[Derek] Higher, Faster, and a Trail Name

Background reading

As of this writing, we've completed over 15% of the Appalachian Trail. Woo-hoo! (In other words, we've covered over 340 miles on the trail, not counting side trails and the Approach trail.)

Last time I posted was from Fontana Dam, NC. A lot has happened since then - we've traversed most of the border between NC and TN, including the Great Smoky Mountains.

When we ascended into the Smokies from Fontana, we entered one of the national parks that has a lot of rules on hiking and camping. The one the affected us was the fact that you MAY NOT camp anywhere in the Smokies, and you must make a reservation for every shelter you plan to stay at. Luckily, alternative arrangements are available for thru-hikers. You still have to buy a $20 pass and commit to exiting the 70-mile stretch of trail within the Smokies within 8 days, but you're allowed to sleep at any shelter you want and camp outside the shelter iff* it fills up. Section-hikers with reservations get to kick us out of shelter, though. Lame.
*if and only if

Anyways. The Smokies are mainly known for 2 things: containing the highest point on the AT (Clingman's Dome, at about 6644ft), and for having notoriously bad weather. Out of 6 days in the Smokies, 4 were rainy, wet, or freezing - and many trees on the ridges had rime ice on them! (See pics below, rime ice is formed on the windward side of a tree from fog or wet air freezing onto it.) However, some of the views we got were well worth the weather - much of the Trail ran along mountain ridgelines, giving us fantastic vistas across the mountains and into the valleys. Clingman's Dome in particular had awesome views once every few minutes (when the fog temporarily blew away).

We stopped in Gatlinburg, TN during the Smokies for resupply. I heard someone describe it as "Myrtle Beach without the beach" - quite accurate. It was as touristy of a town as you could imagine, with a main strip with attractions and free moonshine tastings (welcome to Tennessee, I suppose) and it was packed full of vacationers. Even though the town was only about 15 miles away from the mountains, it was probably 20 degrees warmer and sunny! So we had ourselves a gigantic meal at Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed the sun while it lasted. No, we did not do a moonshine tasting and yes, we regret it!

After we descended from the Smokies, we stayed at a farm-turned-hostel called Standing Bear Farm. That day was my 22nd  birthday - getting out of the Smokies was an awesome present! We sat around a campfire that night, making friends by sharing out the delicious fancy chocolate bar from my parents, and I started lighting sticks on fire. As I didn't have a trail name yet, somebody suggested "Pyro", but that didn't quite fit. Then "Spyro", after the dragon, was suggested. I figured it was a good name with a good story and it seemed to fit - so it stuck!

A trail name is essentially a fanciful alias that you go by on the trail. Everyone has one, so I don't actually know the real names of people I've met - I've met Trademark, Morning Wood, Spice, Apple, Titty Cakes, Solo, Sprout, Mutton Chops, Robin, and many others so far. It's part of the culture of the Trail.

We're starting to consistently do between 16 and 20 miles per day now (instead of between 10 and 15) so that we can ramp up our pace and make up for the lost time at the start. At this point, we're in Erwin, TN and expecting to be in Damascus, VA (a well-known trail town) in just a little over a week. Looking forward to getting to Virginia at last!

Pics below: Permit box in the Smokies, view from Clingman's Dome, me in front of the Clingman's observation tower, NC/TN state line (one sign of many), rime ice on trees, our cabin at Standing Bear Farm, Pussel-gut* flying a tent, panoramic view from Max Patch.
*Matt's trail name

EDIT: seems like the Clingman's Dome and state line pics didn't upload right, appending them to end end of the post. The Blogger mobile app is not very good.