Date: 2009-05-02
From: Fontana Dam

To: Campsite #113
Miles today: 5.6

We spent last night in the shelter at Fontana Lake. We decided to stay there instead of hitting the Trail right away for a couple of reasons. The shelter there is pretty popular among hikers so it's become almost a landmark. Plus it's an extremely nice one as far as shelters go. It's big (sleeps 20 comfortably) and has several extra features hikers value highly: running water (a spigot outside), working restrooms nearby (with toilets that flush!), and showers with hot water. Hikers call it the "Fontana Hilton" and have even put a nice sign on the place saying so.Plus we wanted to go ahead and get a taste of what it's like to sleep in a shelter since we're pretty much required to in the Smokies. We've camped near shelters several times but never actually slept in one until last night. The numerous tales of mice and spiders crawling over you and your gear all night have been enough to keep us out of the shelters so far. There are loads of rules for thru-hikers in the Smokies though, and one of them is that we have to stay in a shelter instead of camping whenever possible. And instead of risking the ire of the National Park Service, and facing the possibility of a $5,000 fine, expulsion from the Park, and/or jail time (they take things a tad seriously), we decided to start sleeping in a few shelters.The "Hilton" was actually pretty nice too. There were 10 of us there last night so everyone had plenty of room, and the running water and restrooms were amazing. And there was only one tiny mouse running around and he didn't cause any problems. Apart from some snoring it was a fairly decent night. It's funny how simple things like a water spigot and a flushing toilet can excite me these days though. It's kind of nice to see first hand how little it actually takes to make you happy.We woke up to skies that were starting to get pretty dark over the lake, so we decided to wait a few minutes before heading out to see what kind of storm was brewing. It's a good thing we waited too because not long after a raging thunderstorm opened up. The rain was so heavy you couldn't see the far shore of the lake and lightning was crashing down all around. BigFoot saw purple lightning and even saw a bolt hit the lake! I was very glad we weren't hiking in it, but it was super cool to be outside in the middle of it like that (the shelter has open walls, it's not completely enclosed).It was over in an hour or so and the sun popped out to make everything hot and steamy, so we got on the Trail in the warmest, wettest part of the day. Our packs are heavier than normal this time since we're carrying extra food for the Smokies (they're a little more remote than where we've been so far). The terrain was a little on the rough side too, so the miles we put in today felt like the hardest ones yet. I'm sure there was some decent views today, but I spent most of the trip staring at the Trail ahead of me as I huffed and puffed up Shuckstack Mountain so I didn't take many pics today.We're tenting at a designated campsite tonight; the only approved tent site that doesn't have a shelter. It's in a pretty little cove and has a nice stream bubbling through the middle of it so it should be a nice evening. I'm completely worn out from hiking today and plan on sleeping well tonight.