We had awesome luck finding a ride again. After about 5 minutes, a guy pulled into the parking lot and offered to drive us up. He had thru hiked in 2011 and was going up with a friend to day hike.

So Sunshine got in the cab and Seeker and I hopped in the bed.

As we gained elevation on the drive up to the gap, we began to get glimpses of the incredible scenery the snowy Smokies would offer us later in the day

Once back on the trail, the hiking was rough and snow through the snow as we traversed ridge lines with 6 inches of snow drifting up in some places close to waist high.

We were soon rewarded with incredible views of the mountains covered in snow as we climbed above 6000ft.

After about 5 miles, the novelty of the scenery began to wear off a bit as we continued to trudge through the snow and icy temps (near zero with the wind chill).

Stepping through deep snow takes twice the effort, especially on uphill portions of the trail.

Before long we were racing the clock to make it to our target shelter for the evening (Tricorner Knob). As the sun went down, it became colder and more challenging to hike.

There is a balance of speed and effort you have to find when trekking through the snow.  If you push too hard, you start to sweat which cools you off faster in the freezing temps. However, slowing down too much, keeps you out in the dark longer.

We finally finished our 15 mile trek to the shelter with about 20 minutes of daylight to spare

Though the shelters in the Smokies may look like cozy cabins from afar, they are really just 3 sided log buildings with a tarp strung up on the fourth wall to block the wind. Inside is a dirt floor and a wooden double Decker sleeping platform to lay on.

The shelter ended up filling fast and was full by the end of the night.  We all dried off, ate and got in our sleeping bags pretty quickly to settle in for the night.
Don’t forget to check out my Instagram for more pictures from our journey!