The last two times I tried to hike through Great Smoky Mountains National Park the weather stunk almost the entire time. Not only that, on my thru-hike it was cold as well with ice on the trail, frozen boots and frozen water bottles to wake up to. When I hiked it again four years ago three out of the four days it rained and on the one day of good weather there wasn't much to look at.
Finally this time around the weather cooperated. I also took a slightly longer route to hike over one of the better viewpoints in the park, Gregory Bald. What a joy. It's especially sweet when you get to erase the disappointments of a previous trip and even have some pictures to show for it.
I hiked about halfway through the park before exiting on the Mountains-to-Sea trail which I will follow for another hundred miles to Asheville NC. Right now I'm in Cherokee, NC for a day of rest and resupply before the last leg on a trail I have never hiked before. All told I will have hiked almost 900 miles this year counting the Florida Trail portion that I did before spring training.