We got dropped off by Jeff from the Hike Inn around 9:15 and headed into the park. I think this is the only national park that the AT runs through.

Southern boundary of the park

The weather threatened rain and thunder most of the day, but held out until the end of the day. We had a few early views…

Smokies from the trail

Shuckstack fire tower

View from fire tower above

The rest of the day misted and clouded over as we climbed higher into the Smokies.

Misty meadow near shelter

There are some special rules about the Smokies that don’t apply anywhere else on the AT, the foremost of them being that all backpackers must stay in shelters under penalty of death by bear mauling (I assume that’s the penalty at least). That means tonight will be our first night sleeping in one. We hiked about 16.5 miles and then stopped at the one mentioned in the blog post title. The one we are in right now is full with 12 people. It’s kind of nice to have a roof over head since it’s raining pretty hard at the moment, but I’m also hoping nobody farts, snores too loud and no mice run around on my face at night. (Pretty much the 3 primary reasons I prefer stealth camping.)

Tomorrow it looks like better weather. The trail in the park seems a good bit more forgiving than NC right now.

Vital stats :
Mood – good
Physical state – pretty good still other than the minor aches and pains from hiking with a full pack
Smell – aight for now
Song stuck in my head – Misty Mountain Hop by Led Zeppelin