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The day started with fresh made hotel waffles, Jimmy Dean sausage and biscuits, hard boiled eggs, and orange juice. All of us who had stayed at the hotel made sure to pack in the calories and protein from our included-with-stay continental breakfast before we were set to hit the cold snowy trail for another couple of days.

6 of us crowded into a shuttle to ride up the mountain road to the gap. The same road was the only access to the gap which had been closed the day before due to icy conditions, so we knew the trail waiting for us would be icy.

Being in the back of the van squished between everyone’s backpacks and with my pack on my lap did not stop the views from being incredible.

The snow on the trees as we drove up the hills was a beautiful sight. Sometimes the best views of the mountains is from below!

At the top of the gap, we begrudgingly embraced the cold air outside and found our trail. There was a sign reminding us how far we still had to go to get to Katahdin, perhaps to serve as a distraction for hikers who weren’t happy about having to hike more of the Smokies.

I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t feel discouraged by the sign. I was proud of how far I’ve already come and feeling like another 1972 miles was actually feasible!

The clouds were still low in the mountains, and the trail was icy indeed. We treaded carefully, stopping frequently to take pictures of the frosty trees, absolutely in awe of the gorgeous winter wonderland around us.

Frickles in the sun!
Stunning sunlight coming through the frosted trees.

At some point on the icy trail, One Hour (a section hiker with legs up to my shoulders) passed us, and I felt compelled to hike alongside him to pick up speed. We ended up pulling ahead of our group, then taking a “side quest” trail called Jump Off.

On the side trail, we encountered day hikers and some more section hikers who had smartly hung their packs from the trees so they could hike the side trail without extra weight.

The trail to Jump Off was worth the excursion, as we finally got a view from above the clouds instead of being stuck in the clouds.

While there may not have been much of the mountains to see, it was pretty cool to be above the clouds.

After the side trail, we put our packs back on and continued on. Hiking with One Hour was really pushing it for me in terms of speed on the snowy and icy trail, but somehow neither of us slipped and fell on our butts!

After running into Fraggle and Zen on the trail, One Hour stopped for lunch with them, and I decided to keep going with another fast hiker who was passing by, Sunshine! She was hiking quickly to catch up with a friend at the next shelter, so I kept pushing to keep up and make some faster miles.

Hiking with strangers is so interesting, sometimes you just pass by and never even learn their names, and sometimes you match speed and have a conversation about life for an hour or two! Time flies when you’re talking and hiking, and after all those speedy miles, I ran into Frickles! She had passed me and One Hour when we went off trail to Jump Off, but thanks to the power of speed I had caught back up. Of course I was now decently tired, and we were getting close to the shelter we had planned to stay at for the night.

However, we knew that there was about 20 hikers somewhere close by who had gotten stuck in Gatlinburg and would also be staying at this shelter. So after a snack and stretch break, Frickles and I decided to hike together (at a more manageable speed) to get to the further shelter which was about a 15 mi hike from start to finish. This would be our longest hiking day yet!

Now, I have been worried about snow in the Smokies and hiking in my sandals for several weeks. So how did it go? Well, after a few miles of hiking with my socks and sandals, the slushy parts of the trail had soaked my socks. I knew hiking with freezing and wet socks would be worse than hiking with my toes out, so the socks came off. Luckily, the trail continued to be between 1/2″ of snow, thin ice, or mild slush, so while my toes got a little cold, I wasn’t too concerned for their safety. Still, I would not recommend the experience, even knowing that my hiking companions’ feet were also cold and socks were getting wet from the slush. It’s not practical for backpacking, but in my personal future of hiking with snow I would definitely invest in a nice pair of fur lined, waterproof boots.

Along the trail, we encountered the Appalachian Trail Maintenance Club and Smokey Mountain Maintenance Club volunteers who were hiking with chainsaws to cut away blowdowns on the trail. We were so grateful for their work and told them they’re awesome.

Hiking the trail would not be possible without the help of volunteer groups clearing the path and maintaining these trails. Thank you, volunteers !!!

Sunshine and her friend ended up joining me and Frickles on the stretch to the next shelter. It was a big mile day for all of us, and we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves for hiking so far, especially in sub par hiking conditions. We were definitely grateful that there was no rain or snow or high winds on our hike which made it a lot easier to keep going. As we hiked, we started paying attention to the footprints in the snow in front of us and guessing how many people would be at the next shelter. By the time we got there, there were 7 people already there, and about 5 more showed up after us, proclaiming that the previous shelter was beyond full and there were no available tent sites either!

On the way to the shelter, Frickles and I left our names in the snow so our fellow hikers we had started the day with would know we were alive and ahead of them the next day.

No one wanted to tent in the snow, but I stood by my morals and set up my hammock rather than sleeping in the shelter.

I think I slept better and was warmer in my hammock than I would have been in the shelter anyway.

After a double-dinner of my homemade pasta meals, a few more hikers made it into the shelter and I ended up chatting with one of them for a bit before dark. It turns out he’s a fairly well known artist on tiktok who makes “infinite zoom” drawings. We were both fans of Adventure Time and he showed me some of his art inspired by the show. It was really fun to meet more cool people on the trail, even if I never see them again (he and his buddies are hiking 18 mile days !). The artist’s trail name is Sunny and he’s known online as Jake Wolven, check him out!

Time to warm up my feet in my sleeping bag and have a nice long sleep to recover from the crazy day! More snowy trails tomorrow, though we are all holding out hope that the weather forecast will be accurate and we will have 60 degrees and sunny skies.

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