Date: 2009-04-03
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

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

I guess I must have slept for at least a few minutes because I had a dream in which I was back at work in the lab, taking a break from the trail! I couldn¢t figure out why I was back there, and how I would possibly finish the trail by September or October if I was working and not hiking. I greatly longed to be back on the trail...         The shelter we stayed at is referred to as the ¢Fontana Hilton¢ because it is so large, and because there are public restrooms with showers just up the hill (although no towels¢¦)! We are so spoiled¢¦ I headed out just after nine, and crossed over the road on top of Fontana Dam. I could see two hikers ahead of me in the distance. Today, I was excited to have my picture taken at the Smoky Mountain entrance sign! Raindrops began to fall, so I pulled out my umbrella. I could now see that the hikers ahead were Richard and Chance, and they were almost at the sign that I could feel was coming around the corner! I practically had to run to catch up to them, so someone could take my picture! Then, the three of us walked up the road to the trailhead, and Richard allowed me to take the lead on the trail, as his pack was loaded down with 8 days of food that would take him to Hot Springs. It was an uphill day, so I knew it would be a good one for me! Up I climbed, and as I rounded a bend, what did I see before me, but two doe! Oh, my gosh! They stayed right there as I pulled out my camera, and as Richard came up behind me, they still were not scared! We spent several minutes observing them, and continued on our way. Wow! The Smokies were a different kind of place than what we had experienced so far! The fog thickened as the day progressed, and soon large rain droplets formed out of the moisture and fell upon us. We put on our raingear and continued on. Our field of view consisted only of the couple of feet around us that day. After a fork in the trail, I continued along alone, with my mind bogged down with thoughts concerning the rate I was walking, when I would arrive at the next shelter, and what I would eat when I got there. All of a sudden, I heard a loud and tremulous noise. It snapped me out of my stupor and brought me back to my surroundings. It sounded like a moose to me, but was probably a bear. It was definitely a large animal, but I could see nothing but fog. I looked behind me. (Richard?¢¦) No one was there. I didn¢t want to proceed, thinking I could be headed straight for the bear, so I stopped and waited a few minutes, and then advanced slowly. I never saw anything.         Richard and I arrived at Mollies Ridge Shelter before 2pm, where he planned on staying for the night. I made some tea to warm me up and have with my tuna and tortilla and veggie chips that Persistent sent me. We met Poppins and another hiker there. A little later on, the cutest hiker I have ever seen arrived (a five year old boy) with his father. I had always planned on moving on, and Sir Richard finally decided to as well, after realizing he would have nothing to do all day if he stopped here. Richard and Monkey Wrench spent the night at Russell Field Shelter and I moved on to Spence Field Shelter, as I was to meet Erik at Newfound Gap on Sunday afternoon, and wanted to get as far as I could. The last two miles were tough for me, as fatigue set in. The shelter was 0.2 miles off the AT on a side path, and it felt like it took a great deal of time to get there. Because the fog was so thick, I didn¢t even see the shelter until I was a few feet away from it. Texas Chill was sitting on a bench outside of the shelter. ¢You made it.¢ he said to me. "Was your hike as muddy as mine?" He is always so calm, contained, and laid-back. I pulled open the tarp and stepped inside. A ridge-runner asked me if I was a thru-hiker and what state I was from. Then, he pointed to an empty sleeping spot between two other sleeping bags in the lower berth. It was cold and damp, and I had to go down a muddy hill to fetch more water from the icy stream so I could make my dinner and brush my teeth. A group of section hikers were spending the night, and they made a fire to help warm everyone up, which was very nice. I ate my pasta dinner, cleaned up, and chatted with the section hikers for a bit, as well as Carl (Graybeard), the ridge runner, who had hiked the PCT last year (as well as the AT in ¢99). Then, I wrote a bit in my journal, and crawled into my sleeping bag for my second night in a shelter. It was in the thirties, so I broke out my handwarmers and slept with them.          Happy Birthday, Ted¢¦I'm thinking of you!