Date: 2003-04-16
From: Fontana Village

To: Birch Springs Camp
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

(Julie has been typing my journal until now. She's been having a hard time reading my writing as I'm writing small and it's just hard to write on a 3x5 inch memo pad. Thus all the typos, she's writing what she sees. My spelling and grammar are really not that bad. Also, the pictures that are referenced will be loaded eventually. I'm usually still in the middle of a roll when I sent my notes in, thus the delay.) I was reluctant to leave Fontana Village today as I was carrying 8 days of food. You can tell a big difference in pack weight. I checked out the "Fontana Hilton" before crossing the dam. This is the thruhiker shelter built in 1992. It sleeps 20 and has all the amenities. Showers, picnic tables, running water, flush toilets all nearby. Real classy. I was almost tempted to stop there for the night but I had only hiked one mile at that point. (Henry, you and I will have to stay there one night when we come up for Trail Crew in October!) It was a warm day for a climb up the mountain. Gained 2000 feet of elevation. No water source for 5 miles so I had to carry an extra liter. I took pictures of the Hilton, thruhiker kiosk with Radar and Blaze (you're required to have a permit to hike thru the national park.); the Fontana Dam, Shuckstack Fire Tower from the dam (Where I spent the night 2 years ago and I swear Eric Rudolph visited me at 2am.) I met Don and Gracie again today (see picture). They are in their late 70's. They section hiked the AT over a seven year period from 1990-1996. They told me that in 1996, they had only 43 miles left thru the White Mountains. They climbed to Kinsman Mountain out of Franconia Notch and stopped! They looked at each other and decided not to finish it! Shince then they have repeated parts of the AT many times but have never completed that last section. Today was the second time that I have seen them in the past 3 days. They had been hiking from Stecoah Gap to Shuckstack Mountain (a killer hike!). They were a really cool couple and I spent a while visiting with them. Last night, I attended the entertainment program at Fontana Village. Abigail Moore, a 14 y.o., played the fiddle. She did a pretty good job. Apparently is working on her second CD. Today, Firefeet and I met up at Shuckstact fire tower after hiking alone. Wayne, one of the ridge runners was checking for permits as they entered the park. Some of you will remember Wayne. He does a lot of volunteer work for the AT and was up here in the past years working on the Rocky Top Trail Crew with us. He told me that 40 thruhikers had passed him heading north yesterday. Only 24 of us today. Firefeet and I stayed at the Birch Spring campsite tonight. This is the place where I helped tear down the shelter in 2001. Only seven of us here at the campsite. Nice and quiet. Two guys who are hiking south thru the park told us there were 36 people at Derrick Knob shelter last night. Hopefully, I've missed the crowd. The campsite here still has a pile of mortar that was never dispersed anywhere (see picture). You'll see a picture of me cooking supper - mixture of 2 meals, red beans/rice and bowtie pasta/navy beans. It turned out good. I've already eaten 8 oz. of cheddar cheese, 5 cinnamon raisin bagels from the Fontana store, and a roll of the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies from my maildrop today. I was starving. I talked to Katie today before I left. Anna's eyes are still blue and her dark hair is starting to look strawberry blonde at the roots. Eric and Julie want to drive out here the second week of May so that Julie can do some trail magic. They'd also pick me up and take me back for Julie's graduation from law school. We'll see what happens. Looks like rain is predicted for tomorrow.