I went on 14.3ish day hike yesterday that involved in 3,000 feet of elevation gain. We started at 10am and was back to the car by 5:05pm. For some reason I'm not that sore. Does this mean it wasn't hard enough of hike or what?!? Pictures coming soon and reason why overnights trip was held off will be explained later. I'm just surprised my legs aren't dead from this hike. Considering they haven't been stressed hard living in Alabama...

Eh, I'm bored so I'll explain reason for delay in backpacking trip. We was scheduled go to Linville Gorge, but a 2,400 acres wildfire (Linville is only 11,000 acres) delayed this trip. We then scheduled go to Shining Rock Wilderness. However, weather report dictate we would be smart to hold it off for later this week. Local weather was saying it would be single digit temperature and freezing rain coming in. If the temperature and wind chill held true, we would be miserable. This is the screen shot from local weather station for the town only:
Can you imagine us battling 40 plus MPH wind at 5,000 feet!?!?!? We be miserable possibly worse.. So we thought smart thing was let weather run its course and try an overnight later this week. The temperatures expected would far exceed comfortable rating of our sleeping bags. We simply didn't have the gears to be comfortable in such weather. We're hoping for better weather this weekend before I leave. Instead we did a 14 plus miles day hike in the Smokies and it was 22 degrees the entire day walking. Cannot imagine the night time temperature in Shining Rock and plus you cannot start a fire in Shining Rock. (brrrr)

Sample pictures from the day hike. We did 14 miles round trip in 7 hours, saw 200 years old tree, beautiful streams, great view, etc. It was cold air despite the sun beating down on us in some part. I had two layers on, gloves, hat, and that kept me comfortable while moving. When we stop I had put my jacket on it.





At some point of the day we made it to the edge of this mountain.


The top pic was one of the view, and the two bottom were sample of 180 degrees behind us.


This cabin belonged to a guy that lived in the area before it became a national park


The only pic I forgot were the old growth trees. The eastern hemlock and poplar trees are huge in this section of the Park. They were 25 feet in diameter and towering height. I guess you could say they are our version of the fame sequoia out west.

Still holding out for overnight backpacking trip while I'm still in the area this week. The temperature were too extreme for the gears we had. We both were concern about being safe. I guess being an adult is knowing your limit, eh?

Well you are not having much luck in getting out overnight Bummer, I was hoping for better luck for you. Seems much of the country right now it in a bit of a deep freeze and the edge of it has arrived in our area. Glad you got to cover a bunch of miles when you could. IMO your smart to heed the weather reports and in light of knowing your limitations on keeping warm with the gear at hand even wiser. You know what they say about 'discretion being the better part of valor'.

Thanks for the pics, jimmyb

There's something to be said for the better part of valor (discretion) with such a scary weather forecast!

And there's also something to be said for spending the long winter nights in a comfortable, warm, lighted place instead of in a cold, dark tent, while still spending days exploring the wild country. Love your photos!

too bad about the weather, but it sounds like a great dayhike. Nothing wrong with that, too! Nice photos!

Mt. LeConte has a weather station on it and it recorded 4 degrees temperature and received up to 7 inches of snow fall over last few days. This is located around 6,400 feet. If I went on my planned trip I would have froze. My sleeping bag keeps me border line comfortable in high teens. Once it starts dipping below 17 I start feeling little cold air seep underneath the pad. If I had different equipments and knew its limit it could have been a different story. 17 degrees is the coldest night I've ever had while backpacking. I stayed pretty warm and felt some air come up from the pad. I would need a foam pad go underneath my air pad just boost insulation and warmer bag. I think the Big Agnes tent with all the guy lines staked could have handled the wind, maybe. Never dealt with wind that high before, so I didn't know how Tarptent would have handled it. Ah, well.

I think simple solution for more backpacking is to move back. Brevard, NC would be nice due to its proximity to Asheville. It's also within rock throwing distance of some of best mountain biking in the southeast combined with beautiful backpacking places I have yet to explore.

Edit: In case anyone in the area interested in this route, this is description of Albright Grove and Maddron Bald Trail. We hiked to the Albright Grove but we bypassed it on the ascent to Maddron Bald, then on the way down we did the Albright Grove Loop.