Pretty cold in our cabin at the hostel last night as there was no heat, so we put our sleeping bags on the bed.
Cat followed us out of the hostel and we ended up turning back and walking him back. Our headlamps were pretty dull in the predawn, as the batteries were dying.
Entered Great Smokie Mountain National Park today. Trail was quite good, like in Shenandoah National Park. In the guidebook, the climb up into the Smokies looked very aggressive, but it wasn’t bad at all, and we made surprisingly good time.
Temps were cold, especially in the shade. The trail alternated between east and west facing, and we could really feel the difference in temperature.
There was some ice on the trail in spots and the ground has started to freeze up in the higher elevations.
We got into camp pretty early and started working on the fire and gathering firewood. There are 12 of us here and nearly everyone was in early and worked to get firewood. This shelter has a fireplace inside, so we can get a small amount of heat from the fire to where we are sleeping.
Daily Distance: 18.2
Trip Distance: 1,959.5
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