Date: 2005-02-21
To: Derrick Knob Shelter - 185.6 miles so far
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The ShowI stayed at the Fontana Dam shelter (the "Hilton") on Saturday night, 2/19/05. It was so calm and mild that I slept halfway out of my sleeping bag. It was my good fortune that "Crash Test Dummy" arrived late that night as well. I had been unable to resupply with quality food in Fontana Village that afternoon, and except for 8 oz. of cheddar cheese, had bought only chips, crackers and candy bars for additional sustenance. "Crash" offered me all kinds of food, and I gladly took macaroni and cheese dinners (exactly what I had wanted to buy at the store!) and a number of Clif bars. One of many act of kindness and generosity shown to me so far on my hike! Thanks!Anyway, Fontana Dam is where you enter the Great Smoky Mountains. I had been greating looking forward to "The Show," the spectacle of either great views of the mountains or great views from the mountains. But Sunday morning when I arose and put on my backpack, it was raining lightly. I hiked from 9 AM to 3 PM, ending at Mollies Ridge Shelter, 9.9 miles later. During that time the rain turned to freezing rain, the wind picked up, fog moved in, and eventually near the end of my day chunks of ice were again falling from the trees (almost like my early days in Georgia.)After I had settled in at the shelter distant thunder could be heard, along with faint lightning flashes. During the night the rain became very heavy and fortunately melted all of the accumulated ice by the morning. The temperature had turned mild, but the thunderstorm was now clearly closer.Hiking into mid-day, the thunder and lightning became more frequent and seemed to suddenly intensify as I passed the turn-off for Spence Gap Shelter (at about 5.4 miles in) and was about to climb in a much more exposed area. I thought about it as I passed the turn-off for that shelter, but decided to press on. Then I thought about it a bit more, saying to myself, "I wasn't really looking to get hit by lightning today!" No more than 5 minutes later a hailstorm comes out of nowhere. I had on only a light hat and could clearly feel the hailstones pelting my head. That did it. I turned around and headed back to Spence Gap Shelter and had some cheese and chocolate milk for lunch. I thought, if this is what today is all about, I'll have to call it a day and try again tomorrow. Just as I finished eating, 3 guys that were headed in the opposite direction (south) on a 4-day trip also sought out the shelter. They were right in the midst of the worst part of the thunderstorm in a very open area. As they discussed their options among themselves, I kept an eye and ear on the weather outside the shelter door. After another half an hour, I realized I hadn't heard any thunder in all that time and the sky seemed to be brightening a bit - the weather was tempting me back out... Just shortly after packing up and heading back out, I KNEW it was over. "The Show" for me these 1 1/2 days had NOT been views of or from the Smokies, but a demonstration of the tremendous range and sudden changeability of mountain weather. I realized that the hailstorm was "The Grand Finale" in the whole production! And it turned out to be so. The rest of the day was just overcast, with only the slightest rain sprinkles now and then, not enough to even put a hat on for. The next 2 days were absolutely spectacular: clear, blue skies, mild temperatures and only a slight breeze. And I did get those fabulous Great Smoky Mountain views those 2 days.