4-1-15 The Great Smoky Mountains

The hike in to the Smokey Mountain back country was difficult, 85 degrees , uphill for 11 miles and high humidity. We started hiking at noon after we went to the resort to print out back country permits. You can only camp in shelters in the smokies unless they are full. Only thru-hikers are allowed to tent in the event the shelters are completely full. The smokies have fewer water sources as well so you need to "camel up"  by drinking more at sources and filling your storage to max (I carry 3 litres now). There is no place to resupply unless you go way off trail, So I have a good 8 days of food. The problem is that it is a lot of weight and its hard on your body especially in high elevation. I got to a shelter at about 13 miles (3000' elev. gain), and it was full. I set up my tent at dark and the temperature dropped rapidly and a strong wind came in. I saw lots of signs of bear , and 2 deer on the hike in.