Day 17, Tuesday March 16, 2021

 

Joshua 1- 24

Fontana Dam Shelter to Mollies Ridge Shelter- 11.8 miles ending at mile 177.7.

Started out at about 9 after packing up in the rain, and immediately had to cross the Fontana Dam.  Very impressive structure built in the 40’s.  The view looking down from the dam was vertigo inducing.  It was raining pretty hard as we started out, our first significant rain in 2 weeks.

Once across the dam, the road took us to the entrance to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  We dropped our pre-purchased thru hiker permits in the designated box and headed up into the Smokey’s.  

The changes were almost immediate compared to what we’d been hiking up to now.  The climbs seemed steeper and were definitely rockier. We had two significant climbs right away, going from an elevation of 1700 feet at the dam, up to 3889 at the top of Shuckstack Mountain.  There was a fire tower at the top allowing for great 360 views of the mountains.  We had lunch there and pressed on.

Next up was Doe Nob at 4520.  From there, the rest of the day was clambering down the rock strewn path, or sharp climbs up steep embankments. We finally arrived at  Mollies Ridge Shelter around 5.  In the park, thru hikers are required to sleep in the shelters unless they are full.  This one had only 5 of the 12 spaces taken, so we bunked there for the night.

Until next time...

Day 16, Monday March 15, 2021

Zero Day (no AT miles hiked today).  We spent the day at the Fontana Hilton.  First thing in the morning we took the Fontana Resort shuttle to the Pit Stop (basically a gas station) for a resupply.  They had standard hiker food there (tuna, ramen, rice sides, energy bars, etc.). We also had a couple of breakfast sandwiches and chocolate milk before heading back to our camp.

 

We were able to shower, hand wash some laundry, recharge electronics at their solar charging station, and just spend the day mostly off our feet.  Rick will need to take it slow for a few days to make sure he doesn’t cause any damage to his sore foot.  

Early dinner and to bed.  Tomorrow we enter the Smokies.

Until next time...

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...

Day 14, Saturday March 13, 2021

   

Deuteronomy 1 - 12

Today marks the end of the first two weeks since we started at Amicalola Falls.  The time has gone by quickly, but at the same time it also seems like we’ve been hiking for months.  The physical challenges have been a little tougher than expected, especially the uphill climbs - and they all seem to be uphill climbs. The mental aspect has been remarkably good.  No doubts, regrets, or thoughts of quitting.  As of today, I’m still in it for the long haul. One thing that I’ve noticed is that to appreciate the awesome scenery that the trail embodies, I have to make a point to stop and actually look up from the trail.  It’s a lot like driving a car through the mountains on a windy road.  You can’t take your eyes off the road (or trail) for a minute or risk hitting something or falling.

Anyway, we left out of the NOC around 9:45 after a leisurely morning in the center.  The first 5 miles included over 3000 feet of climb, and was tough.  We stopped mid afternoon for lunch after cresting Swim Bald at 4700 feet.  We ran into Crash and the Kid, who were with us at dinner last night.  They were planning on doing 15 miles today.  We planned to stop after 10 or 11 miles.

We reached the top of Cheoah Bald early afternoon. Amazing grassy spot there with million dollar views.  Apparently others folks thought so as well, as there were about 8 local weekend hikers there looking to set up for the night.  We moved on and passed a couple of more weekenders with the same idea.

We passed Sassafras Gap Shelter around 3 and decided to move on to Licus Grove Gap for the night.  Arrived about 5, set up camp, cooked dinner (fried Spam) and called it a night.

All told, 10.7 miles ending at mile 147.5, with over 4000 feet of climbing.

Until next time...

Day 13, Friday March 12, 2021

  

Numbers 25-36

Our goal today was the NOC (Natahala Outdoor Center) where we planned to stay in a $20 bunk room for the night.  We left early and made a stop at a fire tower on top of Wesser Bald mid-morning.  From there you could see all around, and we were able to see the NOC in the distance. The rest of that days hike would be primarily downhill as we needed to drop from a 4700 elevation down to 1700.

We finally arrive at the NOC around 2:30, and checked into our cabin.  We had lunch at their restaurant (fresh trout sandwich.  Sat with Samwise and Loon, two former Peace Core workers hiking the trail before heading to grad school.  They had returned from serving in Ethiopia the year before, in a village about an hour from Holeta, where I had been on a Compassion International trip for our church 10 years ago.  We shared stories about Ethiopian food and customs.  Interesting to hear about it from a secular perspective. Then another hike up the hill to the cabins to drop our  gear.

After showers and hand done laundry, we went back down the hill for dinner.  Met up with a bunch of other thru hikers (including Evan who we’d met our first day).  A salad for dinner, and then back to the cabin.  Lights out by 9, as tomorrow will be mostly an uphill slog and we are expecting rain fir the first time in 10 days.

Until next time...

 

 

Day 12, Thurs, March 11, 2021

  

Numbers 16-24

Thursday morning we arose to a barren landscape, with ash and burnt trees as far as the eye could see.  Leaving the Panther Gap campsite we hiked through the  morning, exiting the burnt area by mid morning and ending up at the Wyeth Bald scenic lookout.  This was at mile 120 where 92’s friend had hidden a cache.  Rick had heard from 92 that he was planning on continuing on, at least to this spot, so we left the cache undisturbed.

This was a beautiful spot, with views from the top of the stone ‘castle’ for miles around.

We continued on after lunch, ending up a at a site just past Cold Creek Shelter where we set up for the night.

13.9 relatively moderate miles with lots of PUDs, ending at mile 125 in the AT.  Today was a typical elevation change day, with about 2800 feet of elevation gain.  Since a flight of stairs equals about 10 feet,  2800 feet of increase would equate to going up 280 flights of stairs.  Seems like a lot when you look at it that way.

Until next time...

 

Day 11, Wednesday, March 10, 2021

 

Numbers 1 - 15 

Wednesday morning we hiked 2.3 miles down to Winding Stair Gap, intending to catch a shuttle into Franklin NC to pick up my shoes and do a quick resupply.  Originally we’d hoped to be back on the trail after lunch.  We found out instead that the Forest Service planned a controlled burn of the next several miles of the AT, so would be stuck in town most of the day.

We were fortunate that Sunset, an AT veteran who ran a hiker hostel in town (Chica and Sunsets) was dropping off a couple of SOBOs (southbound hikers) at the gap and he offered to give us a free ride into town.  Orlando joined us and we were dropped in town.  Rick and I had breakfast at the Kountry Kitchen and then walked to the post office where I picked up my shoes.  While at the PO, I mailed home about 3 pounds of excess gear.

We caught another ride from there with Apache 69, a member of a local veteran’s group that helped out thru hikers with rides.  After resupplying we stopped at an outfitter but didn’t see anything we needed.  

Walking back to downtown we had lunch (burgers) at the Lazy Hiker, and planned to take the 3pm shuttle back out to the trail.  With some time to kill, I walked up the hill to another outfitter to look around.  Again didn’t buy anything but a Cheerwine, but did some local sightseeing.

The bus came early at 2:30, so we hopped on.  The driver was new, so we circled the town a few times before heading up the road to the trailhead.  Once there, we found out that the trail wouldn’t open for another couple of hours.

At 5:30, the reopened the trail and 18 of us who had been waiting headed into the smoldering forest.  Much of the ground was still showing sparks and smoke and many trees were still burning.  We found a site a few miles up the trail at Panther Gap that had burned through for the most part.  Lots of smoke but apparently safe.  We set up camp among the glowing hills and called it a night. 

Only covered about 4.3 total AT miles that day, ending up at around mile 111.

Until next time...