Date: 2017-04-22
From: Springer Mountain

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 166.3
Weather: clear sky

Normally I would enter my journal entries for each day of a section hike, but in the interest of time and effort I am abridging this to be one summary entry for a 14 day backpack.In all of the miles Greenie and I have covered ( as of this trip we passed the 1000 miles hiked together mark), this trip stands out as being different than any other. Perhaps it was the fact that the weather presented some challenges - we actually had to use our rain gear almost every day (something we oddly rarely had to do in all of our previous miles) due to precipitation, wind or both. We had to break camp with wet gear and dry it out more than once . But the biggest difference this trip Vs. our previous section hikes was we found ourselves hiking among a host of folks that were inexperienced, had the wrong gear, too much gear, did not know how to use what they had or had not developed a sense of trail etiquette yet.After this trip I can see why so many folks get off the trail within the first 30 to 60 miles. #newbiestothetrailWe started out the trip by flying to Atlanta from Boston, taking the train to North Springs where a driver from The Hiker Hostel (no longer called that by the new owners) met us and drove us north to the hostel where we would spend the night. It was a crazy ride to the hostel, with the van travelling at speeds of 75 MPH or sometimes faster. That first night we listened to folks talk about gear and all the stuff they had done, when most of them by the looks of it never got any further than a Youtube video on backpacking. Greenie and I kept our mouths shut not wishing to engage in the conversation.The ride on Saturday morning was just as thrilling as the ride to the hostel. The van felt like is was skipping around corners on two wheels more than having four wheels on the ground....but we arrived at the parking area just north of Springer alive and intact. If my bladder could speak after the ride to the trail-head I would hate to hear what it would say!We hiked SOBO to Springer, tagged the southern terminus/signed the register and turned our feet northward. That first night on the trail was one of the worst storms I have camped in. Some folks had total tent failure (one guy had to be extracted due to hypothermia), but Greenie and I were OK. Our tents were wet, but we and our (important) gear was dry. We heard that some folks with (Walmart) tents walked away leaving their tents behind. We saw no less than five or six tents/hammocks abandoned along the trail - most of the gear being from none other than Walmart. I think Walmart should pay the ATC for trash and tent removal...or get out of the tent business.We spent our second night on the trail in the Gooch Mtn. shelter, stacked like cord-wood with other hikers. But folks were polite and respectful. The third night out we got a cabin at Blood mountain cabins so we could dry our gear and hit the re-set button.Passing through Tesnatee Gap on day four, we met my cousin David and his son who were doing a father son trip hitting the high points of several states. It was great to see them and best of all was the craft beer they gave to Greenie. I think he would have taken anyone down that tried to take that beer away from him, kind of like a big cat guarding a fresh kill...After Neels gap our first real bed and shower we had was at the Top O'Georgia hostel - a fairly new place on the trail but well run. They provide all of the hikers scrubs to wear while their laundry is getting done. Many of the hikers opted to wear the scrubs into town for dinner looking like a surgeon's convention was going on in town that included a practical lab as a part of the event.We saw a lot of forest fire damage on this walk - some of which was outright total destruction. The fire damage started after Plumorchard shelter and while was sad to see, nature has a way of recovering. To our dismay, we had some yahoos at Wesser Bald shelter who saw fit to have a campfire at the shelter. The tenting area was down-wind of the shelter so the smell was disturbing. Even after Greenie spoke to the folks they were hell bent on having a fire anyhow. #dumbassesgohomeOne of the nicer hostels we stayed at was the cabins at Nantahala Mountain Lodge. The place was exceptionally clean and the meals were wonderful. The folks who own and run the place are a little over the top in terms of having us leaving all our gear in a "mudroom" shed (NOTHING can go into the hostel) and sending us directly to the showers when we arrived. It kind of made us feel a little uncomfortable - but I get their precautions due to bed bug issues further south of there - which is why we opted to stay there in the first place. Also, if you want food from the little shop they have you better get it when you can. They lock the shop up when they are not there and it is not like you can walk to town (not even close by) to get stuff. Greenie was happy that they actually had beer available :>)I cannot say enough about the NOC - what a great place to stay and the food was great. We ended up staying there for two nights Vs the original plan of one. We got some shuttle assistance from Donna and her husband from Cabin in the woods to slack pack the last two days to Fontana Dam. The weather and high winds we had over those two days made us glad we did not camp in the woods that last night. There was a 95 MPH wind gust in the Smokies just north of us and the blow-downs were crazy. They were actually kicking hikers out of the Smokies and the one road in the middle of the park was closed. The Fontana Hilton had about 40 folks there Thursday night due to the weather.Donna's husband dropped our heavy packs at the Hike Inn for us and lent us some day packs to use on the last two days. I took some heat over the "fashionable" color of my pack - that I am OK with that.We finished our trip at The Hike Inn. I had only spoken to her on the phone, but I felt like I had known Nancy there forever. She took us into town for dinner and she had a shuttle take us back to Atlanta dropping us at the MARTA station. We took the train from North Springs back to the Airport due to the bridge that was destroyed still being a problem.