Day 16 - Mar 8
The smokies deserve to be called great. How fortunate and truly blessed we were today to experience and feel what we saw.
We woke up slightly before sunrise and packed up. By the time we had everything packed up the sun had begun to rise. Bright shades of orange and red filled the sky, eventually fading to reveal a baby blue sky. As we left camp we were amazed by the views we saw. Our first major view camp from Charlie's bunion, where there is a small rock outcropping. From here you feel as though you are standing above a crater, looking down at the bowl shaped valley beneath you. We could have stayed here all day, little did we know our views would only get better.
It is impossible to describe what we saw today in words. The atmosphere, tranquility and absolute beauty of the great high smokies was so astounding that we were truly awestruck. Today was bliss. We often stopped and stared off into horizon, unable to take our eyes away from the unimaginable beauty of the place.
We went 21 miles today. If the movie groundhog day was to happen to me, I would hope it was today. I would love to relive the feeling of seeing every view we saw today for the first time again, over and over and over again.
We went from ice water shelter to Cosby knob shelter. 21 miles total.
I do not know what more I can say about today. Words do not describe what we saw. The evergreen forest combined with surreal views left us speechless.
The time change today really threw us off. We had been making good time, about 2.5 to 3 miles an hour. As we stopped to eat breakfast and lunch, we saw that it was already past 12. We thought we had made great time yet somehow we were terribly behind schedule as we had only gone slightly over 8 miles at this point. As we rushed about in the early afternoon, we soon realised that the time change had occurred today and that we were actually making great time. We arrived at camp at 530 this afternoon, 2 hours before sunset. By this pace we probably went 21 miles in 8 hours.... not to shabby if you ask me. We enjoyed a nice relaxing night and are looking forward to a lower mileage day tomorrow, somewhere between 13 and 15.
This trip will not be the last time I see the smokies.
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
We woke up slightly before sunrise and packed up. By the time we had everything packed up the sun had begun to rise. Bright shades of orange and red filled the sky, eventually fading to reveal a baby blue sky. As we left camp we were amazed by the views we saw. Our first major view camp from Charlie's bunion, where there is a small rock outcropping. From here you feel as though you are standing above a crater, looking down at the bowl shaped valley beneath you. We could have stayed here all day, little did we know our views would only get better.
It is impossible to describe what we saw today in words. The atmosphere, tranquility and absolute beauty of the great high smokies was so astounding that we were truly awestruck. Today was bliss. We often stopped and stared off into horizon, unable to take our eyes away from the unimaginable beauty of the place.
We went 21 miles today. If the movie groundhog day was to happen to me, I would hope it was today. I would love to relive the feeling of seeing every view we saw today for the first time again, over and over and over again.
We went from ice water shelter to Cosby knob shelter. 21 miles total.
I do not know what more I can say about today. Words do not describe what we saw. The evergreen forest combined with surreal views left us speechless.
The time change today really threw us off. We had been making good time, about 2.5 to 3 miles an hour. As we stopped to eat breakfast and lunch, we saw that it was already past 12. We thought we had made great time yet somehow we were terribly behind schedule as we had only gone slightly over 8 miles at this point. As we rushed about in the early afternoon, we soon realised that the time change had occurred today and that we were actually making great time. We arrived at camp at 530 this afternoon, 2 hours before sunset. By this pace we probably went 21 miles in 8 hours.... not to shabby if you ask me. We enjoyed a nice relaxing night and are looking forward to a lower mileage day tomorrow, somewhere between 13 and 15.
This trip will not be the last time I see the smokies.
Goodnight,
Tyler M.
The Great Smokies have made an indelible impression upon you. Awesome that you could experience them in all their beauty and grandeur!
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