A Walk in the Woods

Four days after leaving Franklin, Bryson and Katz have “one of those hallelujah moments that come but rarely on the trail” (125): They see the Smoky Mountains from a distance and Fontana Lake at its western end. Knowing that the dam at Fontana Lake might have a welcome center, they head that way but find all of the dam’s services closed. Instead, they enter the vast 800 square miles of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where they’ll have to traverse 16 peaks above 6,000 feet, including Clingman’s Dome, the highest point on the AT at 6,643 feet. Midway through the chapter, Bryson provides a lengthy discussion on the ecological aspects of the Smokies. He points out that botanists consider the Smokies “the finest mixed mesophytic forest in the world” (127) because of its astonishing range of plant life. Likewise, the Smokies are home to 67 varieties of mammals, 200 types of birds, and 87 species of reptiles and amphibians.

Bryson and Katz’s time in the Smokies turns disastrous because of a steady, heavy rain that lasts for days. The first shelter they find looks superior to those in Georgia and North Carolina from a distance, but when they reach it, they realize that it’s far worse; it’s infested with mice and rats, which they physically fight off all night long.