Appalachian Trail Hike: North Carolina/Tennessee Border - Mile 175 - 393
Appalachian Trail Hike: North Carolina/Tennessee Border - Mile 175 - 393
Hello all! This was a robust section that took a bit longer to complete than I had planned. Weather, resupply stop locations, and intense elevation gain all shaped my experience.
Appalachian Trail Hike: North Carolina/Tennessee Border Summary
Statistics:
Days: 12.5
Full hiking days: 8.5
Zeroes: 0
Neros: 4
Total Trail Miles Hiked: 217.5
Total Miles Hiked: 215.2
Total Elevation Gain: 52,740 ft
Total Elevation Loss: 55,478 ft
Highlights:
I stopped at some wonderful hostels that demonstrated the strong Appalachian Trail community.
Continuing to connect with other hikers in ways I didn’t expect. People are good.
The views from Roan Highlands.
Lowlights:
The Smokies weather threw curveballs that made for uncomfortable evenings.
The reroute around Hurricane Helene damage was diabolical.
Am I enjoying the actual hiking yet?
Appalachian Trail Hike: North Carolina/Tennessee Border Detailed Version
Day 11: Mile 178.0 - 195.8
Trail Daily Miles: 17.7
Total Daily Miles: 17.9
Total Trail Mileage: 195.8
Elevation Gain: 5486 ft
Elevation Loss: 4659 ft
Weather: Rain, Sleet, Snow, Cold
Overall Day Sentiment: Why am I out here?
It was a slow start to the morning because of the cold and things were still generally damp from the night before. George and I had planned to go about 19 miles to one of the last shelters before Newfound gap. We had breakfast at the shelter and spent time with other hikers but finally left around 8:30am.
The first few miles of the day went smoothly. There were some serious inclines as was to be expected in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but nothing out of the ordinary for the last few weeks.
Things started to change midday when it started to precipitate. I use the word ‘precipitate’ very intentionally because initially it started snowing and hailing. Then at some point, it switched to sleet topped off with a solid amount of rain.
I had gotten to Derrick Knob shelter, which was about 7 miles away from the target for the day. I hid at the shelter area for about 30 minutes because it was hailing hard enough - and then raining - that it was just not worth going out into even though it might delay my hiking day. From here, it really turned into primarily sleet and snow, but by this point I was completely wet so when things turn to snow, my clothes and other items began to freeze.
The last climb of the day had me in absolute tears. There was an another shelter 2 miles before the one that we had planned on meeting and with no phone service, I couldn’t share the desire to stop at the earlier one for the day. All I wanted to do was to get into my sleeping clothes and sleeping bag that I had hoped remained dry through the deluge.
I walked by the closer shelter and saw George’s hiking poles sitting outside. I very sadly said “George?” and he emerged from behind the tarp that covered the opening of the shelter with the same sad look. We both decided that it was unsafe to go any further and that we would cut our day short and hole up in the shelter instead.
When it gets this cold and everything is wet, it is not motivating to drink water because you have to filter said water with numb hands. So I went down to the water source for us because I was still in my outdoor wet gear and grabbed water, though my hands were not functional enough to filter it.
I changed out of my hiking clothes, emulating a sloth’s speed because of how cold and wet I was. I then finally got into my dry sleeping clothes. This was my first time sleeping in a shelter, and all of my initial apprehensions flew out the window because of the conditions that I did not feel it was safe to set up my tent.
More people started arriving and I believe the night ended up with about eight of us inside the shelter. All thankful for a roof over our heads and the tarp that covered the shelter opening from the wind. The total of the wood was wet in and around the shelter so we had a small sad fire, but mostly I was just curled up in my sleeping bag thankful for a roof.
It was one of those moments where I looked around at my situation and couldn’t help but wonder how I got here. I was thankful for George’s positivity because being that uncomfortable can make you pretty grumpy.
Day 12: Mile 195.8 - 208.0
Trail Daily Miles: 12.2
Total Daily Miles: 12.2
Total Trail Mileage: 208.0
Elevation Gain: 2802 ft
Elevation Loss: 3257 ft
Weather: Cold, Sun, Warm?
Overall Day Sentiment: What a rollercoaster.
Thankfully, it was a town day. One of the reasons why George and I had wanted to go to the further shelter was to have a proper Nero into Gatlinburg, Tennessee. With us cutting miles short the day before, we had a bit more than originally anticipated - but still a smaller day than a full day.
When I emerged from the shelter, I was greeted with a generally sunny winter wonderland. It had gotten below 20°F the night before so everything that was previously wet was now just ice. There were ice crystals on the trees, the trail was a minor ice rink, and it made me wish that I had at least had some traction devices. When planning for the AT, I didn’t think that I would need traction devices mid April. Alas, the Smokies proved me wrong.
One major highlight of the day was heading up to Kuwohi (formerly known as Clingmans Dome). This is the highest point on the entire Appalachian Trail! From the shelter, it was a bit of a climb to get up there, but as I expected, I was greeted with open views. The impact of the wind and cold created interesting ice crystal formations (picture down below.)
The remainder of the day was primarily downhill to Newfound gap. I had been hiking in my thermal clothes that I had slept in the night before under my exterior clothes a.k.a. wool. I had put on my pants that were stick straight because they had just formed ice pant legs over those base layers. But because I was now up and moving that heat had melted said ice and gotten my clothes underneath wet. Also, I discovered on the PCT that I was essentially allergic to wool when hiking or at heat. So I found myself getting itchy all over the place as I hiked down the descent.
Arriving at Newfound gap was a bit overwhelming as it was inundated with people visiting the national park. There was a wonderful group that was providing trail magic to thru-hikers so while I waited for George, I sat and had some great conversations over some snacks. Once he arrived, we took a shuttle into Gatlinburg directly to the laundromat because everything that we owned smelled terrible and was wet. It was a reminder of the PCT as I sat in my rain gear in the laundromat.
Afterwards, we walked to Food City and did our full resupply. Based on how we looked, we were given a wonderful ride back to town by a partner of a thru-hiker. Once at the hotel, I quick showered and put on fresh clothing before dinner, which was such a treat. Gatlinburg was overwhelming as I did not realize that it was a tiny Las Vegas in the mountains. So we grabbed dinner quickly, people watched for a while, but then mostly went back to the hotel and ate snacks.
Day 13: Mile 208.0 - 218.5
Trail Daily Miles: 10.5
Total Daily Miles: 10.9
Total Trail Mileage: 218.5
Elevation Gain: 2840 ft
Elevation Loss: 2590 ft
Weather: Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: Second half of the Smokies are easier?
Breakfast is my favorite meal to go out for on trail and this was no exception. Everyone had been mentioning Crocketts, a famous breakfast place, but when we arrived there, the queue was too long. There were many other options so we settled on Log Cabin. This was the classic breakfast I was hoping for. It was going to be a short hiking day once we got back to Newfound gap so we took our time.
There was a shuttle that was heading back up to the gap at 1:30 from the NOC (which was the sister building company to the one we had seen at the other end of the Smokies). This had everything a hiker could need and more and it made sense that the shuttle picked up here.
Once back up to the gap, it was a quick 10.5 miles that was graded appropriately to the shelter.
There were a lot of day hikers coming through this area to see sights such as Charlie’s bunion. My favorite interaction were three men, who did not look like they had prepared for a hike based on their footwear. They stopped me and asked if I was camping because my bag was so big - while giggling implying I had overpacked?
I replied “Yes, I’m camping tonight and for the next five days before I head back into town.”
They looked confused so I followed up by saying “I’m hiking the Appalachian Trail.”
“What is the Appalachian Trail?”
“You are on it and it goes from Georgia to Maine. I will be camping most days for the next several months”
We happened to be standing near a sign that in fact, said the Appalachian Trail so I pointed to this and left them absolutely stunned.
I wanted to stay near the shelter but by the time I arrived there though most of the tent sites were taken so I found one down a hill and that worked fine.
What did not work fine was that I had apparently put two holes in my sleeping pad at some point and throughout the evening and night every 30 minutes I had to continue to blow it up. Rough night sleep to say the least.
Day 14: Mile 218.5 - 238.3
Trail Daily Miles: 19.8
Total Daily Miles: 20.7
Total Trail Mileage: 238.3
Elevation Gain: 3850 ft
Elevation Loss: 6580 ft
Weather: Sun, Clouds
Overall Day Sentiment: Ouch, tree stumps + mud.
Despite the rough sleep, I was positive when I woke up. I would be nearly exiting the Smokies by staying at the last shelter just before the road crossing outside of the park. It was about 20 miles away with less elevation gain than what had previously been experienced.
The morning went smoothly and the weather remained somewhat clear. The trail ended up getting quite muddy in spots and had a lot of standing water to wade through. At one point there were several blow downs (which are trees covering the width of the trail). I slipped in the mud and ran directly into a tree stump in the middle of my right thigh. It immediately hurt and was very red around the area. It was obvious that it was going to bruise badly.
The remainder of the day was fine with a lot of descent into the Davenport gap area. I arrived at the shelter where George, Gambit, and Bunny were. There was no tenting allowed in this area - only shelter stay. The shelter was covered in a chain-link fence to keep bears out of. It felt like a human zoo?
We all were getting tucked into the shelter when Bunny thought she heard a mouse so then I, fearing mice, running over me in my sleep, left the shelter and was looking for a tenting area. Unfortunately, there was no tenting available and I accepted that there would be mice crawling over me in my sleep.
Just as we were all getting tucked in and settled down from the mouse scare, George sat up and said, “I think there is a bat”. There was in fact a bat and as if on cue, it came swooping at my head and I am unsure how it did not get stuck in my hair. George got up, opened the gate to our human zoo cage and the bat flew out pretty readily. After several laughs, we all tucked in and fell asleep.
Day 15: Mile 238.3 - 257.3
Trail Daily Miles: 19.0
Total Daily Miles: 19.0
Total Trail Mileage: 257.3
Elevation Gain: 6034 ft
Elevation Loss: 4455 ft
Weather: Rain, Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: Max Patch and inclines - oh my!
It rained heavily overnight so despite the bat and mice events, I was thankful to be in a shelter as this meant that I do not have to put away a wet tent. I had enough cell phone service to see if the rain was going to stop around 9:00am so I moved very slowly. Gambit and Bunny set out in the rain while George and I lounged about until the accurate timing of 9:00am.
There was one particularly large climb during this day and I just moved slow. Once up the climb, the rest of the day moved at a faster pace. I would end up seeing an Appalachian landmark today in Max Patch. This is a giant bald, which is a grassy area on top of a mountain that has expansive views. There is not camping allowed within the Max Patch area so we were heading for a shelter just on the other side of it.
Once arriving to the shelter, it was obvious that everybody else had this plan as well and it was a full night of chatting around a picnic table. Luckily, I got a tent spot and I was able to connect with a lot of wonderful people.
Day 16: Mile 257.3 -282.3
Trail Daily Miles: 25
Total Daily Miles: 20.1
Total Trail Mileage: 282.3
Elevation Gain: 3861 f
Elevation Loss: 5876 ft
Weather: Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: A perfect campsite
George and I left the shelter early in the morning as we headed towards Hot Springs, North Carolina for a quick resupply. I had a meeting to attend to once I got to town and had sincere cell service. The 17 miles into town went by quickly, perhaps the quickest any large amount of miles has gone thus far.
Hot Springs, North Carolina was hit hard by Hurricane Helene and seeing the continued impact of the hurricane was hard to watch. So while the trail had been cleared, and there were a few blow downs that I had to climb over it was difficult to see a small community so deeply impacted.
I briefly had my meeting and had a quick resupply then the plan was to head out of town. There were few businesses open because of the hurricane and just general business hours, but the visitor center was very helpful and nice.
As you head out of Hot Springs, which is officially the AT, you walk along the road for a bit. George and I got offered a ride up the road a little bit to avoid the large construction trucks that were coming in and out of town which we happily accepted. When we got in the car we started chatting with the three people and realized that they were taking us a bit further up the trail than we had anticipated. They ended up taking us 4 miles up the trail because “that was the most convenient spot to drop us off“. It was a communication error that led to us feeling a bit bad about not following the white Blaze fully. But this was a well intentioned trail angel and we decided to keep the mileage.
This meant we only had a few more miles for the day and we found a beautiful spot on a bluff overlooking sunset. Though it was a tiny campsite we both fit, George had a great bear hang, and I have plenty of snacks from in town.
My insomnia started coming back though, and it was after midnight before I fell asleep despite the peaceful environment.
Day 17: Mile 282.3 - 291.5
Trail Daily Miles: 9.2
Total Daily Miles: 9.3
Total Trail Mileage: 291.5
Elevation Gain: 2384 ft
Elevation Loss: 2853 ft
Weather: Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: Thankful for the trail community.
After leaving the perfect campsite relatively early it was a short day into Hemlock Hollow. Though there was a brief ascent it was mostly descent heading into the area.
At the singular major road crossing for the day, there was a little bit of trail magic that had been wrapping up by the time I had gotten there. Gambit was there with a Capri Sun and I grabbed a Capri Sun for George and I. George was dealing with a quad injury and slightly behind me. He got to the road and identified that the quad injury could be a serious problem but we only had 1.5 miles left for the day so we continued on.
At the 1.5 mile mark or ending for the day is a wonderful trail angel called the southern cookie lady. She bakes cookies for hikers, provides a trashcan, and filtered water. She was raising money for the Hot Springs, North Carolina library if you would like an additional dessert. Gambit took her up on it and it looked delicious. She also uses her landline to call the hostel and let them know that there are hikers that need picked up and they came and got us.
At Hemlock Hollow was a main building with a small store and a large porch with a lot of seating. Then the typical dorm room, private cabins, laundry area, bathroom/shower area. It was a beautiful piece of land and everything was well laid out and easy to find.
I did chores for the day, wrote a bit, talked to some friends and family, and had a relaxing evening with friends.
Day 18: Mile 291.5 - 308.8
Trail Daily Miles: 17.3
Total Daily Miles: 17.3
Total Trail Mileage: 308.8
Elevation Gain: 4332 ft
Elevation Loss: 3209 ft
Weather: Sun, Warm
Overall Day Sentiment: Can’t always have the perfect campsite…
The day started off early because Hemlock Hollow offers breakfast to people who stay but that is served at 7:00am. Unfortunately, I was unable to partake because it was pancakes and alas, with me being gluten-free I cannot eat those. Luckily, in the store there were oatmeal packets, which I typically don’t eat, so it was a treat for me.
Unfortunately George was still nursing his injury and decided to stay behind to rest for the day. Gambit, myself, Sunny, Atlas, and others headed out back to the trail. I planned for a relatively short day so I took my time to arrive to the shelter.
I met several new folks along the way for the day and crossed the 300 mile mark! I ended at Flint Mountain Shelter and it was a busy spot. There was a church community group that had about 30 people in addition to a dozen thru-hikers. This lead me to have the lumpiest campsite I may have ever had. I also met a few people from Michigan, including one with a trail name Yooper. This was a social and dynamic shelter group, one that I would continue to bump into for the next few nights.
Day 19: Mile 308.8 - 327.7
Trail Daily Miles: 18.9
Total Daily Miles: 19.4
Total Trail Mileage: 327.7
Elevation Gain: 5566 ft
Elevation Loss: 4073 ft
Weather: Sun, Hot
Overall Day Sentiment: What a perfect night.
I started the day as I knew I had a substantial amount of elevation gain. It was a beautiful morning and I’m happy that I left early because it started to get pretty hot throughout the day. I hiked with Barefoot a good amount and ended up having lunch with him. We realized that despite us sitting together, one of us was in North Carolina while the other one was having lunch in Tennessee.
I also met a hiker named Girl Scout who had an adorable dog Bean. She had previously hiked the AT and was giving us some good information for the trail to come.
My goal for the day was Bald Mountain shelter, which was just on the other side of the summit of Big Bald. Similar to Max Patch this was another large mountain with no trees on top that had a grassy open area for viewing. The climb up this bald tested my patience more than I realized perhaps it was the heat of the day.
But upon arriving to Bald Mountain shelter, it was heavenly. This is still probably one of my favorite evenings on trail; myself, Girl Scout, Barefoot, Atlas, Overshoot, Gambit, and Fire all enjoyed a campfire at the shelter. It was one of those moments where everyone got along, and the evening felt right..
Day 20: Mile 327.7 - 344.6
Trail Daily Miles: 16.9
Total Daily Miles: 16.9
Total Trail Mileage: 344.6
Elevation Gain: 2440 ft
Elevation Loss: 5853 ft
Weather: Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: Thankful for quick rebuilding port Hurricane Helene.
This was a relatively short hiking day with little elevation gain to get into Erwin, Tennessee. I had plans to stop at Uncle Johnny’s, which is a famous hostel that is nearly directly on trail. It was also Easter Sunday and there were some major road crossings with the potential for trail magic was high.
In fact after walking through a particularly bad hurricane section, Atlas’s parents were at one of the first road crossings with Easter themed treats. Being away from family and friends over holidays can be hard but being surrounded by a trail community made it easier.
This trail magic delayed my arrival into Uncle Johnny’s, but a surprise was waiting for me in that George had gone up to the hostel as well. His injury continued to get worse and he decided to rest up a bit more near a proper town up trail aka Erwin.
I arrived at Uncle Johnny’s early afternoon and it had everything I needed. I was able to shower, laundry, resupply, and enjoy other hikers for the remainder of the day. My Easter dinner of Taco Bell and McDonald’s was something to remember as those were the only restaurants that were open.
The hostel ended up attracting a lot of familiar through hikers, including Gambit, Burger Man, Stevie Wonder, Stretch, and more. It was comforting to see some familiar faces.
Day 21: Mile 344.6 - 358.0
Trail Daily Miles: 13.4
Total Daily Miles: 13.5
Total Trail Mileage: 358.0
Elevation Gain: 4432 ft
Elevation Loss: 1140 ft
Weather: Sun, Hot, Rain
Overall Day Sentiment: Ferry boat rides?
As mentioned Erwin, Tennessee was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene. So much so that the main bridge that went over to Nolichucky River was completely washed away. This meant that hikers either had to do a dangerous road reroute with trucks or the ATC set up one person ferry boats across the river. The ferries started at 9:00am so I had a slow morning while packing my pack.
I got a ferry across the river, said goodbye to George as he was staying at the hostel for a few more days, and headed up the climb. It was quite a climb to get out of the Erwin area and I had decided to only go about 14 miles up the trail.
The day went smoothly until the end in which I had a concerning interaction with a stranger at a road crossing. There was a woman sitting waiting for a friend because she had been slackpacking - which is just hiking without a pack or a severely reduced weighted pack. The woman has asked me about the hurricane section reroute that we would be taking the following day and she had missed the most recent memo from the Forest service. I was attempting to explain the new reroute in the Forest service when she just would not listen to me, told me I was wrong, and said she was going to report me to the ATC so hopefully I got fined.
Then her friend arrives and this woman (probably in her 60s) gets out of her car and immediately says “young lady, do you know how many young ladies get murdered out here every year“ and started laughing. Now already being someone escalated from my interactions were the hiker, it was a very strange thing to say to a solo woman heading into the woods for the night.
So I said exactly that: “No, but that is a strange thing to say to a solo woman heading into the woods for the night.” While laughing at my response, she then tried to offer me trail magic in the form of treats, and I politely declined and said “not from someone who offers murder facts” and I left the situation.
It was nice to get to my desired campsite early in the day so it felt nice to relax. Gambit, Stretch, and Stevie all ended up showing up and we actually had a lovely evening.
No young ladies got murdered.
Day 22: Mile 358.0 - 384.5
Trail Daily Miles: 26.5
Total Daily Miles: 27.2
Total Trail Mileage: 384.5
Elevation Gain: 7018 ft
Elevation Loss: 6741 ft
Weather: Rain, Sun, Hot
Overall Day Sentiment: Why am I hiking this trail?
This was one of the more difficult days that I have had on trail.
As mentioned there was a Hurricane Helene closure that the Appalachian Trail Conservancy had created a reroute around as lumber companies were trying (and still are trying) to salvage some of the wood that had been lost in the damage. The campsite that I had been at was only a few miles away from this reroute so I hit it early. It had rained overnight and was still continuing to rain or mist, which led to the trail being a little bit more muddy.
I slipped in the mud several times - all the way down - where my shorts and pack got muddy, and it just felt like insult to injury on an early morning. The first part of the reroute was easy roads, but that led me to a false sense of security as I hit the actual trail.
This was the steepest thing that I had encountered yet on any trail and because of the environmental impacts, there were limited things that could be done to make it easier. Luckily, at this point, Stretch had caught up and we were able to navigate the reroute together. There were some makeshift log stairs that had been put in to help with steepness and therefore mud before which I am thankful because otherwise I would’ve slipped and fallen several times. I probably could have just gotten out my sleeping pad and mud sledded down the hill. We continue to laugh at the absolute madness that was this reroute and had to wonder if this was actually any better than the clothes hurricane damage section.
If you talk to any hiker that actually took this reroute, they will say the exact same thing. Diabolical.
It was a long remaining day filled with a lot of miles and a lot of elevation game. My goal had been over 27 for the day and Gambit tagged along as he was down to do the same amount of miles. This meant I arrived to the shelter a little late looking absolutely wrecked. m
There was a trail family here that was entirely too fun and absorbed Gambit and I well. I ended up sleeping in the shelter because I could not begin to think about setting up my tent. Thank you to Adventurine, 62, Viking, Mamas Boy, and Second Breakfast. You all made a very hard day much easier.
Day 23 Part 1: Mile 384.5 - 395.6
Trail Daily Miles: 11.1
Total Daily Miles: 11.2
Total Trail Mileage: 395.6
Elevation Gain: 1695 ft
Elevation Loss: 3862 ft
Weather: Sun
Overall Day Sentiment: Ouch that fall hurt!
This is the day that I would exit officially the North Carolina/Tennessee border and would enter just Tennessee hence why this day is a little bit shorter on the statistics, but the remainder of the day will be in a Tennessee portion.
I left camp at a decent time despite me wanting to hang out with the trail family a little bit longer from the night before. I ran into Stevie again who had camped just before the shelter so he also had had quite a full day the day prior.
It was a quick morning up and over Roan Mountain area and the views were impeccable. I had cloud inversion, meaning that the clouds were in the low line areas in between the peaks that I was on and the views were spectacular.
From the Highlands, it was down to a major road which went quickly. It was such a nice descent that at some point, I started jogging. This was a bad idea in retrospect because I ended up completely falling, bracing myself with my wrists es and hitting my face on the ground. My earbud went flying, some of the things in my pack went careening, and I was just laying there in the mud completely lost at what had just happened. I had busted open my knee and that was bleeding, but I knew that I was going to be in an area where I could clean it up shortly.
I connected with some other folks from Warrior Expeditions - Sherpa and High Ho, and we chatted the last several miles once we got to the road. There was a hostel a bit off trail that was open for lunch and so we were all hoping to get there.
Did I get my lunch? Was the pub closed? What happened to my knee? All will be answered in the Tennessee portion.
Enjoy photos from this section!
Xoxo Kanga
