Day 1 Fontana to Mollies

[Admiral256]

Hello all, first post. I am making my first trip on the AT in SMNP next month. Day 1 will be going from Fontana to Mollies Shelter. The AT Thru Hikers Companion lists the distance as 11 miles, but, given the large altitude change, I realize that it is going to be a much longer day than would normally be expected for this distance. What would be an estimated travel time to use to plan for the hike?

[Just a Hiker]

If this is your first hiking trip on the AT, allow yourself a good portion of the day to get to Mollie's Ridge. It's a pretty steady climb up to Shuckstack, where you can take a break and take a little side trip to the fire tower if you want. After Shuckstack, the trail is up and down until you climb up onto Mollie's Ridge. Have a good hike!!

[ChinMusic]

8-9 hours for me. I'm slow on long climbs.

[Admiral256]

Hey, thanks for getting right back to me gentlemen, much help. I was guessing it was as much as a 10 hour trip but had no real way of knowing how accurate this was.

[ChinMusic]

1 mph is not unreasonable.

[bigcranky]

We found the initial climb to be pretty slow, but we were dragging a teenager. It's a long, steady uphill to Shuckstack.

[Blissful]

Hope you have reservations for the shelters.

Enjoy and take your time!

[Lyle]

I would plan on 1mph. It's was a long day for me.