Every spring a great glob of thru-hikers goes through the Smokies. They make things miserable for everyone and, as a group, probably cause the largest negative impact to the Smokies in any given year. Here is my solution: restrict the number of thru-hikers allowed into the park each day. I suggest 12 as a good number. You could let four go to Mollies, four to Russell and four to Spence, and that's it each day. You greatly lessen the impact by spreading everybody out. You could park a ridgerunner down at the Fontana entrance to hand out permits. This is a great idea, right?