At thru great smoky mountain np

I am planning to walk the at thru gsmnp in September. South to north in 7 nights, 8 walking days.
Any thoughts,suggestions.?
I am new at this.

"Any thoughts,suggestions.?"

Uh ... have fun ... ? Not sure what kind of thoughts and suggestions you might be looking for here. Partly as I'm not sure what distance you're contemplating. By "walk the at thru gsmnp" do you mean starting at Fontana Dam and walking the 70-some miles of the Smokies, or do you mean starting at the southern terminus of the AT at Springer Mt. and doing 230-some miles to the north end of the Smokies? The former is less than 10 miles per day, the latter works out to a nearly 30 MPD average. There are folks that can do the latter, but if you're "new at this" then hopefully you're planning on the more sane of those two interpretations ...
I don't recommend that anyone count on averaging nearly 30 MPD unless they already know from experience that they can do that, particularly right at the start of a trip, and on that trail. Georgia isn't actually all that hard, but it certainly does include its share of PUDs (pointless ups and downs) and so forth. And my recollection of North Carolina is that it got a bit harder (than Georgia).

If transportation is an issue, I found the Hoch's at the Hike Inn near Fontana Dam to be nice folks; they picked up me and a couple of fellows I was hiking with at the Fontana Dam visitor center and brought us to their motel, shuttled us into town for resupply, brought us back to the visitor center to continue the next day. On the other end the Standing Bear Hostel is its own sort of unique place, not too far off trail and overall a friendly place that's very nicely located. In between, Gatlinburg hopefully wouldn't be too difficult a hitch at that time of year (I would hope, anyway). Or maybe you're happy to carry 8 days worth of food and blast through.

If you could specify what sort of thoughts and suggestions you're looking for, you might get a less random response! :-)

Thanks
We plan the 71mile walk in the park and carry all the food.
No need for a tent.
I hope this resurrects an old sport for me.
I have contacted the horchs for a shuttle service.

Probably you already know this, but in case you don't (your comment about not needing a tent reminded me of this), in the Smokies they consider anyone that's not starting and ending a hike at least 50 miles outside the park boundaries to be a section hiker. They have different rules for thru-hikers and section hikers for use of the shelters. Section hikers (that would be you) are required to make reservations in advance to use the shelters. In that context, yup it seems to me that indeed you have no need to carry a tent, having a reserved space!

I hope you have a great time. I walked through there in March this year; waist deep snow and in general lots of fog and clouds so not much in the way of views. My feeling is that while I walked through the Smokies, I've yet to really see them! :-)

I have reservations but flexibility would be nice.
I may want to walk more or less one day but with the reservation system you are locked in.
What would happen if I tried to stay in a shelter without reservations?

It depends on who is there. That time of year, you won't likely run into a ridgerunner checking permits. But you could perhaps encounter a ranger working bear control. It would mean you would betold to continue on (or back) to your reserved shelter. This isn't likely, but it IS possible.

More likely is you will arrive at a full shelter. Because other folks like flexibility (or may not even get a permit), you may run into a full shelter even if stick to your itinerary. Carry at least an emergency shelter.

When my wife and I hiked through the park 2 years ago, we carried groundcloths and ponchos that we could rig up as shelters just in case. We never had to use them as shelters, but at least they were available.

And most importantly, enjoy yourself!

"That time of year, you won't likely run into a ridgerunner checking permits."

Going through the Smokies in March this year, with lots and lots of snow, ridgerunner Kentucky Greybeard was out on the trail, doing trail maintenance and generally hanging out, so I wouldn't count on ridgerunners not being out based on time of year (!).

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and its maintaining clubs must pay for ridgerunners, so they only assign them during peak times when the tidal wave of thru-hikers will roll through. For GSMNP, this means mid-March through the end of June. The heaviest mix of hikers (early season thru-hikers and spring breakers) hit in March. It's all about the money per hiker ratio.

But my advice to stick to an itinerary still stands. I saw a couple who had to backtrack a couple of miles when they decided to bypass the shelter on their itinerary in '08. It's best to stick with the schedule.

You cant have gsnp thru resevations more tahn a month in advance unless you are a Apilacion trail thru hiker. Even then not tru! All shelters in gsnp are only reservable a monthe in advance. two bunks in each shelter are held for thru hikers. If shelter fills with researved hikers and more than two thru hikers are present . The thru hikers can set a tent outside shelter. Only a thru hiker can tent in gsnp Legal! I would not go without tent. If thru hikers or others lie and fail to produce permit on inspection,even though you are tenting illegal outside the ticket goes to them.! Happy trails

Oh and I sheltered with a ranger this spring and a thru hiker, The amount of the ticket today I was told starts I repeat starts at 500.00 It is at disgretion of the ranger!

I have reservations every night and really do not want the weight of a tent.

Take a tarp or a poncho that you have practiced pitching as a tarp. This is what my wife and I did. It's insurance against folks showing up without a proper permit who wind up taking your spot.

I'm not saying it's probable that you'll need it, but it's worth having a simple emergency setup just in case.

Is there fishing?
I was told the trail stays on the ridge and the streams are way down at the bottom.

That's correct, there is no chance for fishing. You will not pass a single stream along the entire AT in the park. All the water sources are springs.

The upside is that there are some excellent ridge views. Shuckstack firetower is worth the .2-mile side trip. RockyTop/Grandfather Mountain offers excellent views down to Cades Cove. Clingman's Dome observation Tower is right on the trail, and if you can deal with the crowds (a parking lot is half a mile away via a paved trail), you can get excellent views, weather dependent. Newfound Gap offers good views, but the traffic is intense, even for me. Charlie's Bunion is well worth the little side trip, less than a quarter mile. Bradley's Vieww offers great eastern views. Near the norhtern end, the 1.2-mile round trip to Mt. Cammerrer is totally worth the walk if the weather is decent.

Have fun with it. Deal with the shelters as best you can. They're not terrible, but I admit that I miss my hammock badly in the morning.

What is your favorite trail/vista in the GSMNP?

Two viewpoints come to mind. One is Shuckstack Firetower, just off the AT about 5 miles north of Fontana Dam. Incredible views down to Fontana Lake. The other is Mt. Cammerer Firetower, .6 miles off the AT, about five miles south of Davenport Gap. Both are great, without car traffic crowds swarming around.

My favorite trail is probably the Forney Ridge/Forney Creek Loop, starting at the Clingman's Dome parking lot. Nice ridge walk down with a series of excellent campsites and stream crossing on the way back up.