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View Full Version : Southern Half of the Smokys water situation



Veetack
07-05-2012, 15:49
I just finished all of the AT in the Smokys yesterday by hiking from Fontana Dam to Newfound Gap. I made a stop at all 6 shelters on the route and I know people are heading out there every day, so I wanted to share what I found, so here goes:

Water is scarce, where it is available, it's running slowly (excluding Derrick Knob) or needs to be pumped. Where I normally only carry 1-1.5 liters of water, I found myself hauling 3 liters at a time to get by, and several people I was around had even more, but I drink less on the trail for some reason. I try to camel up on a minimum of a liter at each stop, which I would highly recommend.

Birch spring Gap - slow
Ekaneetlee Gap - really slow (like dripping one drop at a time)
Mollie's Ridge shelter - dry
Russel Field shelter - pump or submerge
Spence Field shelter - slow
Derrick Knob shelter - the best in that ~40 mile stretch
Beechnut Gap - couldn't find the spring, assuming dry
Sams Gap - couldn't find the spring, assuming dry
Buckeye Gap - couldn't find the spring, assuming dry
Silers Bald shelter -super slow
Double Spring Gap shelter - NC side spring is slow, TN side spring is dry
Clingman's Dome - I'm not walking 1/2 a mile down that hill to PAY for water
Mount Collins shelter - I flew past it on the way to Newfound, but I heard second-hand that it was flowing well
Newfound Gap - There is no water at the gap, not even sinks in the bathrooms. The water fountains are not operational, some of the guys I was with that were pushing on had to walk around and offer tourists money for water

It rained (poured) both Monday and Tuesday night while I was out there, but the ground was apparently so parched that it was completely dry come sunrise. It is still hot and dry, so I assume conditions are only going to get worse.

rmitchell
07-05-2012, 21:50
Good infomation.
thanks

Just curious, what is the condition of the trail between Birch Springs and Mollies? As far as blowdowns and weeds?

SassyWindsor
07-06-2012, 01:06
I wish all Hikers, including myself, would give a timely report, such as this, on trail conditions for any major trail or trail system they have hiked. To me, this is as useful as a weather forecast and is a very important planning tool.

tridavis
07-06-2012, 08:54
What are the temps like on that section?? I will be there in 2 weeks.Thanks.

Whack-a-mole
07-06-2012, 10:13
Will be doing this section the end of Oct. This is great info. Hope someone can do the same in a couple months.

Veetack
07-06-2012, 16:06
Blowdowns weren't bad. However, the storm yesterday could have seriously changed that. Temperatures were pretty comfortable in the shade, and kind of unbearable in the sun. There's a pretty big difference.

Lyte-w8-hyker
07-06-2012, 18:21
Thank's for the report, I'm trying for NFG - Davenport next month hopefully the water situation improves a bit