Avoiding the Thru-Hiker Rush in the Spring

[Jeanette]

I'm thinking of doing a week-long hike, starting around the north end of GSMNP and going north. I want to do it in the spring but am trying to avoid going when the shelters and tent sites are too busy with thru-hikers. Thoughts? Is it a good idea to try for April, or will it be busy even then? Maybe I should just wait until like the beginning of June?

[Lone Wolf]

April will be mobbed. Late May would be good.

[Jeanette]

Wow! Looks like I stirred things up a bit here. :)

I hiked through GSMNP last spring, and in talking to other hikers on the trail, I noticed that "lore" certainly abounded about thru-hikers being exempt from certain rules! Didn't really matter at the time because the shelters weren't full anyway, except for on my last night (a Friday) when a group of about 10 weekend-warrior types crammed into a shelter with a handful of us section hikers. It was unpleasant.:rolleyes:

So anyway! To answer an earlier question, I'm section-hiking the AT, bit by bit, and I will be starting from a little ways outside of the park, probably at Standing Bear Farm, and heading north. Now that I've read some of your thoughts, I'm thinking maybe I'll plan something for June instead of earlier in the spring.

[Jack Tarlin]

I've seen lots of talk and speculation here in re. to what is officially required and what isn't.

Here's the official website for the Park:

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/backcountry-reg.htm

I suggest that if you've any questions about permits, tenting, or anything else, you check this out or give them a call.

Have a great trip!!

And Jeannette, shelters North of Davenport Gap will still be crowded thru April and May, but not to worry. There are plenty of great places to camp, and once you're out of the Park, you're pretty free to camp wherever you wish along the Trail in North Carolina or Tennessee. So don't take for granted there will be space in a shelter; bring a tent, tarp, or hammock so you don't have to be dependent on shelters, and you'll be fine.

[map man]

Jeanette, I see you posted this question in the "straight forward" forum, so I will try to answer the question you actually asked. Since most NOBO thru-hikers start from Springer in March and early April, and since it takes most of them three to four weeks to get to the stretch of trail you are interested in (the north edge of GSMNP, where you would be starting north, is about 235 miles from Springer), you can expect the trail to be most infested with thru-hikers from the last week of March through early May. If it's general congestion you're worried about, and not just thru-hiker specific infestation, it's also a good idea to avoid the most popular locations like Max Patch, Hot Springs, Erwin and the Roan Highlands (if you get that far north) on weekends.

And Jeanette, while there are lots of WhiteBlaze members with more first-hand knowledge of this area than I have, I couldn't resist answering you so I could use the phrase, "thru-hiker infestation."

[SGT Rock]

You know, there is a lot of squalking here about the GSMNP and the rules, shelters, thru-hikers, etc. But it looks like none of that had anything to do with this person's question. This is what I read:


I'm thinking of doing a week-long hike, starting around the north end of GSMNP and going north. I want to do it in the spring but am trying to avoid going when the shelters and tent sites are too busy with thru-hikers. Thoughts? Is it a good idea to try for April, or will it be busy even then? Maybe I should just wait until like the beginning of June?

Now unless I am totally screwed up on my recollection of the GSMNP and it's location in reference to the trail - if you start at the north end of the park (Davenport Gap) and head north you will not go into the park at all. You will not need a GSMNP permit because the park is south of that point. What you will end up doing is going past Max Patch, Hot Springs, etc.

You guys could turn a question about tents into an argument about the color of the sky and who was the bigger crook - Nixon or Taft.

Geez...

[Lone Wolf]

I read her post correctly.

[SGT Rock]

Yep you did - that is why the first answer was left intact. But it was the rest of the crap about the Smokies that got everyone bent up which didn't follow her question.

[Almost There]

Some will argue just to argue or disagree just to disagree.

[Deerleg]

...You guys could turn a question about tents into an argument about the color of the sky and who was the bigger crook - Nixon or Taft.

Geez...

It was Taft.

As a day hiker I’ve enjoyed the “infestation” (wouldn’t that be a plague, invasion, swarm, hoard) of thrus :-? ,though I think I would call it a posse on a mission.:rolleyes: As a section hiker I’ve wedged in with them on a few cool nights, but my favorite hikes north of the Smokies have been in June and July.