Date: 2013-03-30
From: Brian & Anne's House

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

I have so many mixed emotions today. My heart is filled with the warmth of a renewed and treasured friendship. My stomach is full and my body is rested after two zero days. However, I'm sad to be leaving my friends, sad that I know I won't have much contact with my family in the Smokies, and nervous about the steep climb today. I will climb almost continuously for the first eight miles of my eleven mile day . . . climbing from 1,864 ft to 4,602 ft. Also, in the next few days I will summit the highest place on the entire AT - well over 6,000 ft. Higher than Denver!!!My friends Brian and Anne drove me to Fontana Dam. It was a later start than I wanted because I had trouble getting organized after 2 zero days. As we pulled up in the parking lot I spotted M80, Trooper, and Willow (see Pic section) and it was fun introducing Brian and Anne to them. It is a pretty day and it made me feel less sad when Brian and Anne offered to walk with me across the dam. Nonetheless, they eventually had to turn around. I find it exceedingly difficult to turn in opposite directions and walk away from loved ones. It reminded me of the first day when Matthew had to walk away or when Hannah dropped me off at Hogpen Gap. The trail was on a paved road for awhile until I arrived at the hiker registration point. You have to pay $20 to have a permit to hike thru the Smokies. You leave the bottom half of the permit in the registration box and carry the top half with you at all times. M80, Trooper, and Willow were registering but soon passed me as they are much faster hikers than I am. The climb was more difficult than I expected as the trail was slushy and muddy. Hiking in conditions like this is difficult because you never know if your foot will stay where you plant it. Unfortunately I also discovered that I have a hole in the top of each shoe where my big toe flexes resulting in my feet getting very wet. I'm really disappointed because I really like these shoes and had read great things about them. One more adversity to deal with on the trail . . . does it ever end??!One of the things I've learned in life is that there is a very subtle difference between an irritant and an endearment. I was reminded of that today when I realized that most days roots and rocks were minor irritants to be avoided, but today they were greatly appreciated as a stable area to place my foot. From the parking lot Brian, Anne, and I were looking at a fire tower way up on a mountain. Soon I was standing under that fire tower and still had enough cell signal to text them saying guess where I'm standing. I hiked all day by myself but about lunchtime I came upon Trail-lite and Winter eating lunch, so I joined them. They are a father / son team who came down from Maryland to hike in the Smokies. Winter is in the 8th grade. I enjoyed having someone to talk to. I realized I had truly adopted the thru hiker mentality when after they left I noticed that Winter had dropped an M&M on the ground so I picked it up and ate it - no point in wasting good food!I arrived late at the shelter and managed to find a spot without any probleml. In the Smokies you are required to stay in the shelters unless they are entirely full. The good news is that they are much nicer than the previous shelters I've stayed in. They are 3 sided stone structures with a fireplace and a tarp over the opening. They are also two levels (with just enough room to sit up) (see pic section). Sadly, most of them don't have privies so you have to do "your business" in the woods. At the shelter tonight are Sugar Bombs and Finder (who I had breakfast with at the NOC), Triple Step, Sour Patch (who I shared a room with at NOC) and his brother Yeti who had joined him at NOC. Sour Patch is a real character and I enjoy him. I also met Pumpkin King who as it turns out is from the same town in New Hampshire as Patriot (Sean from the first week). He is friends with Patriots kids - what a small world! There were others in the shelter who I can't remember.