Date: 2010-09-22
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Visitor Center
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: few clouds

I wake up early to the morning light just beginning to brighten the sky. The birds are yakking away and the chipmonks are playing tag in the rustle of the leaves. I lay there for a minute enjoying the warmth of my hammock and smiling at the thought of a hot shower tonight. I'm planning on making it to Fontana Village tonight. I have a re-supply box waiting for me at the Post Office. Woo-hoo, real food and a cold beer. Let's get this lazy hiker going!   Breakfast is two nutrigrain bars and Starbuck Iced Coffee. I like this instant coffee. It tastes great and you don't have to take time to heat it up. Love the caffeine, I'm ready to go. Ready to go in the morning on the AT usually means up hill and this time is no exception. A steep 1000 ft. climb to the summit of High Top Mountain. The mountain is aptly named I believe.    The trail gods are nice and let me walk a rolling ridge line for part of the morning. I leave the ridgetop and descend into Black Gum Gap, named for the trees found at this site. Climbing out of the gap I cross a couple of boulder fields. It is already hot and I am careful to look where I put my hands and feet. I don't want to wake a sunning rattlesnake. The white blazes are painted on the rocks to show me the best way through this maze. It is tough finding the white blazes because of the white lichen which grows on the boulders. Some of the lichen looks like a blaze. I pick my way through and only have to back track once.    It is good to be back on a dirt path in the shade heading toward the summit. I quickly climb to the summit of the Yellow Mountains. I stand on the highest point in this mountain range and drink in the view. As my heart returns to its normal rhythm I check the elevation map in my AT Guide, looks like all downhill into Fontana, yea! Knees don't fail me now.   At 5.5 miles from the summit I cross NC Highway 28 and fill out my permit for the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I hike on to the lake to check out the shelter, the famous Fontana Hilton. It is a shelter capable of holding 20 hikers and has a breezeway running through the middle of it. It sits on the lake with picnic tables and bathrooms. The bathrooms even have showers. The place is impressive. I sign the register and move on to the dam.    The walk to the dam is beside the lake on a sidewalk. The visitor center is at the bottom of the hill. There is a phone to call the Fontana Resort. They will come pick you up if you are staying at their hotel. I have reservations for 2 nights.    The truck comes to pick me up. Now, I know hikers are stinky, but I felt a little less than human when the ride turned out to be the pickup truck they haul garbage to the dump with everyday. I know I don't smell that bad! I told the driver there was no way I was putting my pack in the back of that truck, I would hold it for the duration of the ride. He laughed and agreed I would never get the smell out if I laid it in the back with the garbage. He apologized for the truck, but said he was the only one available to pick me up at this hour. He was nice enough to stop at the Post Office, so I could pick up my hiker box. He deposited me and all my stuff at the front desk and wished me a safe hike.   The hotel turned out to be nice. They had 3 restaurants on the grounds, a laundrymat, and a general store. All my needs were met for 2 days and nights. Hot shower here I come!