Date: 2005-04-12
From: Mollies Ridge Shleter

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Mollies Ridge Shelter12.4 miles (173.9 total miles)It was hard to leave Fontana Dam this morning. The weather called for rain, and I didn't particularly feel like hiking out just to get wet. We caught the shuttle out to the dam, and it started to drizzle. We waited in the visitor center, hoping it was just a passing shower. We looked to the west and watched as the sky lightened. The rain ceased, so we used the opportunity to step out into the woods.We crossed directly over Fontana Dam, and then into Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I remember the first climb up Shuckstack as being quite the climb, and it didn't disappoint me. We trudged our way up the mountain, watching west as the weather came in. It rained on and off all the way up. It actually wasn't bad, as it kept us cool. But we knew there was the threat of a downpour. If we could just make it to the shelter.We ran into a group of 3 people riding 4 horses (one horse was carrying all their gear). I didn't realize horses were allowed on the AT, but they are allowed for a 6 mile stretch through the Smokies. These riders seemed to be having problems with one of their horses, and were traveling at about the same speed as us. We stopped during a pause in the rain for a cold, windy lunch. We heard some yelling behind us, and saw one of the horses running by with no one on it. (I found out that yelling "Come here, boy!" won't stop a horse as it might a dog.) A few seconds later one of the rider came by to catch him.We hiked on, and were welcomed to Tennessee with a complete downpour. We trudged on in our raingear, wishing we were in the shelter. We would be pushing 12 uphill miles without more than a 5 minute break. And our packs seemed to weigh a ton with all the food we were carrying. About an hour and a half later we landed in the shelter. My feet had almost made it there dry, but the last mile completely soaked them. We were hoping the shelter was not full, and were surprised by how many people had hiked on to the next shelter in the rain. There was plenty of room in the shelter. Just a few minutes after we got in, the rain let up again. Many hikers (including 70 year old "Wanderer") moved on. Not us. We were done on this wet day.The horse riders had stopped in the shelter for the night. They were going to go another 6 miles, but didn't want to in the rain. Since they had a horse carring their gear, they sat around with their many luxeries. First they had a fire going, which we greatly appreciated. Then they cooked up a concoction of fresh potatoes, onions, and hot dogs. It smelled fantastic! They spent their afternoon with drinks in their hands. One of them even brought out a portable dvd player, but found it wasn't properly charged.We are spending the night in the shelter with One Thing, Hot Flash, and Iron Foot (plus the 3 horse folks, who are very riendly). I find it funny that of the 5 hikers who decided to stop while it is raining, 4 of us have long-distance hiked before. All the other folks moved on, pushing themselves in the bad weather. But now the sun has come out, and we are drying all our gear out by the fire. We are full from our noodles for dinner (plus an instant cheesecake from Last Minute, which was really delicious). Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be somewhat better, then we should have a few sunny days. We are looking forward to that.