Date: 2013-04-23
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana 28 AT Crossing, NC
Miles today: 5.4

Fontana Dam is approximately 5 miles from Cable Gap, where I had camped the previous day. It was an exciting benchmark to reach, the gateway to the Great Smokies National Park. I had been informed by Britta earlier, that she had not only reserved a room and a hot stone massage at the Fontana Lodge, but had shipped off a food cache, scheduled to arrive the following day. I hiked ahead of Dr. Spice, Sprouts, Chuckles, Little Spoon, and Shanks, arriving at the Fontana 28 AT Crossing early, where I called for a shuttle at the public restrooms. I thought of waiting for the rest of the group, but had no idea how far they were behind me, or if they were even hiking as group. The shuttle arrived about 30 minutes later and transported me down the sinuous Fontana Rd (28) to Fontana Village. Britta my friend at the command post back home, had reserved a room, massage, and delivered a food cache to the Fontana Lodge. I was warned that the cache would not be arriving until early afternoon the next day, so I had some time to kill. If there was a gray area on the difference in meaning between "zero" and "nero", this would be one of them. I would essentially be staying in the same place for more than 24 hours, but over the course of two days. It is here, that I interlude with the abstract mathematical concept that the sum of two neros = zero. One will need to understand the concepts of limits in calculus to fully understand how this equation works. The Shuttle turned off Fontana Rd, about 2 miles west of the trail, at the Fontana Pit Stop, continuing up the hill to the very top of a large loop, where the Fontana Lodge was located. The place seemed deserted, like the resort depicted in Stephen King's The Shining. Even the Fontana Lodge seemed vacant! I checked in, set my pack in the room, and cut across the sloped lawns, where for a child-like moment, I thought of rolling down the hill, as I so often did as a boy. I declined the temptation, hiking past a closed pool area to the Hazel Creek Outfitter, where I discovered the rest of the group I was with was resting. The general store had very little in the way of resupply, so my preliminary research before the hike had payed off. To those who read this journal in the years to come, make a note to send yourself a food cache to Fontana Village before entering the Smokies, unless you find stale cheese whiz and crackers sufficient for making it through the Smokies. You could get away with sending as little as three days worth, resupplying in Gatlinburg, TN. I chose however to stay away from this gaudy town after all the stories I read and heard about it. The group had planned to get shuttled back the the Fontana 28 AT Crossing in the late afternoon, and hike the short distance to the "Fontana Hilton"- a shelter on the south side of Fontana Dam with showers. The group would plan to leave early the next day to enter the Great Smokies National Park (GSNP) while I waited patiently for my food to arrive. The wait the next day would be partly consumed by a hot stone massage around mid morning. In the early evening, I enjoyed a large, gourmet pasta dinner, two pints of a tasty IPA, and a decadent dessert drowned in hot fudge sauce, before turning in to a comfortable bed for the night. I watched King of the Hill re-runs into the late night, and turned the lights out by about midnight.