Date: 2016-03-16
From: Fontana Marina

To: Spence Field Shelter 
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: few clouds

I surprisingly didn't sleep all that well last night. Couldn't get to a comfortable temperature. Still, we all woke up at around 7:30. I ate a pop tart and packed up. I headed to the lobby to find that the first shuttle down to the marina wouldn't be til 8:30. I toyed with trying to hitch but then just sat around in the lobby. Decided it wouldn't be worth the walk down to the general store. The shuttle left on time, unlike yesterday, and soon I found myself back at the marina. Timeout and I hit the trail first and paced each other for quite a while. We passed the Fontana "Hilton" shelter, which was nearly abandoned thanks to the many warnings of the trail magic providers at Stecoah gap. It's a shame, because it looks like an amazing place to spend the night. Picnic tables and showers and everything. We began road walking down past the construction at the visitor center and met up with Handles, a friend of Lassie's who apparently spent last night in a secret storage closet at the resort. We all began the walk across the dam together. It was pretty impressive, and took more than 5 minutes to cross. I made sure to take lots of photos! Then it was up into the Smokies! I dropped off my permit at the box and began the long ascent to the ridges of the mountains on the Tennessee border. My pack was heavier than it's been in quite some time, and I seriously felt it on the climb up to Shuckstack. I filtered water from a stream on the way up and was amazed to see a little crawfish crawling right next to my bottle! First time seeing them in the wild. I took the side trail up to the Shuckstack Fire tower. It is a rickety thing and the wind was howling through a few empty window panes at the top. Timeout was up there with me. The view was pretty cool, we could see all the high ridges to come. Back at the trail junction I met White Rabbit and began pacing with her for the next miles. Right before Doe Knob we ran into Magic, who apparently got offered a night at the home of a local yesterday. I need to stick with him more. He just gets lucky. At the top of Doe Knob, we officially hit the Tennessee border! I was the most excited of anybody, never having been there. I ate lunch at the top and took advantage of the little bottle of olive oil Timeout gave me this morning. It was a few more drops and climbs to Mollies Ridge Shelter, a beautiful stone hut in a field. I hung out, filtered water and sat, talking with magic and white rabbit and timeout. White rabbit stuck around to wait for her dad, but magic and I pushed on to the next shelter three miles away. When I got there, I still had more in the tank and decided to go with timeout to Spence Field. It was a tougher three miles, but was still pretty easy. This was a longer day than I've had in a while, but the weather was great and I felt good. Spence Field looks just like the other shelters I've seen in the Smokies. They're all big and stone and have bunks for 12 or14 people.Timeout and I are here with two sets of section hikers, a family from Texas and a group of friends from nearby. I might've tented, but it is not allowed in the Park unless the shelter is full. The family was very inquisitive, sweet and have clearly done a lot of backpacking together already. I made dinner and set up my stuff in my preferred spot, lower level on the right against the wall. Tomorrow is supposed to be very beautiful as well, and I will probably end up finishing the day with Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee and the highest point on the AT. It'll be another long day, but I feel ready to up my miles.