Date: 2007-05-22
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: few clouds

I wake up, as is my custom, with the birds being my alarm clock, just shy of 6am. I'm ready to get up and going, fetching more water, cooking my breakfast, and hiking in to Fontana Dam Shelter. However, I decide to wait, and even sleep a little more, out of respect for the three ladies in the shelter, whom I've already disturbed last night. I decide to wait until at least one of them gets up.Around 7am, one of them stirs, so I stir, eager to get on the Trail, eager to hike North, eager to get that much closer to Mount Katahdin. I finally get to meet the unlucky recipients of my late arrival: Red, Sweetblood, and Turtle, all from Florida. Red and Sweetblood are friends from high school and college, out for a two-month hike; and, Turtle is Red's mom, out for 10-days. None seem to be miffed by my arrival, assuring me that I caused no trouble! Thank God!Our destinations are all the same, the Fontana Hilton! Sweetblood is first out, and I'm not far behind. Many people think I'm a super fast hiker, but I don't think I am. I don't take many breaks throughout the day, just a few short ones here and there, whereas others, I've learned, take one long break in the middle of the day. I pass Sweetblood, but she and the others are never far behind me during the hike. We encounter a downed tree in the middle of the Trail, which is an absolute pain-in-the-ass to manuever around. I opt to go off Trail, down the mountain side, past the tree, and back up the moutain side; they opt to go right up and over. Mine wasn't easy, and theirs didn't look easy either. A hiker I meet heading south asks me which was is best. I tell her, "Whichever you choose to take!"Not far North of Brown Fork, I see a few hikers, and meet one named Andy, who has likely contracted Giardia. He says he'd been treating his water, yet has had severe stomach complications, and has puked a few times already. I express concern, wish him luck, and assure him of my prayers. Not too far North of there, we encounter several really steep downs, which I find to be a lot of fun, with the challenge of figuring out which way is the best to safely make it down some of these sections. During one descent, Sweetblood catches up with me again. I tell her, "Whenever I encounter sticky sections of the Trail like this, I think of those unlikely hikers who have done it in the past. At times I'm tempted to bitch about the terrain, cursing the Trail maintainers under my breath for making the Trail so rugged, when I remember that a blind man has done it with his seeing-eye dog, a man has done it on crutches, the youngest was under 10, I believe, and the oldest was an octogenarian."I reach Cable Gap Shelter before noon, easily. For breakfast this morning, I eat my lunch---PopTarts---saving my cooking oatmeal for my lunch break (I do this, since I slept in later, so I can rise and hit the Trail ASAP). So, I get some water from the stream which is right next to the shelter, which the Trail goes right over. Red, Sweetblood, and Turtle all arrive, and make peanut-butter and jelly wraps for lunch. Andy shows up, still feeling like crap, and literally falls down on the ground, puking.I peruse the register some, then push on. Before I finish the first climb, I meet Kismet, who's out for a solo day hike. We're both too gregarious, so chat it up for much too long! Turtle passes us while we're chatting on the Trail! After talking, I move on and pass Turtle again before long. Not too much further up, I come upon 3-more girls, all going South. We talk for a few minutes before going our separate ways. By this time, I can already hear motorboats on Fontana Lake, so I know it can't be much further! Occassionally, I hear traffic on highway 28 below. It's neat coming upon this highway, I think, as it goes right through my hometown, also! Before reaching the bottom, I go over a summit, a very rocky summit, an unnamed rocky summit, according to Wingfoot! The rocks are beautiful, and the views through the trees are likewise!Before I realize it, I'm at the highway, and across it find Fontana Crossing. It's a building with a coke machine, bathrooms, and a phone where someone can call a shuttle to take them into Fontana Village. There is still a mile walk to the Fontana Hilton, but I need to get food for the Smokies, and I'm not sure how readily accessible the Village is from the Hilton; so I opt to go to town now, before going to the shelter. Before paging the shuttle, I fill out a backcountry permit for the Smokies, which those doing overnight hikes must legally carry with them, unless they want to get fined by the park rangers! Red, Sweetblood, and Turtle arrive, and I try to talk them into coming into town with me, where there's surely pizza and/or burgers! They decline, opting to not spoil themselves too much! Such wisdom from such young women!The shuttle arrives within 10-minutes of my paging them. They tell me it's $2 each way, thus totaling $4 with the ride back to Fontana Crossings. Once in the village, they drive around, showing me where everything is. I go to the outfitter where I must buy a new pair of socks, as I lost one pair, likely in Franklin. I also stock up on food, and find Snickers Marathon bars, which prove to be the most amazing energy bars, albeit impossible to find anywhere else! I walk next door to a restaurant, and gorge myself on a huge cheddar, bacon, burger, with massive onion rings! After paying, I notice they sell Yuengling Beer! Yuengling is America's oldest brewery, and makes a stellar beer! Tragically, the state of Georgia, where I live, doesn't sell it! I was told that Georgia has some funky alcohol tax, which Yuengling refuses to pay. Luckily, I live right on the border with South Carolina, where I hop across to when I'm craving a Black and Tan! Since I've already paid, though, I don't buy one, as I don't feel "heckling" the kind cashier again.I walk to the laundromat to wash my clothes. After that ordeal, I go to the pay phone just in front to call the shuttle, only to find that the phone doesn't work! Just down the street is a gas station, so I head in that direction, trusting to find a pay phone there. As I'm walking down the street, a lady stops in her car, and offers me a ride. I gladly jump in! I tell the lady I was picked up at Fontana Crossings, and would like to be taken back there; but, if not, the Fontana Hilton will do. She doesn't know where the Crossings is, but I'm known for having an outstanding memory for things like that, and I end up guiding her all the way back. This is sad, I think, as this lady lives here! I've only been here for an hour or two!From there, I hike the remaining "mile" to the Fontana Hilton. The Trail is unexpectedly steep, up-and-down, up-and-down, and feels like more than a mile. Upon reaching the shelter, Red blurts out, "That mile Trail sure felt like more than a mile!" I then walk a mile to Fontana Dam, as they tell me there're free public showers there. I gladly make the walk, as the prospect of a shower is ever-so-inviting! Along the walk, I meet a former thru-hiker, en route home from Trail Days, named Dred (Dread?), due to his dreadlocks, which he assures me were much more glorious when he thru-hiked! He asks me if he can stay in the shelter with us, even though he's not hiking, and to save money. I could really care less, and invite him to camp out with us!The shower is amazing, and the walk back is beautiful, as the sun is setting, making a beautiful light show in the crystal clear, cloudless sky hovering above the lake and the ridgelines. I feel so tiny at moments like these, but not unimportant. I am a firm believer in that God is love, and thus it is important to feel important in some way, even if the importance is "nothing more" than the fact that God loves me. The question to be asked at moments like this, is, "Are my choices, the lifestyle I'm living helping make this world beautiful or ugly, are my choices making me a saint or a monster?" I forget who said it, but whoever it was, said, "The only tragedy in life is not have been a saint."Back at the shelter, I excitedly climb into my sleeping bag. Tomorrow morning, I hike into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park! I haven't been here since I was a child, and am looking forward to visiting such nostalgic places as Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the A.T. But, that's for tomorrow and the next several days. Right now, the task at hand is sleep.