Date: 2007-04-08
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter, NC
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Not much to talk about from last nite. Eric, Persistent, and I all layed aroundand watched t.v. all evening. Sailor's wife, Teresa, brought their scale so wehopped on. I trust this WAY more than the scale in Hiawassee. It said I'velost 6 lbs, and I can accept that. Persistent (who has no fat to begin with) has gained some weight (she didn't sayhow much) but I think that is a good sign, she's gaining muscle.We called last nite and arranged for the shuttle to take us all back out to thedam @ 9:00 a.m. We got up and the weather now said that tonite will be even colder than lastnite, with a low of 18 degrees! If I can stay warm tonite, it will be a goodgood thing.We started hiking across the dam around 9:30 a.m. Sunny day, but VERY cold. The temp said 34 degrees...brrr.We could see Shuckstack Mt., where we were going to be eventually. It looked sofar away.It was slow going today, my knees, which I thought were all ready to go, werenot happy at all. Eric started off pretty strong, but as the day went on, weall got really tired.At one point, I was taking a quick break, I was by myself. Next thing I know, Ihear all this rustling around in the leaves about 100 ft below me. I get reallyexcited and grab my camera.Closer, closer, then I see a dark figure..is it a bear? Then, I realize that Iam seeing an entire family of Wild Boar! 2 adults and 2 babies! I know theycan be very aggressive animals, so I stay still and try to get a good pic. Isnapped one, but I think it looks like a black blob in the bushes! LOL Nonetheless, it was REALLY cool to see!The hike was pretty uneventful other than that. Muddy trail in a lot of places,and icecycles were hanging from the rocks. All a reminder of the cold nite tocome. We met a ridgerunner, Carl Goodman, who was very nice. He just asked how manywere in our party and wanted to make sure we filled out our registration. Wedid. He gave us a quick overview of he terrain ahead. The map I have for thissection is made by National Geographic, and it doesn't have topographicprofiles, which makes it hard to know if you are planning the longest day on thehardest terrain. You just have to hope for the best, and today was actually apretty easy 11 miles (can't believe I'm saying that! LOL).The sky was crystal clear today. No smoke in the smokies. I think the tempstopped out at 45 degrees. Pretty uncomfortable on this Easter Sunday. I thinkit is supposed to start warming up a bit tomorrow. I hope so.A good thing about hiking slowly like I do is that you can catch more of what'sgoing on around you. I never would have heard those wild boar had I not justbeen standing there. I ran into 2 guys today who had been dropped off 1.5 milesfurther back than me. They caught up to us (of course) and made a rude commentto me about being surprised that "She's a hiker?" because I hiked so slow! LOL Too much testosterone for my taste. LOL I have run into too many people (sorry guys, but it's been all men actually) whoseem to think this is a race. They are missing the point entirely (in myopinion). For me, it isn't about big miles or seeing who can make it to thenext shelter first. It is about absorbing the beauty, feeling the sun, gazing atthe mountains, and appreciating how lucky you are to be doing this (even on acold nite like this!). Hike your own hike, the mantra spoken by this community. For those of you whowill be slow hikers like me, expect raised eye brows and surprised looks onpeople's faces when you tell them when you started (and then they will boast howthey started 2 weeks after you, and the unspoken "I've already caught up toyou!" lingers in the air). Don't let it bother you and ignore the stupidity. Iam SO proud to say I hiked 4.9 miles my first day. Anyone who didn't probablyslept at the shelter (like everyone else) and didn't sleep next to a 40 ftwaterfall their first nite out here! And for thse of you who do this for thephysical challenge of seeing how fast you can complete it, I say good for youthat you are doing it your way, just understand that not everyone is out herefor that reason, so try to be nice to us slowpokes! LOL I am sharing thisbecause I think this peer pressure to keep up is what makes a whole lot ofpeople push too hard, be miserable, and ultimately bur! n out or injure themselves. Ok, we made it to the shelter at 4:45 p.m. Not bad for us. I tried to find alocation to hang that was out of the wind, but it was hard. Luckily the windhas died down some. I pitched my tarp really close to the ground and my hammock. I built up duff on both sides. After dinner, I drank an entire liter of water, because you will get cold if youare dehydrated. I also boiled some water and put it in one of my canteens. Itis 7:00 p.m., and I'm in for the nite. All new people here tonite that I don'tknow, except for Joe, a guy from Jersey who lives his first 13 years of life inFrance. Really nice guy.I need to get zipped up, as I am getting chilled already. I also have some handwarmers I'm throwing inside my socks. Wish me luck everyone, tonite is the bigtest. Can I stay warm into the teens?~Certain