>>2617258A lot of people are there for the social aspect, which you won’t get. Eventually even the NoBo hikers will be gone and you’ll have a lot of the trail to yourself. Some hostels might only accommodate people seasonally and it might be harder to hitchhike into town.
I’m not sure about much of it, but the Smokies get a surprising amount of snow (there are seasonal ski resorts nearby). I40 (the northern point of the AT through GSMNP) is like 230 miles from Springer Mountain, so it will be at the very tail end of your trip. If you leave at the end of August you might get there by the end of December. The road to Clingman’s Dome (center of GSMNP and highest point) is closed December through March. Do t bother looking up average temps either. It’s the South, so even the weather is apparently inbred and retarded. You could have days with highs in the upper 60’s and days with highs in the 20’s. Average it out and the mid 49’s sounds quite pleasant until you dressed for it and it’s actually well below freezing.
