Great Smoky Mountains Backpack

COUNTDOWN IS ON!

t-10 days until departure in the wee hours of FRIDAY MARCH 7.
Plan is to drive halfway that day, arriving in Gatlinburg TN on Saturday in time for dinner.
Sunday is a short four-mile hiking day, so we'll have the morning to recover from the drive and start practicing our Tennessee accents/harmonica tunes,  drive the hour to the trailhead, and hit the dirt (snow?) for a few hours. We're packing snowshoes, but it looks like weather is in the mid-40s in the hills and the 60s in the valley.

Lean-tos are booked for Sunday-Wednesday, our menus and gear lists are made, and Cam's mom's spiffy car is awaitin'. Tennesee here we come...

Until then...



Station Wagon Wheels
Headed down south to beyond the pines 
And we're thumbin' our way into North Caroline/Tennessee border 
Starin' down the road 
Pray to God we see headlights

 We made it down the coast in 17 hours, 58 minutes 
Pickin' us a handful of sweet souvenirs
And we're a hopin' for the Smokies 
We can see Walt’s aunt and uncle tonight

So rock me mama like a station wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel 
Hey mama rock me 
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain 
Rock me mama like a south-bound train 
Hey mama rock me

Runnin' from the cold up in New England
We were born to be hikers in an AT dreamland
Our hubbies lived in Baxter
But we do BOC now

Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' us now
Lost our money buyin’ textbooks so we had to up and leave
But we ain't a turnin' back
To livin' that old life no more

 So rock me mama like a station wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Drivin’ to the south out of Roanoke
We’ll spend the night in Philly
Tell some nice long jokes
But we're a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
Towards Gatlinburg, Tennessee
 
And we gotta get a move on before the sun, we hear the trails callin' our names
And we know that they’re the only ones
And if we die by black bear, at least we will die free ...