Day: September 21, 2020

Triple whammy today and great weather.  The view at Clingmans was not spectacular but Charlies Bunion made up for it.  These are all three places I remember well but the weather is rarely good.

I was up early and out just after 7 am.  It was late enough I did not need the light.  I had two miles or so to climb Clingmans Dome, which is the highest point on the AT.  Everyone makes it out to be a big climb, but it was quite tame.  The fog was gone and the air cold and breezy. As soon as I broke out to where I could get some views, I could see that the entire area for fifty miles was undercast.  Only the tallest mountains were peeking out.  I was 1000 feet above the highest cloud in the sky.  The only bad part about the climb is all the grass was soaked and soaked my shoes and socks within an hour.

Once I got to the observation platform the clouds had cleared a tiny bit, but I could really only see the big ones like Leconte.  I didn’t spend much time up there because it was cold.  

Next up was Newfound Gap.  I expected to get there for a late lunch and got there exactly when I expected, about 1:15.  I took a long lunch there in the sun and dried everything out and changed my socks.

 It was a long climb up to Icewater Springs Shelter, one I remembered well from 1989.  Back then I had to camp on the ground and had baby skunks suck the salt out of my hair in the middle of the night.  This time it was just a quick stop for water before moving on.

Just over a mile after the shelter came Charlies Bunion, a large exposed rock outcropping with fantastic views.  It was pretty crowded with perhaps a dozen people.

I kept going to make it to Peck’s Corner Shelter, which is a half mile off trail   I got there right on time, a little after 7 and there was plenty of room.  A quick dinner and off to bed.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Yes, today is my birthday and I celebrated with coffee rum, peanut M&Ms, and Welch’s fruit snacks.

The crew I was sleeping with got up early, so that was great.  I was off and hiking by 7am with my headlamp.  There is some running event going on because I passed some trail runners in the dark.  I would pass by two or three more throughout the day.

I did not sleep well last night because I was in a shelter.  The floors are hard and people make noise.  I am in a shelter again tonight but with fewer people so hoping for better sleep.

I met another hiker early in the day on Rocky Top who is from Ocala and just about to finish her section hike of the AT as soon as she finishes the Smokies. They normally live in a motor home as she does sections up and down the trail. I hope we can connect later off the trail so I can pick her brain on the trailer life.

The day stayed cool and did not rain but fog always makes it feel like it just finished raining.  My shoes did not get soaked, so I was in good spirits most of the day.

The mileage for the day was shorter than I was hoping for, but the shelters ahead are spaced further apart.  Tomorrow I go up Clingmans Dome which is the high point on the AT and it will probably be in fog.  But maybe I will get some sort of view.  We shall see tomorrow.

It is time to leave the plush bed and porcelain plumbing.  I rolled out of bed to take advantage of another shower and hotel coffee to go with my cold Pizza.  I also thought I would try to summon an Uber or Lyft.  No go on either one and verified with the front desk that the shuttle would not leave until 10 and I did not want to wait that long so I hit the pavement at 8.  I was shocked to see only three cars in the parking lot.

The walk down to the marina took 40 minutes. A quick look around and I was off again.  The walk up the lake towards the dam was steeper than I thought.  It did not take long to get to the shelter they call the Fontana Hilton.  It’s bigger and nicer than usual and now has a solar charging station.  Just up the path is the bathroom and shower.  I took a peek inside to see if they were open and they were.

Before long I was walking down towards the dam and soon walked across it.  It looked just as I remembered it.  The trailhead for the great Smoky Mountain National Park was about a mile from the dam.

I remembered from before the climb from the dam being a long climb and it was. It was not steep or rocky or rooty, just long.  I started up about 11 and was hoping to hit the fire tower by 12:30 for lunch.  I hit it exactly then and grabbed my lunch and headed up the tower. I got half way up and the wind was howling and I got a bit nervous because some of the railing was missing, so I stopped and took some pictures and headed back down again.  I ate at the cabin ruins instead.

About half way up to the fire tower I saw my first bears.  At first I thought I saw a squirrel but it was too big.  Then I realized it was a cub.  So looked around and saw the mother.  Then another cub, and then another.  They were only about 20 yards downslope and knew I was there but couldn’t care less if I was there or not.

The weather was cool all day and I sweated but not as much as previous days.  I think washing the pack helped too because I did not stink too bad.  

I hit the first shelter at about 4:30 and knew that I should keep going to the next one just three miles away.  I hit that one just after 6 and it was about half full with a running club that were fun to talk to.  It had been foggy the last Mile or so and the shelter was fully engulfed in fog.   I made dinner and bedded down quickly because it is likely be a cold night tonight.