Date: 2022-04-17
From: Fontana Dam Resort

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: broken clouds

It¢s been a long hard climb up out of Fontana Dam today. But it¢s been so worth it. The crew had a shuttle for 7:30am. I set an alarm for 6:45am to make sure I was up in time to get a quick breakfast which opened at 7am. I didn¢t like setting the alarm as I have the idea of not setting one for the whole adventure. I woke up before the alarm at 6:30am. So I got up and turned the alarm off. So I¢m still going with no alarms.It¢s Easter Sunday. So I am missing the sunrise service at church with my family. I did find some service on the climb up to call and talk to my parents. My mom handed the phone over to Kurt. It was nice to talk and catch up with him. He and Alex are having the trees cleared on their land this upcoming week. So he was excited for it. He thinks they will have the basement set by the time I get back.With pushing into the Smokies today I decided I would push as far as I thought I could safely do. If I could make it through the Smokies in 4 days cool if it took longer than it takes longer. I don¢t want to be in a rush but I do want to start putting in more miles.The start of where we were took us just a mile to the Fontana Hilton Shelter. It¢s called the Hilton because it has power, clean water and showers all right there. It looked really cool with it being set right next to the lake. We then Road walked down and across the top of the dam. With no traffic allowed on the dam and no one else around it was just the crew walking across the dam. I made it to an old fire watch tower. I climbed to the top. There were only hand rails along the steep stairs. Other than that it was just open on the tower until I got into the little room at the top. The views from the top were amazing! I could see all the way back to the dam which was really cool! I finally got to talk to the family that is they-hiking. There are 5 of them. Parents and 3 kids. Names are Leah, Josh, with children Japheth, Lola, and I¢m sorry to say I don¢t remember the youngest boys name. They homeschool their kids and thought this would a grand adventure. I told them I was homeschooled and loved it. It was cool to meet them.I made it to Mollies Ridge Shelter around 2ish. Which was great for timing considering the amount of elevation I gained today. There was only a couple who had just hiked in from a side trail for the weekend. So I sat and talked to them as people rolled in. I knew I wanted to push on so I didn¢t unpack. As Phoenix and Prosecco arrived I asked if they wanted to push on to the next shelter which was only 3.1 miles further. They didn¢t want to but I put my pack on and made it up to Russell Field Shelter. Before I left I met Tacocat. I¢ve seen him before but I hadn¢t ever met him. He seems cool. It¢s a really nice shelter. There are two levels for sleeping and huge area that is covered. I¢m here with 9 other people. So it¢s a smaller group. I met a guy going by Gandalf. He is really cool. He did a thru-hike back in 2014. So he is telling us all these stories and what¢s to come. He says he pushed himself last time this time he is just enjoying the ride and not making a fuss over things. He is still putting in some good miles. He is maybe in his mid 60¢s.I talked about plans with a few others and it seems that we have a similar game plan for getting through the Smokies. So I will be seeing them. I have seen them around in the hiker bubble but never introduced myself. The people here at the shelter are Matt, Rocket, Tacocat, Mountain Doc., Aga (I met her at the Hostel Around the Bend. She is from Poland), Gandalf, and three other guys whom I didn¢t catch their names. Two of them are thru-hikers. The other guy is just sectioning through the Smokies sobo. Rocket asked if I wanted to wake up early in two days and summit Clingmans Dome for sunrise. I think that sounds incredible. So I might do it even though I don¢t want to set an alarm. It¢s been nice to be away from the crew I have been hiking with. I loved my time with them. I¢m sure I will see them further up the trail.