Date: 2010-04-15
From: Fontana Dam Visitor Center

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: clear sky

Day 18 ReportStart Location:  Fontana Dam Visitor Center End Location:  Derrick Knob Shelter      Day Miles:  22.7 Total Miles:  186.7 (+8.8)      Distance to go:  1092.4 Trip Report:I was strolling through the park one day.  In the merry, merry month of...April. I have made it to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hiking all day gives one a lot of time to think random thoughts...like what should I say in my journal for today. My corny opening line just kept playing in my head so I went with it. As you can see I made my stretch goal of 22.7 miles. Actually i did another .6 bonus miles because of bad water planning.  Instead of getting water right on the trail when i could have i waited until i really needed it and it was a .6 round trip down to a spring  A couple of things went right to make it possible. First I mentioned yesterday that I had stayed at the Hike Inn. Let me elaborate on that to explain. The Hike Inn is about six miles from the trail but when you first enter the Fontana Dam area you call them from a "house phone" that dials a couple of local businesses. Then there is another 1.4 miles of hiking over to the visitor's center. A couple of minutes after I reached the visitor center, the proprietor arrived to take me to the inn. As we arrived the Mrs greeted me at the car to show me to my room, gave me a package I had mailed to myself there, and took my order for lunch. While I showered, Mrs. did my laundry while Mr. went to pick up the lunches. Later that evening, they drove the four hikers staying there to the nearby town where we got dinner and could shop for any supplies we needed (provided Ingals grocery store sells it). This morning they shuttled us back to the Fontana Dam Visitor Center at 7:00 am (our request).  Your probably thinking, I understand how the early start helped make 22 miles but what did lunch and dinner the day before have to do with it.  The answer is calories--lots of calories to stoke the engine.  Second, I had lunch with a ridge runner. Ridge runners walk the trail between shelter cleaning up, helping hikers with problems, mediating disputes between thrus and section hikers, and the like. Any way the ridge runner had seen me get on the trail and more or less tracked my progress for about 16 miles. I don't want to "accuse" him of encouraging me to go for the 22 mile day, but when I had to make the go/no go decision on the final 6.3 miles he did say that he didn't think I would have a problem. He also said that if I went for it I would be only the second thru this year that he knew of who did. I am not sure if that comment was meant to encourage or discourage. In any event here I am. So I am now committed to another long day (18 miles) tomorrow. After today, I have to admit, tomorrow is going to be hard. But I do think that two back to back hard days will be good for my conditioning and for my mental confidence.  On the other hand there is a tad bit of anxiety about whether I will be physically capable. That final 6.3 miles today was tougher than I expected.Wild flowers are in bloom all over the park. I have quite a few new pictures which I hope to post Saturday while I am in Gatlinberg.Oh, by the way, I am being a scoff law tonight in my tent. There is room in the shelter, but about three of us are pretending that there isn't.