A week? Ten days?
A week? Ten days?
A week for average people with heavy packs.
Many will do it in 5-6
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 01-21-2016 at 23:20.
Also depends on the weather. Muddy is pretty spot on with 5-6 but with snow it'll prolly slow you down to add another day or so.
I did it in 4 nights
Trail Miles: 5,265.4
AT Map 1: ✔ | 13-21'
Sheltowee Trace: ✔ | 20-23'
Pinhoti Trail: ✔ | 23-24'
Foothills Trail: ✔ | 24'
BMT: 168.3
CDT: 210.9
GSMNP900: 134.7
AT Map 2: 279.4
You also have to figure in that you are required to stay at the shelters or designated campsites and they aren't spaced evenly on the trail. Agree, 5-6 days to do the 70+ miles is accurate unless you can do big miles. Ran into a couple of section hikers recently who did it in 4 days but they had to do some night hiking to make that happen.
The park thought the average nights were five. When talking to the previous sup he said that's why they capped the permit fee at $20.00.
The GSMNP thru-hiker permit only allows for 8 days to traverse the park.
You can obtain the permit upto 30 days before you enter the park. But once you enter the park within those 30 days, your permit expires after 8 days. So the only way your permit remains valid for the "upto 38 days" listed on the web site is if you enter the park on the 30th day after obtaining the permit.
If you plan to take longer, you would be required to obtain a general hiker permit where you are required to obtain a reservation for each camp site you plan to stay at.
4 days for me and my wife, but I think that may be a bit fast. Either way, here is a link to the final trip report to maybe help with planning. http://www.backpackingengineer.com/a...win-tn-day-11/
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depends on how many days you get sucked into Gatlinburg.....
kinda more like the middle of may....
i was up there a few years ago during may, and basically every shelter was full of thruhikers.......
for a section hike of the park----i would pick mid summer or early september, right after schools start up.....
or mid winter....
there will never be complete solitude along the trail in the park as there's always people on the trail.....
I would pick mid summer and save lower elevation hikes for Spring and Fall.
Unless it's a very dry year (water sources iffy or dry) mid-to-late September is great. Leaf peepers aren't there yet. Weather isn't extreme one way or the other. Usually.