Date: 2014-04-13
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 15.4

Today was Sunday and one more zero. We hiked out of Stecoah Gap and did 8.5 miles to the Cable Gap Shelter before setting up for the night. I pitched the tent and put up the rain fly against my better judgement. It was supposed to be a very pleasant night but you never, never know when it will rain. If you don't set your rain fly and it starts to rain, then you just get to get up in the middle of the night and put it on in the dark. Yeah!The hike out on Friday morning, took me through Jacob's Ladder. It is a 600 foot climb in 3 / 10th of a mile. Needless to say, my climb up was significantly slower than my hiking partner's. I had to take a lot of breaks. The picture is my most consistent position while I am going up hill. The good thing is that once I got over that hill, the rest of the day was not nearly as difficult. Saturday morning also started out with an almost 700 foot climb. Note to anyone who is considering hiking the trail: almost all days begin with an up hill when you stay at a shelter, gap or from town. The really good part is that when you leave from town, you typically restock so not only do you have the up hill, you have extra food, which means extra weight. The good thing for me was that most of the rest of the day was down hill. I can do down hills. We came into Fontana Dam in the early afternoon and there it was. TRAIL MAGIC. A former thru hiker was cooking cheeseburgers and had sodas, cookies and too much more to list. It made for a much easier day.Zero day on Sunday and time for healing of the body. I am having a very difficult time with my right hip which affects my leg and foot. All hikers know that when you hike every day, you will hurt. You will experience pain and discomfort. The problem, and question, is when does the pain become injury, and how much injury is acceptable before it gets to be disabling? I have been seriously considering this question for the last three days specifically. I determined yesterday that I was done thru-hiking this year. So this morning, I walked without a pack the 1.4 miles from the road to the actual dam. I was going to walk that last bit before the Great Smoky Mountains with my hiking partner Sun Splash. By the time I got that little bit hiked, my hip was done for the day. After tossing the question around for three or four days, I have made the right decision. I will be heading to Gatlinburg tomorrow to take care of some trail related things and then home. It will be good to be home and I will miss my trail buddies, but it will be good to be home.I have told several people that I am not sorry that I am leaving the trail and that is true to a certain extent. I am satisfied that I accomplished all except one thing on my list, that being to complete my thru-hike. I met some interesting and wonderful people. I had the opportunity to hike alone and talk to God and listen. I was able to do a lot of introspective thinking and I lost weight (that last part was not actually on my list; it was just a bonus). I am regretful that I will not see all of the other gifts that God has put out there for us to see but I still have the opportunity to section hike in the future. I will miss those people that have been put in my path to make me think. Some good, some not so good but, all necessary.I will journal again after I get home.The journey was the destination. Peace.