Date: 2006-03-23
From: Brown Fork Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter (The Fontana Hilton)
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

3-23-06Brown Fork Shelter to Fontana Dam Shelter (The Fontana Hilton)13.4 milesFrom Scooby Doo, I learned that monsters are always just men behind scary masks...Yesterday didn't quite end when I went to bed. About a half an hour later or so, around 7PM, there was a huffing and a puffing from the hill that goes down to the shelter. So I looked up and watched a figure with a flashlight coming towards the entrance to the shelter. When he put down his pack I caught his silhouette in the dying sunlight - "The Quiet One!" I said hello, and he recognized me, saying something along the lines of "Maawws, hey man, it's me, Red Dog" in heavy North Carolina drawl. He talks, I thought! And he continued to have a conversation with my uncle and me, so unlike the first night we had met him. I think he was just so happy to have made it to the shelter and found some people he recognized. I now wholeheartedly apologize for my first impression of him as a criminal or a psycho killer or something.It was pretty cold last night, actually wore my long underwear for once. I discovered I sleep warmer if I lay on my side, and my feet get warmer faster if I take off my socks. Started hiking this morning around 7:45AM. Wasn't really in any hurry today, we knew it was only about 12 miles to Fontana Dam and that we were staying at the shelter there tonight. My legs still felt pretty tired though, probably from all the uphill from the day before, and from adjusting to the new insoles.I started to get worried about my whole "Smoke the Smokies" plan when Freefall, with his little weather radio, told us he had heard there was a Winter Weather Advisory warning for the Smokies this weekend. That was a real bummer, because I had planned on making some major miles in the Smokies, to try to make the trip from Fontana Dam to Hot Springs take only six days, for the sooner I get there the sooner I get to see Shanae. So I thought and thought, and finally devised a plan to kill three birds with one stone: get Uncle John to the airport so he can catch a flight out of here and back to Syracuse, avoid the wintry weather, and see Shanae. This would be accomplished by having Shanae pick us up and bring us to Raleigh, then Uncle John could take a flight out of there and I could stay with Shanae in Raleigh until she left and brought me to Fontana Dam.Uncle John and I hiked about seven of the twelve miles together, and then I whizzed ahead of him for the last five because I was anxious to call Shanae. About a mile or so before Fontana Dam, a construction manager hollered at me to come over and have a soda, to which I was much obliged, and tried to convince me to go to the Fontana Dam Village and stay there. I was already set on The Hike Inn, so I said thank you and left. However, I do not recommend the Diet Pepsi chug and hike, because I felt like a bloated whale trying to flop itself up the next hill.Got to the dam (neat fact: Fontana Dam is the largest in the eastern US) and spotted a sign saying no alcohol, no drugs, no firearms, etc. I didn't know what the security situation around the dam was so I spent about five minutes slurping down the rest of the Grand Marnier I had. Feeling a little buzzed I entered the dam area around 1:30PM and tried calling Shanae a few times but she wasn't responding. A bunch of little rascals who had just gotten back from some sort of backpacking trip were taking showers and hanging around the Visitors Center area, which was closed until May 8th, much to my disappointment. I hung around there for an hour waiting for Uncle John, and then I got worried when he didn't show, so I hightailed it to the Fontana Dam Shelter, aptly named "The Fontana Hilton". Sure enough, Uncle John was there, it was all just a matter of miscommunication.The shelter was magnificent; all new, well-maintained wood with a gravel front, picnic table to the side, benches on the front and back side, double decker sleeping area, ability to sleep 24 people, a nice view of the lake, and a hand-carved sign that said "The Fontana Hilton". It was the nicest-looking shelter I've ever seen on the trail, possibly the nicest one I will see.Uncle John and I walked back up to the Visitors Center to use the pay phone and to try to get a hold of Shanae again. I did, but it ended up my first plan wouldn't work because Shanae was leaving Raleigh tomorrow. But we devised a new plan in which Shanae would drive here tomorrow to the Hike Inn, where we would be, and then her and I would drive Uncle John to the airport in Knoxville. She would then stay with for a couple of days at the Inn until the weather cleared up. So I was going to get to see her tomorrow!With all that arranged, Uncle John booked a flight to Rochester for 4:35PM tomorrow, and I changed the room at the Inn from a double to a single, and then went over all the details with Shanae. All set, we headed back to our luxurious accommodations.I had a nice supper of rice and beans and peppermint tea while sitting on the Hilton's benches overlooking the lake. It started to rain lightly and still is as I write. Bedtime tonight: 7:25PM. We had the whole shelter to ourselves.