Getting to and from the Smoky Mountains can be pricey if you're on your own, but well worth it. I, however, was not on my own, and was able to split the $75 shuttle ride to the southern end of the park with my friend Dawn. We arrived in the evening at Fontana Dam, where the Appalachian Trail enters the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

My pack weighed just over fifty pounds. And I know this only because fifty pounds is the max allowed by the bus, which I took from Asheville, NC to Waynesville, NC where I picked up the shuttle. To lighten my pack, I pulled out the heaviest thing, my three liters of water (nearly nine pounds!) and carried it on with me.

That first night after walking all of 200 yards from the shuttle drop off to the shelter, I quickly figured my first meal would be my heaviest: pizza. Eating the weighty pizza the first night must have done some good, but the pack's weight loss wasn't really fully appreciated on our first true day on the trail. My pack still weighed fifty- some pounds and my friend, Dawn, and I had some serious ups ahead of us. We left Fontana Dam Shelter, hiked along the road across Fontana Dam until we found that all too familiar white blaze of the Appalachian Trail and started heading up into the woods.

The fall colors were in full swing. We found out on our ride in to the hills yesterday that the particularly wet summer this year actually stifled the vivid potential of the deciduous trees around us. It was still very beautiful, and we slowly ascended through a variety of fall foliage displays on our 2,500-foot gain for the day. At the lower elevations, the leaves were still thick on the trees, pushing bright yellow mixed with a few splotches of orange and red into our sight. Slowly, as we got closer to various ridge crests, the leaves would thin from the trees as they were stripped off by the sometimes puissant winds prone to blow over these hills.

Just below Silers Bald Summit Photo: Cameron L. Martindell

Our first major stop for a snack and a pack drop was in a nice sunny spot just below Sassafras Gap at 4,000 feet. The air temperature was in the low fifties, and an occasional breeze would really make itself known as it blew across any wet spots on my shirt. The sun felt great and we happened to be in a nice little wind-shadow. I took my pack off and faced the shoulder straps and back support to the sun to help it dry.

The bulk of our climb was done, but we still had the undulating ridgeline to follow to our first camp, Russell Field Shelter. It's interesting to note how different regions stick to certain ways of naming things. Here in the Smokies, I noticed they really like gaps and knobs. Up and down we go, over a knob, through a gap. The idea of coming across a peak or a summit or through a pass or notch quickly dissolved from my thought as I glanced at the map. To spice things up, we would pass through Lawson Gant Lot, or over Little Bald. Near the first shelter we came across, there was Devils Tater Patch. I must not have been looking hard enough because I missed it.

By the time our stop for lunch came around, we had just crested Doe Knob, and were walking out of Mud Gap up Powell Knob. Dawn and I started eating, sitting on a log facing each other once we got our fleece and wind breakers on. It only took us a moment to realize if we were to sit on the ground, leaning against the log, sitting side by side, facing the sun, we would be much warmer. Our brains must have been partially chilled.

When we passed Mollies Ridge Shelter, there was already a crew there around 3pm settling in for the night. The lot of them were heading out the next day, finishing various adventures. The shelter itself was very nice. It was one of the ones that had been remodeled in the past few years. Dawn told me they used to have a chain link fence covering the entrance to protect the sleeping backpackers from bears (which, I'm told, really just gave people the false sense of security to try and feed the bears through the cage). The new look includes a nice awning to the side with a bench and place to eat. After another snack, we pressed on.

When we arrived at Russell Field Shelter, I suddenly appreciated the work put into upgrading the previous shelter. The chain link fence was still strapped across the open end of the shelter, and there was no other cover beyond the access to the sleeping shelves. There is a small fireplace built into the north wall of the shelter and there was a fire ring outside of the chain-link as well.

The water supply at this shelter was really sub par. But what's to be expected in the fall at the top of a ridge. We gingerly siphoned our water bottles (and hydration bladders) full to cook dinner and called it good. We didn't re-fill after breakfast before departing with the hopes that the spring at the next shelter would be more inviting.

I woke with the early morning light, and the overcast sky kept me from getting out of bed to try and find a nice sunrise photo-op. I did get up before Dawn however, as I like to have a warm breakfast, and she's fine with a quick breakfast bar. We departed around 9am and were relieved to find a better water source at the Spence Field Shelter. Beyond that, we crested over Rocky Top (hey, not a knob!) at 5,441 feet, half an hour before noon, and thought it a good place to stop for lunch.

Despite the overcast sky, the temperature dropped significantly overnight and remained cool during the day. The sun would poke through at times and the wind was fairly calm. The cool air felt great however, considering the effort required with the constantly undulating terrain. From Rocky Top, we dropped back down 1,000 feet to Mineral Gap, then back up to 5,000 feet, and so on. The beautiful fragrance of hemlock perfumed portions of the trail, and each time, I would take long deep olfactory breaths and savor every moment of it.

We passed Derrick Knob Shelter, hiked over Big Chestnut Bald, down through Sam's Gap, over Hemlock Knob, back up at 4,820 feet, and then through Buckeye Gap before arriving at Silers Bald Shelter, our destination of the day. The fall seems to be a pretty good time to hike the Smokies. There really aren't many folks on the trail, the weather is pleasantly cool, and you can see! Yes, though this hike follows the ridgeline spine through the middle of the park, it is not above timberline. I suddenly realized hiking along this trail in the summer would just be a long trek through a green tunnel, which I'm sure is beautiful in its own right, but now that all the leaves have fallen from the branches, I can see between the bareness of it all and appreciate the climbing I've done so far.

Silers Bald Shelter was popular that night. Dawn and I were able to find space on the top rack again. We felt that on top we were less likely to encounter the mice that frequented these smorgasbords of dropped bits of food and such. Although, this did Dawn little good when a mouse literally ran right over her face back at Russell Field Shelter. Regardless, it still seemed "cleaner" to me somehow to be further from the ground.

Before the sunset, the overcast sky had actually cleared some and the land reflected the orange glow of the setting sun. The sky remained clear overnight and I woke early to catch the sunrise from the summit of Silers Bald (5,607 feet).

Editor's Note: Read Part II of Cameron's hike through the Smokies.

— Cameron L. Martindell, Livin' the Life for MountainZone.com