looking for
your pic-a-nic
basket Boo-
Boo!

41. “Bear!”
So here’s the thing…Had it been 10
minutes later, it would have been pitch
dark and we would never have known it
was in there. Was a long night after that!

42. Day 6
Date: Thursday, August 20
Rain: Yes – in/out of clouds
Trail Miles: 14.7
Elev. Gain: 5,241
Depart: 8:30
Ended: 5:00
Start: Russell Field Shelter
End: Silers Bald Shelter
Highlight: Out of the green tunnel!
Special Guests: Mom/daughter with big packs,
Father/son from Indiana/Knoxville arrived just
before dark.
Silers Bald Shelter

43. Day 6: On the trail
We are now following the TN/NC
line, so the views have started
opening up.

44. Day 6: Rocky Top/Thunder Mtn
10:15 Hiked in and out of
the clouds all day. Caught a
break late morning crossing
Rocky Top/Thunder Mountain
(mm 183.7 – 184.3)
Views to the NW, so looking
over Cades Cove area, but
it was obscured by the
clouds.

45. Day 6: Rocky Top/Thunder Mtn
No exactly sure why this
mountain is called “Rocky
Top”. It looked like most of
the Smoky Mountain balds.
Found some rocks!

46. Day 6: Gaining elevation…
5:00 Arrived Silers Bald
Shelter (mm194.3)

47. Day 7
Date: Friday, August 21
Rain: Yes – mid afternoon
Trail Miles: 15.5
Elev. Gain: 4,280
Depart: 7:30
Ended: 4:15
Start: Silers Bald Shelter
End: Icewater Spring Shelter
Highlight: 100 miles and new energy!
Special Guests: Hundreds of tourists,
kids wanted shelter to party, Mom from
K’ville joined family for the night.
Icewater Spring Shelter

48. Day 7: On the trail
Cold rain all night. Got up early and put on cold/wet clothes.
Had to get moving, so left shelter before breakfast.
New ecosystem over 6,000 ft

49. Day 7: On the trail
Confession time: John and Drew
violated Rule #2 by taking the
trail leading down to Clingman’s
Dome Parking Area. Had to
retrace 0.5 mile, but did it
quickly, so Rule #3 remains
intact!

50. Clingman’s Dome – elev. 6,655
Looking West…
Arrived 10:15 (mm
199.1) on a rare
sunny day. This is
pretty cool!
…NE – Mt. LeConte
…South

51. Day 7: Clingman’s Dome
Posing for pictures…It’s
what ALL visitors to the 2nd
highest peak east of the
Rocky’s do, right?

52. Day 7: Top of the trail
Strange observation: random
white rocks (quartz or marble?)
pop up in unexpected places.
Where did they come from?
The trail from Clingman’s
Dome to Newfound Gap felt
like the Pacific Northwest.
Conifers, ferns and thick
moss covering rocky
ground. Again, pretty cool!

53. Day 7: On the trail
Neat spring coming out of a
rock (mm 203.4) stopped
here for lunch.
Many trees fallen with huge root
bases sheltering the trail. This one
pulled a big rock up with it. (Note: the
rock is not wearing a blue shirt.)

54. Day 7: Newfound Gap
“Hey honey, I smell like
a homeless person!”
3:00 Arrived (mm 206.8) and
there were people everywhere!
Turns out civilized tourists would
rather not interact with stinky
hikers! Seriously! Won’t even
make eye contact…

55. Day 7: On the trail
4:30 We arrived early enough to wash
clothes and hang them in the sun to
dry, except we forgot to tell Randy
that the spring was located in the
middle of the main trail. While ringing
out his ExOfficio’s he had some
explaining to do to an unsuspecting
trail running couple!
Climbing out of Newfound Gap,
we passed a group of college
kids from NC. We were
unpacking at Icewater Springs
shelter, (mm 209.8) when they
walked up celebrating “We’re
here!” until they realized WE
would be spending the night at
the shelter. Disappointed, they
went on to find another place
for their party.

56. Day 8
Date: Saturday, August 21
Rain: Yes – 20% late AM
Trail Miles: 12.6
Elev. Gain: 3,399
Depart: 8:30
Ended: 2:30
Start: Icewater Spring
Shelter
End: Tri-corner Knob Shelter
Highlight: Charlie’s Bunion
Special Guests: Goodbye to
Mom, Austin from Tufts
Sunrise at Icewater Spring
Shelter

57. Day 8: Charlie’s Bunion
9:00 Charlie’s
Bunion (mm
210.7) -
Probably the
best views of
the week!
The eastern
Smokies are
much steeper
and more
rugged than
our last three
days in the
western
section.

58. Day 8: Charlie’s Bunion
View of Mt. Kephart and Mt. LeConte to the west

59. Day 8: Charlie’s Bunion
The name “Charlie’s Bunion” was dubbed in
1929 by Horace Kephart in feign homage to
fellow GSMNP champion Charlie Conner’s widely
known foot affliction while they were exploring
this section of the central Smokies.

60. Day 8: On the trail
Hiked in the clouds for
much of the morning.

61. Day 8: On the trail
12:00 Stopped
for lunch at
Eagle Rocks
(mm 218.1)

62. Day 8: On the trail
Eagle Rocks – looking straight up the valley all
the way to the Pigeon Forge strip.
This rocky and
exposed section of
the trail is aptly
named the
“Sawteeth” where in
some places the
ridge was literally
only as wide as the
actual trail. It was
an interesting and
fun section to hike.

63. Day 8: On the trail
2:30 Arrived at Tri-Corner
Knob Shelter (mm 222.4).
The next shelter is 7.7
miles away, but our permit
will only allow us to stay
here. Starting to really
dislike the GSMNP permit
system; there’s still lots of
daylight left and we are
feeling like we want to
keep going…
Now, what to do for
entertainment for the next
six hours?
Tri-corner Knob Shelter

64. ADA Compliant Privy
…on top of a mountain
…accessible only by a 15 mile
strenuous footpath
The handicap
hardware probably
cost more than the
wood to build the
shelter.
It’s common-sense
regulations like this
that made this
country the envy of
the modern world.

65. Day 9
Date: Sunday, August 22
Rain: Yes – late AM
Trail Miles: 18.4
Elev. Gain: 2,498
Elev. Loss: 6,777
Depart: 6:45
Ended: 1:45
Start: Tri-corner Knob Shelter
End: Little Pigeon River (I-40)
Highlight: Stick a fork in it!
Special Guests: Carol and Sam Adams

66. Day 9: On the trail
View from north slope of Mt. Guyot mm 225.3
(Mt. Guyot is the 2nd tallest mountain in TN)
It’s going to be a big day, so we hit the trail as soon as it was light
enough to see. Stopped as soon as we could get a “bar” to send Carol
a text with our earlier projected ending/pickup time.

67. Day 9: On the trail
11:00 - After the last big climb of
the trip, arrived at 0.6 mile side
trail to Mt. Cammerer lookout
tower (mm 232.9); it was cloudy
and raining. Decided to skip it.
Randy led the way off the
mountain in record time!

68. Day 9: On the trail
The lower elevations really do feel different.

69. Day 9: On the trail
1:45 Arrived at Little
Pigeon River (mm 240.0)
and soaked in the cold
water while waiting for
Carol.

70. Day 9: Celebration!
To good friends, good health,
and good beer!
Drew’s multi-tool.

71. 2015 By the Numbers
Average Departure: 8:00
Average end time: 4:15
Total Miles: 131
Average miles/day: 15.4
Total elevation gain: 37,426 ft.
Average elevation gain/day: 4,403 ft.
Total hours* on trail: 65.75
Average miles/hour: 2.0
A Little Perspective:
1. Roundtrip on the Bright Angel trail from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the
Colorado River is 16.0 miles with 4,380 ft of elevation gain.
2. Mt. Everest, at 29,029 ft, is the highest mountain in the world. But, its base-to-
summit height is actually only about 12,000 feet.
3. The cruising altitude of a 747 is about 35,000 feet above sea level.
4. There are 1,576 steps to climb the 1,050 feet from street level to the top of the
Empire State Building.
* Excluding 30 minute daily lunch stop