…from hiking, from rain, from mice.

Last night was one of the worst nights trying to sleep on the trail. The mice that came to visit me while I was cooking dinner never went away. All night long they were carrying acorns from outside and stashing them in various places in the shelter for the winter. But two of their activities had me beyond my wits end. Apparently mice are not good at carrying acorns as they kept dropping them all night long, one about every 10 or 15 minutes. The other was in the dark they assumed that my fingers were also acorns and would come and try to grab them from me while I was trying to sleep. If you want to know how to be wide awake in a nanosecond try having a mouse grab your finger. After the third time I’d had enough and couldn’t take it anymore. I figured out a way to rig my hammock inside the shelter so that I could sleep in it still on the floor but having a barrier between me and the mice. It worked well but their falling nuts all night long still kept me awake.

The rain did finally stop just before sunrise but with the lack of sleep and the deep hollow that the shelter was in made me get a 30 minute delayed start in the morning. I didn’t start hiking till about 7:45. I wanted to get out earlier because today Karen was coming to pick me up at Sam’s Gap just 12 miles ahead.

Yes, you read that right. Karen has driven up to North Carolina to meet me for a few days while I’m in the stretch near our place in Burnsville. It looks like I will be able to make Sam’s Gap just a few hours after lunch so that will give us some time to visit.

While it wasn’t actually raining during the day the ground was still wet and saturated and the vegetation was covered with dew. Since I knew I would have laundry soon I decided to put on a dry pair of socks instead of the wet pair I’ve been wearing the last 2 days. It made a big difference too. My feet were warm and comfortable for pretty much the whole day and even though they got a little damp they stayed mostly dry.

There are two big climbs from where I was to get to Sam’s Gap and I wasn’t sure I would have enough energy to make them in good enough time since I got almost no sleep the night before. But the climbs were not as bad as I thought and I was able to make good time most of the day.

The original estimate for arriving at Sam’s Gap was 2:00 p.m. and I was able to make it at 2:15. Not bad for starting 30 minutes late and not having any sleep.

I had hiked this section 2 years before and yet everything looked a little bit different this time. While most areas of the trail were overgrown since COVID kept many of the volunteers away for much of the summer, this stretch seemed relatively weed-free. Two years ago I remember it being overrun with stinging nettles. I also noticed a lot more steps had been installed on the trail. I am guessing most of these improvements were actually done last year.

After making Sam’s Gap at 2:15 Karen rolled up just a few minutes after I arrived. She had brought a roast beef sandwich and a bottle of Gatorade which I devoured pretty quickly. A quick drive to the house, a few beers and a steak later, and I’m ready for bed. And this time I’m expecting to sleep like a log, not like an acorn.

Woke up early and got off at 7:15. The other two hikers were probably only 15 minutes behind me but they were going the other direction to the Hot Springs. As expected it rained all night long and just about the time I got ready to take off it let up a little bit but it was still raining.

And that remains the theme of the entire day.  It rained on and off throughout the day. My feet stayed wet for most of it but there were two shelters where I stopped to take breaks and I took my socks off for about 10 minutes just to let my feet dry out a little bit. But as soon as you put wet socks back on they’re instantly wet again.

Two sections of trail were on high exposed ridges with bad weather bypasses since the entire mountain was in thick clouds.  I took the ridgeline in this section about 2 years ago, so I remember the views. And they were good views. But seeing as everything was completely socked in the clouds, there were no views to be had so why bother slipping on the rocks. The bypass routes stayed about 50 to 100 ft lower elevation and basically just parallel the ridge line.

I got to Flint Mountain Shelter at 6:45. A little earlier than I expected so that was nice. The terrain today has been relatively easy and not too many rocks to slow me down.  Within 10 minutes of arriving at the shelter it started to rain pretty steadily. I was considering going further as there was a road only 2 miles ahead, but I’m glad I stopped. I was able to cook dinner and eat in the dry shelter. And now I’m listening to it raining pretty heavily all night long.

The day started out great. I slept in until 8:00 a.m. and then walked down to the diner and had a big breakfast and eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and a chopped steak. I also ordered a steak biscuit to go to have on the hike.

I made a quick stop at the Dollar General and got some snacks for the hike. They had sour jelly beans and those are my favorite so I’m looking forward to having those on the trail. They also had Oreos individual packs and those look interesting just to have a few Oreos instead of a big pack of them.

One last stop at the post office and I was able to pick up my rain jacket and new memory card for the camera. I’ve already taken over 200 gigs of video so I need to make sure I have a spare so I don’t run out of space. The new rain jacket replaced the one that I melted in Fontana and can finally throw away now. I hate to see that jacket go because I’ve used it for over 3,000 mi of hiking.

I was able to make it out of town at 10:00 and the rain started picking up again just as I was crossing the French Broad River. A hike up Lover’s Leap was just as I remembered. It was very steep and very rocky but it wasn’t too slippery in the rain. It wasn’t totally fogged up yet either so I got pretty good views of the town even though a lot of the trees have grown into many of the views.

After crossing Tanyard Gap and making decline and up to Rich Mountain Fire Tower I came across a woman with a dog. She didn’t have him on a leash and he was really aggressive. His hair was standing up and he was showing his bare teeth. It took her over a minute to get him under control. Nice doggy.

I rode to the shelter just after 4:00 and there were already two other hikers in there who had just arrived a few minutes earlier. I wanted to move on so I could get closer to Sam’s Gap but the next shelter was too far to make before dark. The two hikers seemed pretty interesting so I decided to stop early and stay in the shelter with them.

It turns out one of the hikers was a thru hiker from ’96. He and his newlywed wife did their honeymoon on the AT together back then. They survived the height and the marriage but it seems like he does most of the hiking these days. The other hiker it turns out does the advertising for a distillatory in Tennessee that Karen and I love to go to. I can’t wait to go there next time and start doing some name dropping just to see the owners jaw drop.

It started raining again just after we hung the bear bags so it was good timing to just go to sleep. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to bed at 8:00. We’ll see if tomorrow has some breaks in the clouds for a good hiking day.

Hot Springs is another milestone on the trail as it’s the first town you actually walk down Main Street as part of the trail. It is also home of a great outfitter, several grocery stores, and a few motels and hostels as well as some great restaurants.

I got up at about 6:15 and in the narrow cove that I was in it was still very dark at that time. I packed up and was off hiking before 7:00 a.m. in the dark. I had to use my headlamp for about 15 minutes of hiking just to make sure I didn’t trip over any rocks or roots.

The terrain in this section of the trail is pretty level and it was easy hiking for the first two hours. There were only two mountains to climb Walnut Mountain and Bluff Mountain. The top of Walnut Mountain was a grassy field and there were several people camped out in tents on top. I must have passed at least four or five tents by 9:30 in the morning and every single one of them was still asleep. Don’t they know this is the best time to hike?

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful I saw very few other hikers. Water was plentiful in the first half of the day but a little bit scarce in the second half of the day so I stopped whenever I could find some just to make sure I didn’t run out trying to make it into town.

Once I realized I was making good progress towards town I looked up the hours of the post office and found out that they closed at 4:00 p.m. based on my current speed. I was going to get into town right at exactly 4:00 p.m. I decided to try to pick up the pace a little to see if I could get there before they closed. With only about a mile left of town I realized I was going to be 5 or 10 minutes late so then I eased off the pace a little bit and ended up getting into town at about 4:15.

The town is pretty much the same as I remember it. This is one place that Karen and I go back to every few years either to hike, go tubing, or just to hang out around the town. The first order of business was finding a place to sleep. I decided to just try the Alpine Court Hotel since it was right in the center of town. There was no one at the office. They just had a telephone number to call and they would give you the combination to a lock that would get the key to your room. It was a very weird tele hotel experience but I got a room so I’m happy.

What I am not happy about is the laundromat in town apparently closed about 7 years ago. I have a lot of stinky laundry and would really like to wash them. The few particularly offensive items I washed in the sink and hope they’ll be dry enough to wear tomorrow. If not I’ll keep wearing the same stinky stuff again tomorrow.

The cell service in town is horrible. I can barely get one bar and there is no data service at all. The hotel Wi-Fi seems to be broken but the information center works fine but I have to walk down the street to use that Wi-Fi.

Most of the restaurants are still open but half of them closed. My favorite one on the creek was still open and I got a table and was able to get a burger, chicken wings, and a beer. It was way better than mashed potatoes.

I was able to get what I needed as far as resupply at the outfitters but I will have to go to the grocery store to get cookies. I don’t know why but I’ve been craving cookies lately. And I would probably vomit if I had to eat another Frito. But for now it’s off to sleep until the stores open at 9:00 a.m. and I can finish my town chores.

The highlight of the day wasn’t actually Max Patch but almost getting bit in the butt by a rattlesnake. The shelter where I stayed last night did not have a privy so as soon as I left in the morning I had to find a place to dig a cat hole. I quickly found a place, dug my hole, did my business, cleaned up, pulled on my pack and was ready to leave when I heard a noise. At first I thought the noise was squirrels but it was too slow. Then I thought “maybe that’s a rattlesnake” but it was too fast. A quick scan of the area revealed a timber rattler coiled about four feet from where I did my business. Why he waited until I got my pack back on and was ready to leave I have no idea but I’m glad he didn’t bite me in the butt.

The morning was very cool and I quickly made it down to Davenport Gap and cross the Pigeon River and Interstate 40. The Standing Bear Hostel was about a mile up the trail and it didn’t take long at all to get there. It’s a very neat campus with all sorts of little buildings decorated and lots of stonework and is very cute. I was just there to get some food and alcohol for the stove and be off again. The selection of resupply items was pretty thin but I found a few things to tide me over for the afternoon. I paid the owner and was on my way. I had to climb about 2500 feet up to Snowbird Mountain. The Coke and the chocolate milk that I just drank should help fuel my body for the climb. And it did just that. The climb took close to 2 hours but I was up on Snowbird Mountain in the beautiful warm sun and sprawled out on the grass field to have my lunch.

Where the temperature in the forest seemed like it was in the ’50s here in the sun it seemed like it was getting close to 80.  It was glorious. I sat in the sun eating my lunch for about 30 minutes and got all my damp clothes dried out in the sun.

Snowbird Mountain is memorable to me because in 1989 I camped on top of the mountain in a very bad thunderstorm and everything got totally soaking wet. The FAA tower itself looks the same but the mountainside around it all looks different now.

The rest of the day was a lot of up and down climbing. Someone had mentioned that the section was 8,000 feet of climbing and now I believe them. I realized shortly after lunch that I would be arriving at Max Patch about 6:00. The thought of camping out on top of Max Patch was very intriguing so I thought I better try to make it there, but with the up and down climbing it was a little slower than I expected. Luckily I did manage to get there about 6:15.

When I arrived at the peak it was very windy and very, very cold. There were about half a dozen tents, possibly more, already on top of the mountain. There were a lot of clouds obstructing the sunset. It was pretty but the combination of clouds and the crowds up at the top made me decide not to camp up top and keep going down into the forest where it would be much warmer.

I walked a little over a mile further to the next shelter trying to look for tenting spots along the way but nothing was suitable. I went ahead and pulled over at the shelter with the intent of setting up the hammock and it was a good choice because when I arrived there was someone who would set up their tent inside the shelter.
I set up my hammock then made dinner hung my food on the bear cables and now I’m ready for sleep. It is not terribly cold here and I hope it doesn’t get much colder in the middle of the night. I have about 19 miles to Hot Springs and I’m hoping to try to make it before dark so I will get up early and try to leave before sunrise.

With the border of Great Smokey Mountain National Park just two miles away it’s all but behind me. I got to visit some places I remembered and even got a view of a throwback nostalgia shelter.

The crew I was with last night were early risers so I was able to get up at 6:30 and be out hiking by 7:00. It was extremely cold last night until about 1:00 a.m. but I was able to stay warm enough to sleep. Even getting up in the morning and starting hiking the first hour or two was very, very cold. In the sunshine it felt like 80° but in the forest it felt like 50 degrees. My hands were cold most of the time till nearly lunch time.

The hiking stayed high up on the ridge lines. It was a lot more knife-edge hiking. And the forest was mostly Douglas fir and other evergreens. I crossed the helicopter pad on a mountaintop and walked by the site of a plane wreck I had seen in the ’80s. It was definitely a military plane but I couldn’t tell what kind because there were only a few small parts strewn around.

The highlight of the afternoon was Mount Cammerer Fire Tower. I remembered going to it in my hike in the ’80s and it was just the stone structure left; all of the wood was removed. But I read in the ’90s they refurbished it again to working order so I was eager to go view it again even though it’s a half a mile off the trail. I got there about 4:00 and the view was spectacular with no clouds in the sky anywhere. I have no idea what cities I was looking at but it seems like I could see for 60 or 70 miles.

I have plenty of time to make Davenport Gap Shelter which is the last shelter in the Smokies. I got there shortly after 7:00 and there were no other hikers there so I was able to wash up and start dinner early. But it didn’t take too long for the mice to come out. They were actually crawling around my food bag while I was still cooking, the little bastards. I am set up in the center of the shelter to avoid being near any walls where they like to climb around.

I think the mice are so bad in this shelter because it’s one of the original designs that still has a chain link fence on the front. Because of that extra sense of security I think people bring food into the shelter and probably cook in the shelter and that attracts more mice than normal. This is the first shelter on the trail where I’ve actually seen mice even though I know they were probably at some of the others.

Well it’s time for lights out. Let’s see how many mice come out to visit tonight.

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.

Today was a day of chores and it was a good pick of days to do chores because it rained nearly the entire day. But everything is done, everything is packed, and I’ll be ready to roll out tomorrow.

The first order of business was figuring out which stores were open and what the hours of operation were. Laundromat and post office for the two key items. The post office did not open until 11:45 so I started with laundry. I had to walk down the hill to the laundromat in the rain and wore my shoes because I wasn’t sure how my feet were going to feel.

I decided I wanted to wash everything. I had including the pack so I stripped it down and threw it in the wash with all my clothes and rain gear. While waiting for the wash cycle I walked down to the gas station at the corner and checked out what they had to offer. It was a typical convenience store but also had special items for motorcyclists and hikers. I didn’t really need anything so I was mainly just browsing.

By the time the wash cycle was done the post office was just opening, so I threw my clothes in the dryer and headed to the post office to pick up my resupply box. Since it would be another 45 minutes I went ahead and walked back to the lodge to open up the resupply box. I’m always amazed at how heavy food can actually be and this box was stuffed to the gills.

I had so much extra food I didn’t even bother going to the restaurant for lunch I just snacked on extra food that I had. When it was time for the dryer cycle to be done I walked back down the hill but this time in my flip-flops to keep my shoes from getting any wetter.

When I got to my laundry I was in for a little surprise. My rain jacket did not like the heat of the dryer even though I selected warm temperature, not hot. It had shrunk and stuck together and was barely large enough to put on a toddler when I pulled it out of the dryer. It was still warm and soft so I tried to pull it apart to full size before it set but pulling it just tore a lot of the rainproofing away from the fabric. It’s a good thing the forecast for the next week is no rain and I don’t really use it as a rain jacket but it is part of my sleep system if I use the hammock. So even though it is ruined I still need to carry it with me just in case I need to sleep in the hammock. I have already ordered a new one and it will be waiting for me at Hot Springs in just under a week.

I was all packed and ready to go by 2:00 p.m. so I decided to take a nap before dinner. I couldn’t really sleep but it was nice just to lay in the bed and not do anything. I can’t stand watching TV so I just listened to music for about an hour.

When it was time for dinner I rolled down to the restaurant again and had a pizza, a really nice salad, and a couple of beers. It was not cheap but it was quite delicious. The food here at Fontana was way better than what I was expecting. It’s also surprising since they’re not at full capacity because of COVID.

So here I am again in the room all packed ready to go just waiting for morning to arrive. The hotel does run shuttles to the marina but they don’t start until 10:00 a.m. so I will probably get a much earlier start and just walk down to the marina again. The first shelter is 16 miles up the mountain so what’s another two downhill to the lake.

Time to try to get some real sleep tonight. I did not sleep well last night because my feet were sore and keeping me awake and my metabolism had my body temperature up so high I felt like I was in a furnace even though the air conditioner was freezing cold. Hoping tonight is a peaceful night. Will save the mayhem for tomorrow.