Page 8 - SMH 2017 2nd edition

The Fastest GSMNP 900-Miler

Benny “Plug-it In” Braden

by Benny Braden

I never in my life imagined I would ever attempt something so bold and so challenging that I'd be pushing my
bearded self to the edge, both physically and mentally. And to attempt to do this record breaking feat during the
harshest months of the year was even more insane. But to most people's surprise, it didn't start out as a record
breaking hike. I just simply wanted to hike all the trails. How I came to this decision though was a whole nother
story.

Thanksgiving weekend of 2016, (the same weekend of the Chimney Top II fire) me and a close friend of mine
Chad "Stick" Poindexter of Stick's Blog did a short backpacking trip with our kids in tow from Newfound Gap to
Mt LeConte. I remember sitting at the Cliff Tops watching the sunset and watching Chimney Top burn below us.
It was the first time in my life that I had been to Mt LeConte and I was in total awe! But while I sat there the
thought came to me to take a break from section hiking the AT and focus on hiking all the trails in the Smokies
instead. I initially figured it would take me a year. I had no idea how many miles of trails there was or how hard
they would be. It was a decision though that felt right. Like it was exactly where I was supposed to be and I could-
n't have been more right. I went home and immediately discussed it with my beautiful bride Ashley, who was
completely on board and supportive of the idea. I then began doing my research and planning logistics. I picked
up the book, "Day Hikers Guide To All The Trails In The Smoky Mountains" by Elizabeth L. Etnier. It became
the main reference book of my whole hike. It had the trails already marked and planned out with mileages listed
and elevation gains. It was mainly geared towards day hikers, but I simply combined several hikes and made some
tweaks to fit my backpacking style. I also used the "Hiking Trails of the Smokies", but only as a general reference.

Now, as a backpacker I wanted to backpack as much of the Smokies as I could. This would help me trim more
"Total Miles" out of my hike. Liz's book had the overall "Total Miles" listed at 1050 if you followed her book to
the T. But I thought if I backpacked as much of it as I could, then I could possibly trim around 100 miles off that
number. My adventure started at the Alum Cave trailhead at 3 a.m. on Dec 31, 2016. I hiked up the mountain with
a group of hikers to see the last sunrise of 2016. When we got to the lodge the wind was blowing pretty hard and
the temp was hovering around 9° degrees. A handful of hikers turned back due to the conditions being so extreme.
But a smaller number of us pushed forward towards Myrtle Point (the best spot to see a sunrise on LeConte). My
plan was to start with a hike to LeConte and to finish my 900–Miler with a hike to LeConte as well, since that was
where I made my decision to do my #gsmnp900miler. Plus most of them I had never met face to face before, so
this was a perfect opportunity to do so. And as time went on not only did I get to hike with some of them, but
Several helped me out with shuttles and lodging.

8 Smoky Mountain Hiker