Backpacking-AT over the Great Smoky Mountains

Let's go backpacking on the AT over the Great Smoky Mountains for great hiking with excellent mountain views and experience the life of the Appalachian Trail thru-hikers for a weekend. This will be a very challenging trip where we will cover a great distance hiking up and down mountains over a very short time with 20-25 lbs on our backs. We'll cover about 30 miles in two days starting from New Found Gap going north east to Cosby campground. Typical speed over the Great Smoky Mountains is between 1.7 and 2.0 MPH. Only experience backpackers or extremely fit beginners please. It's expected that all who sign up for this event have all the necessary gear including but not limited to tent, rain gear, sleeping bag/pad, first aid kit, stove, etc.

The itinerary for this trip is based on having two cars available, one at Cosby campground and the other one at New Found Gap and is as follows:

Friday July 13th: Carpool from Triangle Town Center in Raleigh to Cosby campground. We'll start at 7:00 AM and drive for five hours to the campground. Here we'll have lunch and then drive in one car to New Found Gap. We'll start hiking at about 2:00 PM and go for about 7 hours or until we reach the Pecks Corner shelter where we have reservations and will stay for the night. Note that we may need to hike the last 30 to 60 minutes in the dark. There is no need to bring a tent; we can leave tents and anything else that we won't need Friday or Saturday in the car that will stay at Cosby campground. On the way to Pecks Corner shelter we'll see amazing views from Charlies Bunion and other sections of this part of the trail. The distance is 10 miles with total ascent of about 3000 to 4000 feet.

Saturday July 14: We'll get an early start and hike for about 16 miles to Cosby campground for more great views of the Smoky Mountains. Total ascent will be between 3000 and 5000 feet. Group sites are not available for Saturday, so we'll camp on individual sites. Cosby campground rarely fills up, but I strongly recommend that you make a reservation. There are 151 sites with 20 available for reservations. I have site B92. Reservations can be made online at http://www.recreation.gov/camping/Cosby_Campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70960&topTabIndex=Search or by calling 1-877-444-6777. You'll need to make a reservation for Saturday July 14 in order to participate on this trip.

Sunday July 15: We'll go on a 4 to 6 mile hike in search of a waterfall before driving back home. We'll be back in Raleigh by 9:00 PM on Sunday.

How to sign up for this event:

1. Sign up for event. You'll have 24 hours to make campground reservations for Saturday July 14.

2. Make reservation at Cosby campground for Saturday July 14.

3. Inform organizer (Juan) that reservation has been made.

4. Post comment if you wish to share your site with someone else. Two small tents can fit on each site.