Date: 2005-04-18
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Up and gone by 8 AM. There was an 11 mile move ahead of me to the Fontana Dam. There were basically two places to stay, the Fontana Dam Shelter or the Fontana Inn, I decided on the Inn. Word was there was a shower issue there at the Shelter and I was looking for a hot shower (I also shared a room with Tal). Coming off the trail was a little confusing at first, it was poorly marked. The much talked about phone for the shuttle did not work but, no worries, a shuttle soon showed up and I got a ride right to the Inn for a mere dollar. The Fontana Village itself is a older but beautiful place. This would be nice to come back to and tool around (to ride) for a while on the Harley.       The post office was open and I picked up my very first mail drop (wow was it ever heavy). I had about seven days worth of food, enough to do the entire Smoky Mountain Park. Lesson learned there was to read the hand-book and take advantage of the re-supply capability of the local towns off of the trail (within hitch hiking distance). I was informed before I started the trail, through my readings, that in the past the Fontana Store had been sold out of supplies (so a mail drop was a thing to do). My load was way over weight when I left Fontana on the 19th. I sure felt it going "up" the trail after crossing the Dam. Funny how it seemed that every time you left the trail you had to go down to town and there was a heck of a climb "down" to the road. Then an equally impressive climb once back on the trail or what was called, "on the way up the trail". Of course there were easy level spots. Normally this was where the trail would cross a road when the trail went through a gap or in a valley (it was the way it was). For the most part in the beginning, it was a chore.    As far as Pre-packing your mail drop (re supplies) while back home, it was such a difficult thing to predict because who knew what was going to be made available at the local stores. Regardless, no matter what you send it does not mean you have to carry it. I was stubborn and wanted to take it all (yes once again, never claimed to be a rocket scientist). I carried seven days of food and had the ability to resupply in three, a wasted effort. I could have mailed some of my mail drop a few days forward or had it held at a Post Office anywhere up the trail. I could have even just put it in to the hiker box (a hiker box is where hikers can put in or take out items donated by other hikers or just folks who want to leave some trail magic behind). Some hikers in fact, lived out of the hiker boxes. I remember one such hiker who said he started the trail with just seven dollars in his pocket. He worked where and when he could, scavenged through all the hiker boxes and took whatever was offered to him. A determined man to say the least. I do not know if he made it however, last I saw him was quite a few hundred miles from where I met him.   The Inn where I stayed had an all you could eat buffet for supper that wasn't to bad for $12.00 (the room cost $20.00). Once again a budget buster for some. I was fortunate that my retirement from the military gave me enough to splurge now and then. Hikers would say to me it must be nice to have a retirement and I would respond, "yes it is and you can have it too, all you have to do is give up 20 or more years of your life, get shot at a couple of times and watch your family back home grow old from a distance" (yes I can be a wise ass). I found out real soon that I wasn't the only retiree on the AT.    In fact through observation I noticed that there were basically three major age groups on the trail. First was the 18 through 24 year olds or the, "just out of school group" (either high school or college) and they wanted to do the trail before they joined the work force. Second was the "40 plus group" (the military careerists or the change of career folk). The third group was the "60 plus age group" (those were the ones who finished their careers and were wanting to do their life's dream of walking the trail before they got much older). Yes of course there were a lot of "in between's" however, these groups seemed to be the predominate groups.    There were also a lot of foreign folks. Tal was from Israel, Dandylion from England, there were Scottish folk, some Japanese and even a few Canadians. Who let them in I will never know (just kidding). The AT is said to be the Grandfather of all trails, known around the world. Some also say that all other trails are compared to the AT. I don't know about that but, it has been around a long while. Something I wanted to do personally since about 1983.    I also heard while I was staying at the Inn that Dennis was still on the trail and in fact was a few days behind me. I had one of my mail packages of food sent from my home for him about a week ago and it was at the Post Office ( I checked for it when I picked up mine). If he wanted it he could of had it of course. I made arrangements to have it sent home if he didn't pick it up within the next two weeks (it did make it's way home eventually)..