Day 15, Sunday March 14, 2021

 

Deuteronomy 13 - 34

Today was our longest day so far at 18.3 miles, from Locust Grove Gap to the Fontana Dam Shelter.  This shelter is known as the Fontana Hilton, as it’s one of the very nicest ones on the entire trail. It boasts a two story shelter building, access to electricity,  functioning bathroom with a shower and permanent tent pads.

The highlight of the day was early as we crossed a main road to find a full “trail magic” set up.  As with most trail magic, this was supplied by former thru hikers - in this case a mother and son combo named Gravity and her son Doctor Duck. They had a spread that included a full continental type breakfast, lunch meat sandwiches, all sorts of chips and snacks, homemade brownies, and more.  In addition, they had resupply food like Ramen and Tuna, as well as gear like stove fuel batteries, TP, and more.  I picked up an extra tent stake to replace one I had snapped a few days ago.

After a leisurely breakfast/lunch we ventured on.  Orlando was with us as well as a couple from Minnesota called Meta and Grasshopper.  She was a retired school principal and he was a retired orthopedic surgeon.  They were slackpacking this section, having arranged for a cabin at Fontana.  Their cabin host/driver took their backpacks on to their cabin and they hiked the 15 miles or so with only water and snacks.  I don’t currently plan to slackpack but who knows what the future holds.

The rest of the afternoon was a variety of green tunnel paths, rocky inclines, and the ever present PUDs.  Pulled into the Fontana Shelter about 6:45,   Setting up the tent was a challenge on the concrete tent pad, but I made it work.  Dinner followed along with FaceTime calls home.

After discussing our plans for the next several days, we decided to take a zero day tomorrow (zero AT miles hiked).  Rick is having issues with one of his feet, so a day of rest will do him good.  Spending the day off my feet will also help rejuvenate my weary legs.  We’ll pop into the resort for a resupply in the morning but will spend most of the day off our feet.

Until next time...