Day 16 Out of the Smokies

 Writing from a hotel in Newport TN after hiking 15.5 miles out of the Smokies.


I slept pretty well last night. We expected rain to start at 8AM. So we woke up at 6 to pack up our tents before they got wet. We were hiking around 7:15 and made excellent time for the whole day. When I woke up I took an ibuprofen and borrowed more of Spencer’s electrolytes, which together made it so my ankles didn’t bother me at all today. It was incredibly nice hiking without any pain for the first time in about a week. 


Our shuttle was scheduled to pick us up at 2PM and bring us into Newport TN. We kept a solid pace to hike the 15.5 miles and arrive on time for the shuttle.


The weather held out for us. Instead of raining we mainly had fog and overcast skies. Most of the day was descent, losing over 6,000 feet of elevation while only ascending around 2,000 feet. Since the weather held out for us we could see the mountains around us.






My ankles are quite swollen and slightly bruised, but aren’t hurting at all. I think having a rest day will contribute to the healing and hopefully the pain doesn’t return. If so, the hike will certainly be much more pleasant. 


We covered the last couple miles in the Smokies and dropped our hiker permits in the dropbox, a requirement for the national park. 



Shortly after exiting the national park, a shuttle driver named Ron picked us up and dropped us off at a Best Western. The Best Western is local to a lot of restaurants and a WalMart where we will resupply tomorrow. 


So far Newport has been great. We had an early dinner at Ruby Tuesday which was not as good as I hoped, but oh well the food was edible and more real than trail food. After the meal we hung out for a bit at our hotel then went to a restaurant nearby that had pool tables. It was fun just hanging out and shooting pool for a few hours. Before we left we had another meal as well. 


It feels awesome to be done with the Smokies. They are beautiful, but it is also the largest hurdle between the start of the trail and Perisberg VA, where Tyler and I ended our hike in 2020. Although in distance we are less than half way to Perisberg, it feels like we more or less have a clear path ahead of us. I’m very much enjoying re-hiking the southern section of the AT but I am also looking forward to the new sections of trail that I haven’t seen before. And finishing the Smokies, it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel. 


Tomorrow we will avoid a raining day and let our bodies rest. I’m very glad to be indoors and out of the rain. 


I updated yesterday’s post with pictures, if you would like to check them out. 

Goodnight,

Walker 



If you want to follow Tyler or Spencer, here are their logs as well:


Tyler: https://tylerat2024.blogspot.com/?m=1


Spencer: https://www.instagram.com/baxter.bound?utm_source=qr&igsh=MWx4MzRqa3M4dGk3Mw==

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