Hiking the Smokies: a Few Pictures and Thoughts

 

Fred and I at Newfound Gap; note the white blaze in the background. I am heading southbound to Fontana Dam.

Wild hog containment bridge on trail

Turks cap lily and butterfly

All my gear in one spot.

Water source

Log walkway on Appalachian Trail, over a boggy area

Bunk mates for the night at Mt. Collins Shelter

Beautiful morning sun rays

Found this dead rattlesnake when I stopped for a short break.

Usual number of rocks on Trail

My two Trail angels for this section of the Trail

Silers Bald Shelter

Always hang your food containers, especially in bear country

A true statement, lol. 💩 🎒 [/[/

A geo marker along the way

lots of overgrown vegetation and minimal views this hike

Lots of rain during this hike makes for wet, wet boots.

Rocky Top, no views this day.

This is at Spence Field Shelter which is closed due to bear activity; but, the electric fence was not working!

Water crossing

The reason the Smokies are named “the Smokies,”

View west of Fontana Dam

Tree on AT pathway south of Fontana Dam

I needed this hike for myself; to be alone, to see if my back was healed enough, and to finish this portion of the Appalachian Trail (AT). Good news is I have now hiked a total of 668.3 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Bad news is that my back, while not as sore as it was during my April LASH, was still painful by day three of this hike. I STILL carried too much extra weight: winter gear-lows in the low 40’s in July!, 5 days of food-in a bear canister no less! and regardless of the fact one must stay in a shelter each night, I carried shelter-just in case! Even though water from the sky was not lacking, the water sources to refill my bottles were lacking, so I also carried 2.7 liters of water with me. This put my pack weight at 34 lbs, approximately 5-7 lbs heavier than I need to be at to hopefully prevent my back from stressing and tensing up; which it did.

The call of the wild, i.e. Appalachian Trail, has so permeated my soul, I have to be on Trail, preferably for a 5-6 month continuous stretch. In hiking terms, I need to attempt a thru-hike of the AT. I do not have a source of income to purchase ultra lightweight gear to help reduce my pack weight. The thought of my back failing me has brought me to countless tears, already. I have consulted with my primary MD, who is also a backpacker, and he has provided me stretching exercises & even demonstrated these exercises for me. They did not however, prevent this latest incident, re:back problems.

What to do, what to do?