Date: 2012-04-05
From: Campsite before Fontana

To: Birch Spring Gap
Miles today: 9.5

I survived another thunderstorm, but the lightning and thunder were very close for the second night in a row. Apparently there was hail the night before last, but I was too sleepy to notice. I got up at 7 and left at 8:30 to hike the 2.5 miles to Fontana road crossing. I saw the clouds lifting off of Fontana Lake as I descended. The 'village' of Fontana was 2 miles from the trail, and it cost 3$ for a shuttle each way. Such a rip-off, and it made me feel lazy, but I had a long day ahead of me and didn't want to waste the time and energy. I washed up in the bathroom at the marina and caught the shuttle in with Chocolate Steak and a hiker named Biscuits. When reaching the post office, the drama started. My package wasn't there. I gave the lady my name twice and she checked in the back and on a list, but she said it wasn't there and that it might show up with today's packages. I hadn't remembered exactly what Kaitie had said to me about the shipping of the maildrop, but I knew that it was supposed to be there. Without knowing what to do, I decided to wait and see if it showed up that day. If it didn't, I would either have to stay overnight in Fontana and hope it showed up the next day, or by food there and have it forwarded up the trail somewhere. I needed cash, so I walked to the country store that had a sign out front for an ATM, but didn't have an ATM. The sign didn't look new, but for some reason it hadn't been installed yet. The cashier, which happened to be the same lady who drove the shuttle, said that the only ATM was up at the Lodge which was the hotel all the way at the top of the hill. Not wanting to leave my pack sitting outside the store, I threw it on and walked up to the Lodge. This was the nicest, or most fancy establishment I had been in since I had left and I felt awkward walking among the people that were paying $100-$200/night to stay there. I went into a small side room where the ATM was and it was out of cash. The only ATM in Fontana Village was out of cash, I had $6 in my zip-loc wallet, there wasn't another town for 8 days, and I didn't have my package with 6 days of food and Easter candy! I didn't know what to do, so I sat on the deck of the hotel and used their WIFI since of course their was no cell phone service in Fontana for either Verizon or AT&T(I didn't really hate Fontana that much, it just seemed like nothing was going my way). I sat on the deck and watched three kids jumping up and down, stomping their feet, excited about a boat ride. After that they were singing a song called pizza party and it reminded me of the pizza party we had a few months ago with Kaitie's dad and her friend Lisa after they went to the Flyers game. I finally remembered that Kaitie had a tracking number and I texted her a few minutes before she went into her physical therapy session. Neither of the restaurants in town opened until noon, so I sat outside of one and met Firewalker who was from TN and knew Biscuits and was nice to talk to. What surprised me was when he said he was thinking about getting off the trail and hitching 600 miles home. It wasn't what he thought it would be like. That's a common reason for getting off the trail, but it just doesn't make sense to me. I guess there are those who either don't prepare enough or don't know what they are getting themselves into. Around 11:30 I went down to the Post Office and gave her the tracking number I got just in the nick of time. She had finished unloading the day's mail and I gave her my ID so she could see if mine came in. It still hadn't. Great. I gave her the tracking number and she punched it into the computer and a confused expression came over her face. I assumed this meant that the package should be there. She asked me what other name it could be under. I told her it was sent to my name. Kaitie had texted me a picture of the package, and it clearly said from her to me. The postmaster then asked who sent it and I gave her Kaitie's name. She didn't apologize, but instead said that her "sub" had put the package under the sender's name instead of the receiver's. Oh good. Thanks post office, I appreciate the 3 hour delay you just caused me. Opening my first maildrop was like opening a present on Christmas. Even though I knew most of what was in it, there were a few surprises and some Easter candy which I appreciated. I got tuna and cheese from the store, loaded up my pack, and went to the gas station/diner to get an 8" pizza and soda. I have to work my way up to the 12-16", but I was getting there. I charged my phone as much as possible and went outside to wait for the shuttle. When I left, two guys with backpacks and two dogs were sitting outside and one of them asked me if I was a rainbow. I thought he meant is that my trail name or something like that, and confused I said no. I figured they were hikers, but soon realized they weren't. I had never heard of rainbow people, but he filled me in rather quickly. He described themselves as people that don't like to work, pay taxes, live in society, have money, and so on. They travel around by hitch hiking it sounded and have gatherings all across the country and even the world. He said they were at a gathering in Ocala, FL last week and everyone there burned all of the money they had. He said it must have been three or four thousand dollars. I wonder how many of them were thinking later, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." I didn't know whether to ask more questions or just take it all in, but before I could decide the shuttle showed up and she took half of my remaining kroner. I was going through a national park that is 70 miles long and I had $3. Great.I finally entered the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I let the others I had been hiking with know that I was going to the post office today and that I would try to meet them at Mollie's Ridge Shelter which is the first shelter in the Smokies. There are strict rules in the Smokies about where to camp and the shelters have a reservation system where 4 thru hikers are allowed in and the rest of the spots are reserved. If and only if the shelter is full, you are allowed to setup your tent around the shelter. The climb out of Fontana was even tougher than NOC. I was carrying 6 days of food and I was starting right at the hottest time of day. The first 2 miles covered 2000' in elevation and there were still another thousand to go. I drank 3 liters of water in that span and filled up again before reaching Shuckstack tower. I remembered hearing about this tower in Portrait's trail journals. He hiked the trail last year and his journal was one of the best I've ever read. When I got there I saw Wiffleball, Hawk, and Fastback. They were coming back from the tower and Hawk said jokingly that it wasn't worth it. They made up stories on the spot about how when they were up there a small woman jumped in off the roof and tried throwing them off, but they were able to hold on like Godzilla and knock her down. Quite the imaginations, but they reminded me of my friends from home. I went up the tower myself and took in the remarkable view. I could see Fontana Dam and Lake which I had just been a few hours before. It looked so far away. The tower itself was rickety and rusty and it was a bit nerve racking being up there in the wind. There was thunder in the distance and I decided to stay at the campground in a few miles instead of pushing all the way to the shelter. I camped with the guys and enjoyed a delicious meal of mountain house buffalo chicken wraps. It began to rain around 7:30 and we scurried into our tents. Haha scurried.