april 1 - smokies solo

April 1st started off bad, and ended not too bad. It had rained over night, and the temps got to the 20s. So in the morning there was a sheet of ice covering everything, especcially the trail, which at this point was frozen slush covered with ice. The only redeeming quality of that morning was that since we were on a mountaintop, the view from the shelter was amazing. The sun was beginning to come up and heat the mountains, so the lower mountaintops were poking through what looked like a sea of clouds. It looked as though we were above the clouds. I cooked breakfast, so it was a slow morning for me. I was in no hurry because i wanted to let the trail warm up a bit first. Dj had left a half hour before i did, and my pace was a little bit slower, so i hiked by myself the whole day. The sun stayed out most of the day, so the fog on the lower peaks was visible alll day as well. There was one part where the fog was beinng blown over a lower point of the trail. So ahead of me it looked liked a river fog was flowing over the trail. It was pretty amazing. Being able to go my own pace and stop whenever i wanted made the day much better. I listened to music while hiking until my mp3 player died. The solo days are nice, but they get boring quickly. I wouldnt want to hike alone everyday. The destination shelter was also high altitude, and was cold when i got there, around 330pm. I cooked my dinner soon after getting there, and i was glad i got there so early when other hikers started arriving around 6. The shelter filled up and some hikers slept on the floor. Its good the shelter was crowded though. It was a very cold night.