Hi there,
My friend and I had a trip planned through the Smoky Mountains to go from TN Hwy 32 (by Davenport Gap) to Fontana Dam during Memorial Day weekend, starting our hike Saturday morning and ending it on Tuesday evening. Yes I realize that’ s about 20 miles a day but I’ve done this exact same trip in the past without any problems. As with most things in my life, I didn’t plan accordingly and I’ve just found out that pretty much all the shelters on the trail are fully booked for the whole weekend. So now I have two options, find another area to hike, or hike without a permit. I didn’t want to sleep at the shelters anyway as I hate sleeping in the shelters to be honest. I’ve done this in the past without problems, although I usually still had a permit handy in I case I got hassled. I also feel like maybe hiking a less popular area might be better because a crowded trail isn’t that fun either. So I have two questions. First, if you think it’s a bad idea to hike without a permit, can you provide some good alternatives that shouldn’t be as crowded on Memorial Day weekend? I need something between Florida and Tennessee as I will be driving and I need the drive to be 12 hours or less. Second, if you think I should just do the hike without a permit, can you provide me some pointers to avoid the Ridge Runners? Last time I hiked through the smokies I ran into a couple but none of them asked me anything about my permit. I was also thinking I can just get a permit for some shelters on trails close to the AT that way if I get hassled by a Ridge Runner I can at least present him with a permit and say I got on the AT by accident ^_^
Any help would be much appreciated guys, thanks!
