Date: 2017-09-28
From: Fontana Dam

To: Standing Bear Hostel
Miles today: 74.0

So this update is long overdueI had always wanted to do the Smokies in the spring. The wildflowers, flora and fauna there is the most diverse in the entire USA. There are more kinds of trees and plants per square mile to be seen - but as it turned out we ended up doing the Smokies in the fall. As a section hiker one can usually plan to hike a section at the time of the year you want, but Greenie and I are keeping our walk so that we don't leave gaps, and so with that - our experience was more along the lines of what a SOBO thru hiker would see. In all, less bugs, cooler days and nights....it is all good.We were joined on this trip by Wingman, who had not really hiked with us since we did the Long Trail. Wingman learned really quickly that what I had told him was true - that is the Smokes are no joke. The elevation change each day we were on the trail was usually at least 4,000 feet, and a couple of days were over 5,000 and 6,000 feet in change. That and the fact that we had a couple of 15 mile days tossed in we had a lot of work to do.We started this trip by flying down to Knoxville Tn and were shuttled to the Hike Inn via one of Nancy's usual drivers, Andrea, who had driven us before. Andrea and Nancy are sweethearts, and although I have only met them a couple of times I feel like they are old friends I have known forever. After collecting our drop box of food from Nancy and prepping our gear for the morning, Andrea took us into town for dinner. We passed her place, right near the AT, along the way into town. She is selling her house so she can build a new place on a section of her land she already subdivided as a new lot. She is an architect by trade and wants to build a custom home in which she will retire. I hope her dream comes true In the morning we were off to Fontana Dam to pick up where Greenie and I left off in the spring. The weather was on our side today with fog at the lower levels, but cleared as we gained elevaton....and it felt good to be back on the trail again. Now Greenie and I call ourselves the "no bear brothers" as we have YET to see a bear on the trail - so wouldn't you know that Wingman was taking point and within the first couple of hours sees a damn bear - which Greenie and I could not see from our vantage points! The climb up to Shuckstack Mountain fire tower is worth the side hike. Wingman commented that he thought he was ready for the hike, but the first couple of hours had him admitting he was not as ready as he thought. Even with that, he soldiered on without complaining. Water was not running very well along this section of trail, and we had to use rhododendron leaves to make a drop to catch water that was flowing. We skirted a yellow jackets nest about 1.5 miles south of Mollies Ridge, our destination for the first night. The shelter had the biggest mice I had ever seen, so we opted to hang everything including our packs not only that night, but every night on the trail.Friday AM we were up with first light. The hike for the first part of the day was not bad. We stopped at Russell Field Shelter for a water break, and hiked on. We stopped at Spence Field shelter for lunch. The shelter is closed for overnight stay due to bear activity, and given all of the berry bushes in the area I can see the attraction. We had good water here.After lunch the hike up Rocky top had lots of nice open views - then we walked over to Thunder Mountain where there we no views to be had. It was a stiff drop down into Beechnut Gap. We watered up on our way to Derrick Knob Shelter, not certain on the availability of water there. As it turned out the water was flowing, but it was down hill a bit and we had to rework the spring pipe to get the water flowing better. At the shelter some kid with his Dad was on the top level, and spilled water on my sleeping bag below on the lower level - clearly an accident, but pissed me off since he did not tell me when it happened.Saturday AM we were up and out early again, but the later sunrise makes for a later departure than we are accustomed to. It was a really tough climb up Silers Bald shelter for Wingman, We watered up as there was no water at Double Spring Gap shelter. Wingman was anxious about the elevation, and told us he was having difficulty breathing. Other than shortness of breath he had no other symptoms. At the end of our hike he discovered he had a spider bite, which leads me to believe that he might have been having a reaction to the bite that day.The climb up Mt. Buckley had the best views since Shuckstack Mtn and the climb was not as bad as we had expected. In fact the walk up Clingmans Dome was much easier than I had expected.We stopped at the tower at Clingmans Dome, which was closed for renovations, but the Ranger there not only took our trash but gave us some cookies! Trail Magic at the perfect time in our walk! Our hike to the Mt. Collins shelter took longer than I had expected, but Wingman was moving very slow at this point of the day. We met a family at the side trail junction leading to the shelter. They later came down to see the shelter and asked us a lot of questions about hiking the trail. We had a bit of company at this shelter (all new folks to us and some to the trail). A woman we met was from Cape Cod as am I. Many late arrivals at this shelter, and a number of folks that were not considerate of us trying to sleep, drinking and talking loudly until about 10:00 PM, in spite of the fact that we had told them we would be up and out tomorrow before first light. One SOBO thru hiker adding to the cacophony was bragging about his yogi skills, picking up more food than he started with, and how he instead of paying for the half gallon challenge, took a half gallon of ice cream in a grocery store and ate it as he walked around the store. If he finished it before he was done shopping he put the empty container back on the shelf and did not pay. What a leach!We were up before first light and packing out in front of the shelter in the cooking area. The SOBO hiker at the shelter got up and in my face calling me either a newbie to the trail or an asshole for packing up so early in front of the shelter. When I told him that I was not new to the trail with 1700 miles under my feet he told me that I was an asshole. I will not repeat what I said, but we finished packing up and hiked out by headlamp toward Newfound Gap. I was more pissed about being called a newbie than an asshole, but in all of my miles on the trail I have never met someone like this guy and I hope I never meet someone like him again.We reached Newfound gap by 9:15, met our shuttle and was in Gatlinburg by 10:15 AM. We checked into the hotel, but our room was not ready so we went for breakfast and did some shopping. I love nearo days as you get town food, clean clothes and a shower!Tomorrow, we hike out toward Standing bear and have two 15 mile days ahead of us. I hope Wingman is up to the task as they will be very long days!