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TNhiker,

Yeah, that map is a picture I took from the Wise book. Maybe I have a different edition than yours. I have a first edition c1996 of the book which has no contour lines. Maybe later...

TNhiker,

See post #20. I took a picture from the blue book map and uploaded it. Love the blue book. Its a fun read with usually much more historical insight than the brown book.

Ha, that's great. Sounds like you have a heck of a resource available to you.

I found a trail journal from a couple years ago where a southbounder was singing the praises of the Fontana Hilton showers since they were open in late December. No guarantee they will still be open...

PatmanTN and TNhiker,

You guys got me wondering, so I did some digging. It was 2004 when we found the volunteer trail, so my recollection of "might have been 10 years ago" was actually 16 years...

There seem to be distinct sections on that trek from Clingman's to Fontana. For long stretches, the trail goes straight up and over every knob. Then a trail surveyor who wasn't a mountain goat took...

I guess it all depends if you want to trim your pack out for qualifying, or raceday. (FKT or thru?)

Now if only I could get a set of Penske dampers to increase my mechanical grip while on trail.

centerfielder162,

Last time I stayed on Newton Bald (might have been 10 years ago) we broke camp with the intent of heading down Newton Bald Trail toward Smokemont. There had been a somewhat...

An update. A ranger contacted me today to let me know there have been further reports in the area, so they are starting to look into this a bit more. If you are in the Smokies, keep your eyes...

Funny you should say that. We were at Spence Field Shelter on Monday night. Somebody had left a pack on the bear lines, a heavy inflatable mat, some green coleman propane canisters, and...

TNhiker, there were 3 sets of bear cables all down around where the old shelter was. 1 set was just up the south path leading to the campsites on the south side of the gap. This is the one our...

My reasoning may not have been fully explained in my wording above. Bear with me. I doubt it was a person who parked down at Fontana and hiked up a strenuous trail in the middle of the night with...

Heads up to all in the area.

We were finishing up a 5 day loop in the GSMNP. Our last night of the trip was Monday 10/26 and we were staying at Backcountry Campsite 113 (Birch Springs Gap) on the...

Stilllife, it shouldn't be much cooler at 49 than in Bryson City. Rule of thumb is that you lose about 3 degrees F per 1000ft. Bryson City is at 1750ft. Campsite 49 is at 3060ft. Rough guess is...

Please report back on the water level on the Eagle Creek Trail. I'm just curious what it's like in drought conditions. The two times I have done Eagle Creek, I was wading through fast water up to...

For a community of people who talk of quitting their jobs to pursue their dream of hiking the trail, it seems silly of us to worry too much about somebody who decided they didn't like their job...

Yes, I meant 68. Sorry for the confusion. Not sure how I mixed that up.

Yeah, that 21.5 mile day would be a bear. If you could figure out a way to carry enough padding, perhaps you could stay in a shelter that night instead of at 49.

Good luck. I hope you are able...

For reference: https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/upload/GSMNP-Map_JUNE14-complete4-2.pdf

Here is an option for doing the GSMNP northbound and staying at backcountry campsites where you can...

Wow, I have passed that spur trail a handful of times and never knew what it was. Next time!

HooKooDooKu,

Yeah, that pull up Baxter is bad. But I would rather go up it, than down it. Ouch, I have gone up it once and down it twice. The up was definitely preferable.

I didn't do your...

I'm more interested in ridgeline hikes and vistas than I am to waterfalls. But I love me some thundering creeks too. So take my preferences into account.....

When people ask me about where they...

There's always somebody hiding behind internet anonymity casting stones at someone who is not hiding behind internet anonymity. I can't imagine why people would disable youtube comments, or purge...

18 pages of cheering, veiled pot shots, and un-veiled pot shots.

Reminds me of a scoutmaster minute I once heard.

Two brothers decided to move to a new town. On his way into the town, the...

Always keep in mind that his stated goal is to lose 200 pounds. We have to be careful not to put our goals and expectations on him. If he has lost 55 pounds, then he is doing an amazing job.