Date: 2009-04-10
From: Fontana Dam Shelter (Fontana Hilton)

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: light rain

Day 18, 16.7 miles, 7:30 am - 5:15 pm   Early morning gave us a beautiful pre-storm, pre-sunrise sky, and some warmth before hitting the trail. I knew what was coming. The very minute we passed the boundary for GSMNP it started thunderstom, a torrential rain with lots of lightening strikes. I climbed slowly up the gap, concentrating on every step, progressively getting soaked to the bone and gaining elevation. Not fun. I hate thunderstorms. Bad, negative thoughts led me slowly up the ridge. At first I was hot and sweating into my rain jacket, but eventually the temperature dropped, and I was so cold and wet I could barely hold onto my poles.    So that was our introduction to the Smokies.    I walked, dreading the rest of the day, thinking that I would be walking through storms all day long. Luckily, the rain did stop--for awhile.    The floor of the forest is carpeted in green and white. The tread is completely trashed, from a few things-snowmelt, horse travel, and high hiker traffic. The grade is fine but the 6" of slippery muck in the trail makes you feel like you're walking through sticky sand that you can't get any purchase on. One step forward, two steps back.    So we trudged and slogged through the day, making quick stops at Mollie Ridge Shelter, where I put on more layers and rainpants, and the dark Russell Field Shelter, where there was a weird guy who had just woken up. The sky today was permanent 6 o'clock, and 45 minutes before we reached the shelter another thunderstorm swept through. Of course. We were approaching open areas with lightening cracking all around and metal poles in hour hands. We held our poles off of the ground and walked/ran as fast as we could for home. At the shelter there were 2 spots left. Everyone else here is a section hiker, except for 1 other thru. I am surprisingly happy to be here. The place is packed, but a fire is going, and it's pretty clean and dry. After we came in the rain became torrential and hail started splattering the roof. In all honesty I think even attempting to tent through this stuff, at this elevation, would be impossible.    You can spot the section hikers right away because they look clean, happy, well fed, and they have spotless gear. Everyone here is very nice and my neighbor gave me some fig newtons.    Matt collected rain water cascading off the roof and made dinner. I am so lucky to have him here. If it was just me I would have simply gone to bed.    I was frustruated and in a horrible mood by late afternoon, but now I am safe and dry, and tomorrow is supposed to be better. Day 1 in the Smokies is down! Unfortunately it was exactily what I expected. I'm glad I've been in this park before or I would have a bad impression of it. It's just springtime, which is the worst time to be here.    Onto "Pet Sematary."* * *That night we met our first ridgerunner, Carl. What a nice guy. This is officially when I started to love shelters. God bless 'em all! Some people don't like them, but 2009 being so horribly rainy, I can tell you that NO ONE this year tented the whole way. It was just impossible. If it wasn't for the shelters I would have gotten off, no doubt about it. Oh, and this was also the day a thru got struck by ground current. He did okay. His trail name became Sparky.