| Mile | 197.5 |
| Miles Since Last Update | 13.5 |
| Day | 21 |
At about 6 last night as I was about to fall asleep 12 or so people rolled into the shelter having walked all the way from the dam that day (so they did in one day what took me two). I’m sure they are well and good badass hikers but they would not shut the fuck up about the most mundane shit. If I make it out of the smokies I am swearing off shelters I think. I can only stand so much talk about zpacks and divorces.
Weather was a lot better today. The spreadsheet schedule had this day noted as “a tough day, hard to plan around”, but managed to make it to silers bald shelter at 1:30. There’s a shelter just two more miles out that I may push for, but was going to see when bladerunner gets in here.
Got stopped by a ridge runner who asked for my permit, he was going south so surely they won’t have another one at the shelter checking for unauthorized hammocks.
Couple people have passed thru and said bladerunner didn’t look like he was doing too hot. Sounds like he may hop off in Cherokee tomorrow which is kind of a bummer, but understandable.
Also the water at this shelter is scuffed. We may not have an option with respect to staying here.
Pushed thru to Double Spring. It was a real pleasant stretch and the first time there has kind of been a change of scenery. There’s a section of forest here where there’s Spruce-Fir type trees that are still green rather than the waves of dead trees so far.
Good chunk of people here at the shelter. A bunch of college kids from Auburn on spring break (one went to Westlake!) but they are cool and not going to narc on me for hammocking outside the shelter.
Tomorrow is an easy day hopefully but it is also daylight savings time which is screwing up my planning for getting into Cherokee (to go gambling). Supposed to rain a bunch too, so might not get to see much from kuwohi.
Rocky (raccoon) top. Was super windy up here
Geological marker for… something
Kuwohi is the highest point on the AT and there’s a big touristy lookout tower on it. It used to be named “Clingmans Dome” but the Cherokee people petitioned to have it renamed a few years ago as it is a sacred site for them. If you say “Kuwohi” around certain “hiker” folks tho, they will get very pissy because a large portion of “hiker” folks are massive chuds, shocker.