Date: 2018-03-11
From: Stecoah Gap - Stecoah Wolf Creek Hostel

To: Yellow Creek Road - Stecoah Wolf Creek Hostel
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light rain

Woke up at 7:30 AM after decent night sleep. Had arranged w/ Lonnie (hostel owner) for ride back to Stecoah Gap at 8:30 AM.  He was at the hostel a few minutes early (he doesn¢t like to make hikers wait), we drove back to Stecoah Gap, took picture of Mac Daddy and me at the Gap, then he and I started our hike at 9 AM.  Again we were slackpacking w/ 10-12# packs. We hiked about 1 mile, then hit a notoriously steep section of the trail called Jacob¢s Ladder - an elevation rise of 500+ feet in 6/10 of a mile.  Once completed, the rest of today¢s hike was generally easy.  Temp was 45-50, cloudy and foggy (or low clouds) w/ very little visibility - down to 20-25 ft at times.  Mac Daddy and I hiked more or less together the whole hike today and reached Yellow Creek Road at 2 PM.  Lonnie had left a car for us at the parking area there, we loaded in our packs and hiking poles, then I drove (10 minutes) back to the hostel.  Then showered, washed clothes, went to diner next door for early dinner at about 3:30 PM.  Had dinner w/ Mac Daddy and Swagman (who zeroed today after hiking from Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam Shelter yesterday).  I had a club sandwich and sweet iced tea.  It is now 7 PM and I am at the hostel relaxing and updating my journal.  Tomorrow the plan is for "Shadow" (the hostel caretaker) to drive us back to Yellow Creek Gap/ Rd at 8 AM, then we (Mac Daddy and me) will hike from there to Fontana Dam (about 7.5 miles - again rain is forecast).  Lonnie has again arranged to leave a car for us there to get back to the hostel Monday evening.  While in Fontana Dam, I will pick up my resupply package at the post office and Mac Daddy will pick his up at the Lodge/ resort motel.  We will return for our last night at the hostel Monday night, pack up our full packs, and either Lonnie or Shadow will drive us back to Fontana Dam on Tuesday morning to start our hike into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - plan on 12+ mile hike starting at Fontana Dam Visitor Center at 1700 ft elevation to Mollies Ridge Shelter at 4585 ft elevation.  In the Smokies, we have to stay at the shelters - no camping/ tenting in between.  The Smokies go from mile 167.1 to mile 238.7.So why have I been staying at Hostel and slackpacking-1-weather w/ significant rain - when your gear gets wet it tends to stay wet until you have a couple dry days.  By being at the hostel, most of my gear stays here when I slackpack so it has stayed dry.2-each day after slackpacking,  I come back to the hostel, take a hot shower, wash the clothes I wore that day, relax in the evening in the warm hostel, eat dinner at the diner next door, and get to sleep in a warm bed.  A good part of completing a thru-hike is mental.  You need to continue to enjoy it.  There is a cost to staying in a hostel or hotel and for shuttle rides, but my budget is not that of the younger hikers.  I think I can afford the $25/ night for the hostel + the cost of shuttle rides.3-I still have a healing blister on my right inner heel.  By being at the hostel, each day after my hike I am able to clean it and leave it open to help dry it up and help it heal.  If I were staying in shelters w/ temps <30-35 at night, it would be harder to treat it.  Hopefully by Tuesday it will be OK to hike on.25,370 steps today.  One step at a time.