I ate a quick breakfast and caught a ride back to where I left off the night before…Stecoah Gap. The game plan was to get to Fontana Dam. As I’m sure with all gaps, you have to climb uphill, no matter the direction you’re headed. Hence why it’s called a “gap”. A gap between two mountains. So yet again my day started climbing uphill out of a gap.
As I passed one of the shelters I reconnected with Nevi and Norris from the night before. I’m not sure how Nevi got his name but Norris is short for Chuck Norris. She apparently does a lot of push-ups through out the day between hiking 10-20 miles. Impressive. Funny I thought I’d be doing the same thing plus swinging from tree branches doing pull-ups at the end of every day. Ha! Maybe in the future. For now I’m just focused on hiking;)
Nevi and Norris took off up the trail. They are both in their early 20s and hiked pretty fast. Slow and easy completes the trek I told myself:) I made it to the next shelter and Nevi and Norris we’re cooking their dinner. There with them was a new hiker I hadn’t met before. Her name was Cushy Life. She got her name from hiking the trail as cushy or comfortably as possible. Staying in hostels, hotels, bed and breakfast spots, slack packing, etc. we chatted for a bit. They, and a few other hikers I didn’t meet, were hunkering down at that shelter for the evening. My plan was to press on a little further that night. As I was leaving The Bens walked up. A father and son duo I met back in GA. When my dad dropped us off in Hiawassee, they were looking for a ride into town. My pops gave them a ride for free. They asked me to tell my dad thank you again. That was weeks ago. It was very nice of them to remember that. They are both really kind people.
A few miles later I passed another older gentleman hiking southbound. We stopped and chatted for a bit. He was completely out of water and his muscles were cramping. This can be dangerous. I gave him a half of liter of water so he could make it back to the shelter I left awhile ago. They had a good water source there. He thanked me and we parted ways.
I came upon a large tree that had fallen on the trail. I had to walk up a steep bank to get around it. As I rounded the tree on the other side coming down the bank was even more steep. I’d say a 60% grade. I’m not sure why I thought my boots would grip at that angle. As they surely didn’t. My feet flew out from under me. I caught myself with my trekking poles slamming them into the side of the bank. My body slid down the hill. My trekking poles bent in half. I have no idea how they didn’t snap and break. But they didn’t. Pretty impressive. My wrist smacked down on a large rock. Not good but not too bad. I got up, dusted myself off, bent my poles back straight, and trekked forward.
I made it to Fontana Dam. There’s a shelter here called “the Hilton”. It’s a large shelter, In good condition, with showers, bathrooms, and even charging stations. It’s one of, if not the best, shelter on the entire AT. It was like a ghost town there though. No one was there yet. It was still nice out weather wise and early so everyone was still out hiking. I checked out the dam itself. It was massive. I took quite a few photos and videos to capture the experience.
I crossed the dam and made it into the Smokey Mountains. I hiked until it got dark. I arrived at a camp site with a few tents. It was late so everyone was already in there tents for the evening. I setup camp, cooked quickly, ate, crawled into my sleeping bag, caught up on some work items, and fell quickly to sleep.
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