5/4/13 Into the Smokies

May 4, 2013

Day 19 – Fontana Hilton to Spence Field Shelter
16.7 miles, 182.5 miles total

 So, for the past few days, there has been talk of how people were going to handle the Smokies coming up.  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a big deal because  it's a tough hike, plus they make you get a permit and thru-hikers must pay $20 – which is unheard of on the AT.

And the Smokies also have lots of rules – you can’t tent, for example, unless the shelters are full, plus you have to give up your shelter spot to section hikers, and section hikers are required to reserve spots.  Just lots of rules that are kind of annoying, actually.

Anyway, the forecast for Saturday (today) through Monday is 80%, 100%, 70% chance of rain or something like that.  So some were planning to stay at the shelter a few days or were going into town, but I decided just to brave it out.  I’m actually pretty happy that I did.

I started hiking around 9, and while the wind gusts had to be up to 50 mph at times, it no more than drizzled until around 3:30 p.m.   Luckily, I reached my shelter about five minutes before the skies opened up.  Thank you, 20%.

And even though tomorrow’s weather looks horrible, I have a full stomach, and I’m dry and warm for now.

Tonight, there are not any of my usual crew, as I usually hike faster than they do, so they probably got stuck at the shelter three miles ago.  That, or they decided to stay at the Fontana Hilton another night.

But, at tonight’s shelter are Salamander, Navigator, Coach, Railsplitter, Half-life, and five others whose names I did not catch.