Our stay at the Fontana Lodge is heavenly but way too short. Last night we returned to the hotel around 10pm. I packed and enjoyed a glass of wine, charged my electronics, cleaned up my email, then to bed around 1 am.
I am slumbering in my cozy bed when Kelly and Penny alternate knocking on my door each hour starting at 7am. By the third time, at 9am, I give up on sleeping any further. I half-heartedly shove my few belongings into my pack. Kelly drives Penny, Gordon, and me back to the trail and we say our goodbyes, but we know we will see her again very soon. At least we hope so, not only because we enjoy her company, but Kelly also has half of our food for the Smokies!
Being the angel she is, Kelly has really gone over and above our new-found friendship, offering to meet us with half our food for the Smokies at Newfound Gap in Smoky Mountain National Park (SMNP). Instead of carrying six to seven days of food, we only need to carry three. This will save each of us at least five pounds. This may not seem like a lot to most people, but to most backpackers this is huge! These five pounds is an extra 25% of my overall pack weight.
Speaking of pack weight, Penny and I jettisoned every single thing we won't need for the next 70 miles. We have 20,000 feet to climb up (and down)! I think my pack is now about 20 pounds with my food. We need more calories to feel satiated, but I must be more judicious with my food choices. I pack the most calorie dense foods I have. Nut butters and cheese are my favorites, since they are pretty much all fat.
Kelly hopes to not only meet us at Newfound Gap but plans to join us on the other side of Smoky Mountain NP and hike with us for an additional week to Hot Springs, NC so she can make more of a dent in her AT miles. We will reunite with our extra gear when we meet after the Smokies.
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| Saying "goodbye" to Kelly for a while |
Entering the Smokies is exciting, but it has me more than a little edgy for several reasons. First, the obvious thing is the bears. SMNP is one of the largest areas where black bears are protected and can freely roam. While bear encounters are rare, they still happen. To mitigate encounters with the cute beasties, we have to hang our food away from the shelters and cook away from where we sleep. Anything that can smell yummy to bears, including lip balm, toothpaste, and deodorant (BTW which I don't carry in order to save weight) should be hung in the food bags. When hikers are careless with their food, bears will associate hikers with food, and subsequently sometimes hikers as food!
Thankfully, most deadly encounters don't occur in camp. However, most happen when a hiker inadvertently steps between a mommy bear and her cubs. This time of year, we must be extra vigilant, because this is when baby bears start to be more exploratory. When hiking alone, I play my audiobooks without my earbuds so the bears will hear me before I see them!
The second reason I am ambivalent about camping in the park is that through-hikers must sleep in shelters unless shelter space is unavailable. SMNP has a permit and reservation system. A through-hiker is anyone who originates their hike away from the park and plans to hike the whole park within a week. Backpackers who are doing a trip within the park must have a reservation. Someone who has a reservation for a specific shelter can kick out the ones with permits. Until this trip I have never slept in a shelter - I was actually scared to do it, with the thought of sleeping with mice and the potential axe murderer. I have conquered my fear and found shelters to be rather enjoyable, especially in a down pour. However, now I am scared I may have to sleep outside WITH THE BEARS! The uncertainty is gut-clenching for Penny and me!
Lastly, this is going to be some of the toughest hiking of our entire trip. We have some 4,000-foot days, with unpredictable weather, coupled with hiking on the highest point of the entire Appalachian Trail, at Clingman's Dome. I've been caught out on ridge lines in thunderstorms, and it's positively terrifying. You really don't want to be on top of mountains in severe lightening and rain.
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| Fontana Dam Marina |
The first few miles are scenic and uneventful. We pass by the Fontana Lodge - an amazingly nice place! The Lodge is not a lodge in the traditional sense, but a spacious, newer shelter with a beautiful view of the lake and electronic charging stations! It is funded by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates the nearby hydro-electric dam.
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| The Fontana Lodge |
We cross the dam. The visitor station is closed, but there are a few people walking around. The Trail crosses the dam, and the lake and surrounding hills are beautiful in the humid morning. Around a bend and up a hill we find a registration box where through-hikers must deposit a copy of our permits and sign a register. We are finally in Smoky Mountain National Park!
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The excitement is soon overshadowed by the daunting climb. Temperatures rise and the sun is at our backs as we ascend the 3000' to the ridge line. Fortunately, all this hiking is paying off and I only have to stop a couple times to catch my breath.
Near the top, I see a couple sitting near a well-flowing stream. They are singing sweetly, apparently singing their prayers before enjoying their lunch. I approach cautiously, not wanting to interrupt their benediction. We introduce ourselves and chit chat about the hike and the trail. They are a newly married Amish couple who is celebrating their marriage with a backpacking trip. This is so romantic and sweet! Penny and Gordon catch up and we refill our water bladders. It's only noon and I already downed three liters of water. I relax for 15 minutes while Penny heads up the trail, with Gordon shortly behind.
Cresting the first rise, I catch some magnificent views to the west. This is one of the few times the trail heads due north. For most of the park the trail heads to the northeast. The trail is dotted with spring flowers and the occasional invasive Black Locust tree, which perfumes the air with a lovely gardenia-like scent.
I catch up to Gordon at the turn off for the Shuckstack Fire Tower. Penny, in her usual fashion, has motored up the trail, while I start my routine afternoon lollygagging. Gordon chooses to skip the fire tower, while I decide to check it out. After all, it's only one-tenth of a mile, according to the Far Out app. I dropped my pack and started what I thought was a quick trip.
The app lied, but it was a stunning sight, nonetheless. The view was good, too. The old fire tower is perched on the edge of the ridge, looking to the southeast. While many people climb to the top of the five-story structure, I made it to the second level before I chickened out. One side of the railing was missing, and the treads were narrow and the steps very high. The view between the slats made me cling to the remaining railing like I was in the movie Cliffhanger. After a few rapid photos, I descended backwards down the rickety stairs.
Continuing on, I decided to resupply my water (again!) at Birch Spring Campsite, where Penny was finishing filling up her bag. This is a lovely place in a wooded, fern-filled glade. There was the biggest Chicken of the Woods Mushroom (Laetiporus sulfurous) I ever saw growing on the side of a massive dead and down tree. We talked about camping here, but with the bears and the forecast of three inches of rain tonight, we decided to keep going the next five miles to the next shelter. Penny went on ahead while I had my third lunch.
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| Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms |
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| A Snail on a Fresh Big Pile of Bear Poop |
The sun is getting low when I make it to the shelter. Mike, Penny, Gordon, and the Amish couple are already present and established their sleeping places in the shelter. Apparently, a resident bear made an appearance this afternoon, but there was no sight of the bear now. The wind is whipping the trees on the ridge, and the temperatures are falling fast. Several hikers reported a bunch of wild pigs in the trail a mile back. Thankfully I didn't encounter the pigs, which can be very aggressive.
I leisurely filter water and was eating dinner when someone said "he's back!" The biggest black bear I have ever seen moseyed into the area in front of the shelter and rapidly climbed the tree that secured the food cables. The bear is totally nonplussed by us. It sits in a crook of the tree about 30 feet up the trunk for at least an hour. I rather feel like a goldfish in a fishbowl being watched by a cat. I still have to hang my food bag! It isn't an option to not hang it because bears in this area have been known to come into the shelters in search of food.
Mike and Gordon agree to accompany me to the food cables - they will look out for the bear while I hang my food. In the dark, with the light of our headlamps, I hang my food bag while the guys stand on either side of me to look for the bear. The few minutes feel like forever, but we hoist the bag and run to the shelter without incident.
Tonight the forecast is for heavy rain and high winds. The rain starts in earnest and we fall asleep with the patter of heavy raindrops on the metal shelter roof.
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