Day 20, Tricorner Knob Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter

Polecat and I ate breakfast with them. When we were ready to begin hiking at 9 a.m., most of the thru-hikers were still sitting around the shelter's table. All but a couple of them were young, and because they've already hiked almost 2,000 miles, they're capable of easily hiking 20 miles or more a day. They can get to Springer Mountain in Georgia within two weeks if they wish.

Once Polecat and I were back on the trail, I was glad to find the temperature wasn't nearly as cold as it had been yesterday morning. And because we would soon be descending roughly 4,000 feet before we finished, it would quickly become much warmer.

Our first mile was a climb of about 500 feet, taking us up to around 6,300 feet above sea level. That was almost to the top of Old Black (6,360 feet), the seventh-highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

From the upper part of the climb, we got occasional sweeping views of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and some adjacent communities in Tennessee, like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The sky was too hazy at first to see anything clearly. Slowly, that changed as the sun rose higher.

Most noticeable from these views were many dead trees standing gray and barren on the mountainside. Two invasive insects, the hemlock woolly adelgid and the balsam woolly adelgid, have caused severe harm to hemlocks and balsam firs in the park.

We finally felt the warmth of bright sunshine when the trail finished the climb up the slope of Old Black. We no longer needed our insulating jackets.

Near Deer Creek Gap, which was between Old Black and Inadu Knob (5,925 feet), the trail crossed an old helicopter landing pad. The concrete slabs marking the spot weren't easy to see unless you knew they were there. The landing pad had been used for search-and-rescue operations, but didn't appear to be maintained now.

Standing at the landing pad, we could see some of the mountain range we had followed on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail before we left on Day 17. Far on the horizon were Craggy Dome and Mount Mitchell, two mountains on the Appalachian High Route that we have not yet hiked.

A little farther up the trail and closer to Inadu Knob, we passed the site of a plane crash. A few rusted pieces from the F-4 Phantom II fighter jet could still be seen near where it crashed in 1984. One piece appeared to be a portion of a jet engine.

The plane crashed and exploded on a return flight to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, killing the pilot and navigator.

Soon after we left the site next to the trail, we began to see more thru-hikers. They had stayed last night at Cosby Knob Shelter.

At 11:30 a.m., Polecat and I passed the hidden campsite above Cosby Knob Shelter, where we stayed on Day 8. It was where we realized we had made a planning mistake and needed to skip ahead 28 miles.

By returning to this spot, we had connected those miles, the missing gap of our Appalachian High Route hike. We couldn't just go home now, however. We still had more than three miles to hike before reaching Cosby Campground, where we left Polecat's truck two days ago.

We continued down the AT, passing Cosby Knob Shelter, until we arrived at Low Gap. We stopped there to eat lunch before turning to follow the Low Gap Trail down to the campground.

In a weird coincidence, about three hours after walking past the crash site of a military fighter jet, we were buzzed by a fighter jet that flew surprisingly close through the gap.

After reaching Polecat's truck, we had to drive back to where we left my truck on Clingman's Dome Road. Even with the extra driving, we got home before dark.

Finishing this three-day hike was a bit of a redemption for me. Last August, I attempted to hike the Colorado Trail. Within a day or so after starting, I was hit with a worrisome, severe, and almost debilitating cough. I visited a walk-in clinic but was unable to find a cause or get any relief from the cough.

I was miserable. I had walked just 135 of the trail's 485 miles when I knew I couldn't continue the hike. I needed to go home and see my doctor.

The cause of the cough turned out to be a surprising and easily solved condition. Acid reflux was irritating my esophagus, making it sensitive to anything that might trigger a cough, like dust and pollen. Fixing the acid reflux allowed my esophagus to heal, which eliminated the cough.

Even though I sometimes briefly wanted to quit other hikes, I never did until I attempted to hike the Colorado Trail. This left a bitter feeling, and for a time, I wondered if I could complete a long hike again.

These last three days in the Smokies resolved that question about myself. I proved I can still do it, even in strenuous conditions. There are still another 85 miles or so to hike before I complete the Appalachian High Route. I intend to do that next spring. I've also started making plans for future hikes.

No, I'm not done with thru-hiking, but I'm not sure Polecat can convince me to hike again in single-digit temperatures.