Date: 2017-11-02
From: Fontana Hilton

To: Locust Grove gap
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: clear sky

We'd only been going a little more than a mile this morning when we found a pair of moss-covered old boots near a trailhead at Fontana Village Resort Marina. Closer examination showed they were full of pebbles.A laminated note explained the context. These boots belonged to James/Bamahiker, who had harboured a dream to thru-hike the AT in 2016 when he retired and in his various section hikes before that, this was the furthest north he'd reached. But as his wife explained in the note, less than two years before his thru-hike, he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. "He fought hard to beat this goliath, but God had other plans. James went home to be with his lord and saviour, Jesus Christ, on July 15, 2015."She'd put a pair of his old boots here, filled them with pebbles and invited hikers to take one, carry it "to the end of their hike, wherever that may be" and then email her a photo."Carrying his pebbles would be symbolic of James hiking the AT. Please help my husband's dream continue to come true." And that's why I'm now carrying a pebble. I suspect this request was primarily aimed at northbounders so Bamahiker could vicariously reach Katahdin but I figure any distance would provide some kind of solace to Mrs Bamahiker. And since I'm writing this long after finishing the trail, I can attest that it completed the rest of the AT and did the Coast to Coast adventure race in New Zealand and the plan is to leave it on Mt Wilhelm, the highest peak in Papua New Guinea, in May.But all that was in the future. We made up for our pizza disappointment last night by taking a shuttle to have breakfast at Fontana Village Resort, which had been formed from the dam construction camp. We had to go to the resort anyway to resupply so breakfast was a bonus. We didn't get back to the trail until around 11am, which must have been frustrating for Tarzan, who had come down to resupply but hadn't eaten at the restaurant and had to wait for us to finish before taking the shuttle back to the trail. For us it's not a big deal but he's aiming to do 32 miles today and it's much more pleasant to do that in daylight than darkness.It was soon after starting the hike today that I found Bamahiker's boots and picked up a pebble. This was just at the start of a loooong but steadily graded climb to regain the ridgeline once more, on which we undulated for most of the rest of the day.On the way up, I passed Happy Feet who was still adjusting painfully to her first zero-drop shoes. She's a pretty staunch hiker who, like all of us out here, doesn't like to admit weakness but it's clear she's doing it tough. We all sympathised, especially at being in pain after already having hiked so many miles and when we are so close to the end.Lunch was at Cable Gap shelter, which looked idyllic from afar but as I approached I was told by the others that the shelter itself was swarming with wasps, which explained why they were sitting maybe 50 yards away. Even there, there was a steady stream of wasps flying around.The rest of the day was pretty unmemorable other than a seriously steep descent towards Stecoah Gap, where Sweetwater Road crossed the ridge. It was steep enough for me to briefly regret sending home my hiking poles way back in Daleville and I'm sure it could still hear the profanities of as-yet-trail-unhardened nobos who would have suffered as they slogged their way up.There was another solid climb up from the gap and I paid for our late start by being overtaken by darkness about three miles from our intended campsite at Locust Grove Gap. Once again, I ended up hiking by headlamp and was very grateful to smell woodsmoke and then see the fire the others in the tramily had created.Soon we were all sitting around, cooking our respective dinners, when we heard the sound of someone hiking northbound without a light. A young bearded guy soon appeared in the gap and came down to chat -- although "chat" might have been an ambitious description for a conversation that followed.Even though we've hit the odd southern AT zone where there are several supposed thru-hikers who are really just pursuing a mobile version of homelessness and even a few who have made wild claims of thru-hiking powers that haven't stood the test of scrutiny, we try to take people on their word.This guy was very cagey about saying his name and, once he said he'd was a musician, was even cagier about naming the band he said he was in. And it didn't take long for big holes to appear in his stories about supplies at Nantalaha Outdoor Center, which he variously said he'd left that day or several days ago.But whatever. We figure people can be who they claim to be out here so long as it doesn't affect us and soon we all headed to bed. He stayed around the fire for a while but then abruptly opted to hike on into the night. Our strong suspicion is he not only didn't have a headlamp but also didn't have a tent and a gentle rain began. We heard later from those behind us that he rocked up to the next lean to, Brown Fork Gap shelter, sometime around 2am and slept inside. The South certainly has its characters!Now it's quiet again and I'm being serenaded to sleep by the gentle patter of rain on my tent.Life is good.AT fact of the day: I'm really hoping that today's "last time" moment is hiking by headlamp... This is a skill I'd like to retire from my repertoire.