Spent much of today getting gear ready. The photo below shows pretty much everything I will be carrying in my pack, or wearing, minus my hiking shoes.
Weight is a bit more than I would like but I’m hopeful that after I am through the Smokies I can ditch the fleece and thermal top. Also I am carrying 10 lbs of food which may be more than I need. Plenty of hikers ditch things a few days in once they figure out what’s really yseful and what’s an unnecessary lyxury or useless item.