Date: 2006-09-19
From: fontana village cabin

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

======2003=======march 9, day 16, ANOTHER ZERO!the tuckers really ¢treated¢ us today!...they brought veggies and filets and susan cooked a fabulous meal (fried okra, corn, potatoes, steak)¢¦had mousse pie for dessert¢¦¢¦tuck and mario came, too¢¦the kids were SUCH fun!....i think killeen really enjoyed bein¢ ¢granddaddy¢¢¦tim and susan brought ¢shoo goo¢ to fix my shoe¢¦.and candy bars and t-shirts and everything!...what a memorable day!but, now, i¢m havin¢ trouble concentrating on this writing¢¦we¢re in the fontana hilton (our very first shelter) and, shall we say, it¢s QUITE lively here!.....can¢t help but listen to all these ¢varied¢ conversations¢¦¢¦(stitch, gonz, undome, sparrow, lucky, and pilgrim)¢¦can¢t write anymore¢¦.too sleepy¢¦.good night¢¦..======2006======febuary 27, day 16 (13.8 mi¢¦. fontana to russel field) we¢re here under the tarp at russell field¢¦..up the hill from the shelter in some nice grass¢¦.there¢s a group of medical students who had reserved the shelter, so here we are¢¦.it¢s COLD! (and WINDY!)¢¦.but i think we¢ll be just fine¢¦..our supper was minestrone* and shells (plus a pkg. of ramen* noodles w/ turnip greens)¢¦.we really liked it¢¦.i think kidney beans rehydrate quicker than other beans¢¦.we ate some of our sourdough toast* (a little of it molded)¢¦.it was way too chewy, but good¢¦today was a real challenge from the start¢¦..we had to hitch a ride* (no shuttles from the hotel), but mr. john jenkins picked us up¢¦.50- 60ish, newly wed with plenty of local mountain flavor¢¦.he played us a tape of his bride singing ¢the wall of prayer¢*¢¦.he told us his dad walked 8 miles and back everyday to help build the dam for 95 cents an hour!...j.jenkins now lives in maryville, but we were glad he was there this AM to pick us up and to share a bit of old mountain wisdom from a friend of his who had this saying: ¢stop lookin¢ to the weather MAN and start lookin¢ to the weather MAKER¢!....we gave him a little cash for the ride for which he seemed grateful¢¦.it was after 9 before we got hiking up shuckstack¢¦..we got in here at 4:30¢¦.not quite 2 mph¢¦.but the trail was difficult¢¦..steep at first all the way up to doe knob (we saw a group of college kids there)¢¦and then it was either rocky, muddy, icy, or snowy¢¦.so I guess getting¢ in at 4:30 was rather a geriatric accomplishment!.....we¢ve also had cold winds today¢¦.they seemed to have died down a bit now¢¦.hope we sleep well tonight¢¦.we¢ll do 14 tomorrow, Lord willin¢¢¦.read this mornin¢: ¢where your treasure is, there will your heart be¢¦..no man can serve two masters¢¦..don¢t worry about your life¢¦¢ (God loves us and cares for us!)*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-------*minestrone¢¦.one of our homemade, dehydrated meals that ended up being a favorite¢¦.we carried the pasta separately to add at suppertime¢¦very good*ramen with turnip greens¢¦¢¦this was a bit of leftover (uncooked) lunch that we added to the minestrone at the last minute just to use it up¢¦i had re-packaged all our ramen in baggies adding dehydrated tofu* and a few dehydrated veggies (such as greens, peas or corn)¢¦.i also added only half the flavor packet (or one whole pkt. per two packages of ramen)¢¦not as salty that way¢¦..these ramen meals were meant for ¢lunch¢, which we eventually (as warmer weather rolled around) allowed to soak in water all morning and then, using our fingers, ate right out of the bag when we stopped for a break¢¦it was nice to have something a little ¢wet¢(instead of dry granola or crackers all the time¢¦.jolly ranchers, by the way, also seemed to help curb thirst)¢¦..the ramen lunch was sort of like having pasta salad¢¦.and indeed, it would be, if you carried oil and some malt vinegar packets (or packets of salad dressing)*tofu¢¦..it¢s a staple for us at home and we¢ve discovered it¢s a very easy, tasty and powerful trail food¢¦here¢s what we do: FREEZE some extra firm tofu for several days¢¦.then thaw it¢¦..squeeze it out and then crumble it up with seasonings (we add ¢BAKON¢, which is a hickory smoked torula yeast powder available at health food stores, and salt¢¦.you could add ¢beef¢ or ¢chicken¢ style powdered seasonings as well¢¦or herbs or taco seasoning or whatever you like)¢¦.anyway, spread the crumbled tofu on trays and dehydrate¢¦presto!...you have some tasty, lightweight protein to add to mac ¢n¢ cheese or lipton¢s or ramen or whatever you have in your pack!...(we¢ve even munched on it dry, but you have to be careful to drink a little more water, of course, when eating dehydrated foods)¢¦and, incidently, you¢ll do very well to purchase an EXCALIBER food dehydrator¢¦.it¢s like the ¢microwave¢ of the dehydrating world! (well¢¦maybe not quite that fast, but you can dry just about anything almost overnight!)¢¦the EXCALIBAR was probably our best investment for 2006¢¦.*sourdough toast¢¦¢¦as you have perhaps already read, we love making and eating our own bread (the flavor and leavening of which come right out of the air in rising fawn, georgia!)¢¦we missed our bread ALOT when we hiked in ¢03, so we experimented in¢06 with sourdough ¢toast¢¢¦we sliced our bread and toasted it (with a little olive oil) , vacuum sealed it and then stored it in the freezer until ready to ship¢¦..it didn¢t work that great¢¦.the sealer kind of ¢smooshed¢ the toasts¢¦..(perhaps if we had toasted it a little drier without oil)¢¦.it was alright, i guess, but, if you want bread, it¢s probably better just to pick up bagels in town¢¦..there¢s a great little bakery in kent, ct. that sells WONDERFUL day old bread¢¦.we ate our fill with fresh butter both years!....this last hike we took the leftovers with us and ¢toasted¢ it in our pan in the leftover butter for supper¢¦i had also carried a fresh tomato, so we chopped that up and spooned it over the hot toast!...voila!... ¢bruschetta¢! (it was fun to share a little with another hiker there at the shelter!)¢¦..okay¢¦.enough about food! (geez!..even OFF the trail i¢m talkin¢ about it!)*hitchin¢ a ride¢¦.if you¢ve started your hike early like we did you¢ll probably find there¢s not a lot of traffic in fontana¢¦the Village seems to be ¢struggling¢, so they weren¢t that accommodating¢¦..we heard of other hikers who had an enjoyable stay at the hikers inn there (with rides to robbinsville¢¦which, by the way, has the famous phillip¢s restaurant with a great old fashioned hamburger¢¦uh oh ¢¦talkin¢ about food again!)¢¦.¢03 was better than ¢06 at the Village¢¦..maybe they¢ll eventually get it together again and have shuttles and such¢¦.(we did enjoy the privacy of a nice room even though most of the place was torn apart by construction¢¦food was better in ¢03!)¢wall of prayer¢(sung by mr. jenkins¢ new wife)¢¦.we probably wouldn¢t have chosen that particular ¢style¢ of music exactly, but it was meaningful to be reminded (in that sweet ¢mountain¢ way!) of the literal power of prayer, and God¢s care and protection known and available to people EVERYWHERE!