Date: 2016-04-30
From: fontana dam shelter

To: russell field shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 19- April 30,2016This morning we woke up at 6:30 and got going fairly quickly. We set out around 7:30ish and started towards the Fontana Dam. I was feeling much more tired than usual and was less enthusiastic about this part we've been looking forward to. As we saw the dam the water was low but it still had some awesome views. We looked down the drainage tunnel and it was impressive how large and deep it was. We passed the visitor center and it wasn't until we had gone all the way across that dregs realized we didn't know where to put out smokies permit slips. Dregs was slightly panicked and didn't want to go all the way back and I, in my already tired and moody state, couldn't take the stress. I sat down at a picnic table to let dregs figure out what he wanted to do. He found another hiker who said the permit box was up ahead so we continued on. I was moving slow and frustrated so dregs took the lead. I fell behind and was still upset for no real reason. Dregs tried to cheer me up as we started our 12 mile climb into the smokies but it didn't seem to work. Every 50 feet or so I would feel overwhelmed and feel like I couldn't breath. Dregs made us find a place to sit down and he got out ibuprofen and caffeinated tea powder for me. He said he was going to fix me. I downed the tea and medicine and a few day hikers showed up. We chatted with them and the two guys from the Netherlands, Moe and Tiko, showed up. The day hiker tried to name one of the guys orange peel cause of his shirt and we wanted it to stick. After that we kept pace with the Netherland guys for a bit and I meticulously felt so much better. Apparently I'm pretty reliant on caffeine to function. Hiking the AT is not the place to try to quit drinking coffee. We continued on and found two small snakes along the way. We got to the top of the first major climb where a fire tower sat overlooking the smokies. It was such a tall tower and dregs kept saying that it was safe and frequently used and inspected. We took off our packs at the bottom of the trail that led up to the tower and used our trekking polls to climb the rest of the way. Without a pack, it felt like the polls jet propelled us up. As we got closer I saw that this "safe" tower had a rusted out railing that one side that fell completely off... But we climbed it. I only got to the second tier which was high enough and over the tree line and dregs and moe went all the way to the rickety top. They said that the floor seemed to be rotted it but with a new pice of plywood over top. They got down and we continued on our way. It was a log day and we were racing to get a 15 mile day in before expected rain would arrive. We made it to the first shelter that we planed to have lunch at and found Squarepeg, the Netherland guys, a ridge runner, and two other hikers. The ride runner checked our permits and we ate for a bit. Still being time concise, we left not long after. Thunder rolled but no rain showed yet. We got to our last mountain to climb and dregs told me we were almost to our final destination so I picked up speed and got my second wind. 40 minutes later we still weren't there..he exasperated a little about how close we were. But we made it to the shelter. Not 10 minutes later, the first rain happened. We had made it without getting wet! The showers came and went as more and more people showed up. Even funfact eventually showed up and we were super happy to se him. He still set up his hammock out in the rain. Crazy. We all made dinner and hung out. It was only 3:30 when we arrived so we Had a long time to chill out. Dregs let me sit on his feet for a bit to keep me out of the dirt while he gave me a back massage which was super great. It was neat to watch the smoky fog roll in around the shelter and blow through as if we were going through a cloud. Now the storm is picking up with thunder and lightning. Time to wind down even though it's not even 8. Oh snap!! Just now while writing, a bear and her cub walked into camp!!! Then went sniffing around a tent with two people in it right in front of us!! A hiker named jack saw them first and casually said ,"hey, there's a bear". It was so cool!!! Scary though, they don't seem too scared of people cause the guys were yelling at them and they just looked at us and kept sniffing around. I'm really excited that we saw them!