Our camp site last night was rated as having room enough for 6 tents. By nightfall there were 15 tents and 3 hammocks in a very tight area. It resembled a very small base camp. It was a restless night for most of us as we were so close together you could hear every one who was snoring and the constant sound of people turning over on their sleeping pads. 

We broke camp at 8:30 am and I hiked solo for the day. The reason for this was really to prepare myself for more mileage in a few weeks. The first two weeks of this hike were focused on just getting from point A to point B (usually a distance of 8-12 miles) and taking whatever time was necessary to safely do so without running the risk of injury. The next 2 or 3 weeks I want to focus on the efficiency of my hikes to make sure I am ready for greater mileage once we exit North Caroling and begin the long journey north in Virginia (Virginia has the most AT mileage of any state at just more than 500 miles). When we hike as a tramily there are frequent stops as one would expect – water breaks and refills, snack breaks, take clothing off or put it on, etc. By hiking solo today I was better able to gauge where my hiking capability is now so that I can make adjustments over the next few weeks to be prepared for more mileage. I really do not expect my hiking pace to increase dramatically so that means i need to hike greater distances in a shorter time frame by making fewer stops and/or hiking longer hours each day in order to gradually ramp up my mileage. I met up with the rest of the tramily just before noon and then again at our base camp tonight. 

The weather today was cloudy and cool this morning and then windy with a cool rain for most of the afternoon hike. Overall, a good day for hiking and we covered 12 miles. Rather than another mountain top view video I made a short video (below) of a section of the trail I hiked today just to give my blog readers a better perspective of what a normal hike in this part of North Carolina looks like. 

Tomorrow we have a short hike to Fontana of less than 6 miles. It will be the last location to resupply before we head into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Wednesday morning. As a permit is required for this section of our hike, we have 8 days to enter and exit the AT trail through the GSMNP. We will exit half way though this section to go into Gatlinburg for another resupply and to take a zero day.