The Great Smokies: GA and NC were just warmups

The Smokies have given me a new respect for the climbs and descents. I see the younger ones eating them, but for those of us who are older, stress and strain on various parts of the body become much more prevalent in the Smokies. I have to keep remembering that they rated the Appalachian Trail for hikers only, not bikes or pack animals. However, it seems to me that there are pack animal trails that use some of the backcountry shelters in the Smokies and access them from other intersecting trails.

The Fontana Hilton

Descending to Fontana Lake after having climbed up and down some big climbs starting in the NOC, the local AT trail clubs maintain what is easily the best shelter yet, the Fontana “Hilton”. In a beautiful location overlooking the reservoir, a very well built sleeping shelter. Indoor bathrooms in an adjacent building with shower available. Drinking water and energy to charge devices. There are also flat, flat campsites. An outdoor community space allows the construction of the hiking community. The «Hilton» is a shuttle service to the «General Store» at the Fontana Resort. When we were there to pick up a resupply box, there were hundreds of mini-Coopers and hundreds of large road bikes, all holding club meetings. The area has some very famous «Roads to Ride», one of the signature routes being the «Tail of the Dragon». Talking to locals in the store they like the business, however too many accidents occur due to overly adventurous and impatient drivers crossing the double line on blind bends. Being at least an hour away from the level of medical rescue needed in such accidents, accident stories are top of mind for the locals. As a note, the store goes back and forth in terms of having enough resupply options for hikers. One year they may have good stock, but the prices are too high, which then leads to lower sales, which then causes them to have little stock the next year. Then the annual cycle seems to repeat itself again with high prices but with the idea that a bigger stock will be sold next year. A real telltale sign is that nothing has a visible price marked on it, so it’s like registration roulette as you don’t know the cost until you pay for your supplies. The good news is that sending yourself a resupply box here is easy.

Entering the Smokies

After the Fontana Hilton, the trail crosses the Fontana Dam. Built in the 1930s as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, it is a hydroelectric power station in addition to creating a large recreational reservoir. Enjoy the view and now be prepared when you enter the Smokies, it’s up and up. A long eight mile climb, very steep in places, which makes the exit from the NOC or the climb up Albert Mountain tame in comparison. As I said in the title, Georgia was just a warm-up. The first shelter is 12 miles from the Hilton, ten of them uphill. The National Park Service has built a campground at 8 miles up and this is where most hikers end up abandoning the climb in one day and end up spending the night in camp when they enter the Smokies. The bears know this too and two of them visited the camp around 2 in the morning. The NPS has provided a wired suspension system, as many hikers did not have sufficient training in the PCT suspensions needed to defeat the bears’ pursuit of easy prey from hikers’ poorly strung food. The other thing is that the Smokies are cold and the wind can be brave. We left a beautiful calm 75 degree day at the dam and climbed to 40 degrees with 20 mph sustained winds. At least it wasn’t raining.

Rain: From the Perspective of an Older Hiker

Yes, yes, I know «no rain, no Maine.» For older people, the rain here is dangerous. The rocks and roots are too numerous to count and the soles of your shoes and the tension of the strength needed to climb and, more importantly, the stability needed to descend are critical. I missed a lot of foot placements even when it was dry and now that I’m only halfway up the Smokies, my Achilles tendon is screaming and my knee is recovering from a sprain. These trails are difficult in the dry. I’ll hide off the trail for the next three rainy days and next week I’ll have a 10 mile section to do in the rain after re-entering the ridge to finish the Smokies. Even if I were younger, I would be worried about slipping on roots and rocks. Being older, I’m using one of the best pieces of equipment in my backpack to reduce the risk of a slip ending my hike: my credit card. I don’t have trail legs yet and it’s not the miles that get you, it’s the twist of a knee caught on a rock and pinched because your other foot, which you thought was stable, can’t handle the friction when then 200 pounds of you and your backpack fall onto what was expected to be a firm base (I’m currently 170 pounds lighter than 185 and my backpack is 30 pounds). Yes, I’m losing weight too fast. I’ll talk about that another time. I’m not eating well.

Rocky Top and the Double Springs Shelter Trail Jam

The AT in the Smokies straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. If you are NOBO (northbound like me), then on the left is TN and on the right is NC. So Rocky Top, Tennessee, is hot on the trail. When I got to the top of Rocky Top, I had to take out my guitar and play the famous song. As I sing, more and more hikers climb to the top and sing. It turns out that a hiker was carrying a guitar-a-le-le, it is a six-string ukulele and a lime-tuned guitar. A second hiker had a harmonica. Then we all realized we were trying to get to Double Springs Shelter, which was 13 miles ahead. We made the plan to take a tour during dinner. The walk was underway. We had to do the improvisation with enough time to include some songs. It was a brutal 13 miles. The climbs were the most difficult so far. At one point after lunch I was completely out of gas. My hiking partner gave me a shot of pure sugar with some marketing additives. That hit me like I let out the clutch and shot off the starting line. I felt rejuvenated. I discovered that I had been eating the wrong snacks at midday. I was focused on protein. Forget it. I need pure sugar, pure carbohydrates to get through the day. Protein overnight. It sounds simple and I’m sure thousands of people, including my wife, have told me that, but you all know I don’t listen. So now that I’ve experienced total exhaustion to the point where I could barely take a step from the impact of pure carbs reviving my engine, I’m going to listen to it now. That’s what it looks like. How many other stupid things have I done in my life because I never listen? I always have to learn the hard way. Topic for another blog. Alright, even with the boost of energy, the day was getting long. We arrived at Double Springs Shelter around 6 pm and the traffic jam was already underway. I quickly tuned my guitar and we had a great time. There must have been 20 hikers joining in the singing while the three of us with instruments let it fly. Impressive, just as it should be. The hikers arrived at midnight (8 pm) and we respectfully calmed down and all got into our sleeping bags. What an incredible day.

Lithium

North Carolina is the end of a geologic arc that curves from Arkansas and has veins of lithium in various forms. The trail is eroded at the top so you can see the different veins of minerals due to the uplift and rotation of the slabs. There is a lot of granite. There is mica. There is quartz. There is fool’s gold (pyrite). There is a lot of iron. In some areas there is basalt and quartz and a mixture that is less crystalline and less brilliant than quartz. The opaque white mineral rests against the basalt and I’m pretty sure it’s spodumene, which is one of the minerals that contains lithium. I have pretty good experience with this as we have been doing several lithium projects, both hard rock and brine, over the years. The stories I could tell with some of those. While I was explaining this mineral to a group of people over lunch, at dinner they mentioned that finding the particular black basalt against the white spodumene occasionally kept them away from the muscle aches of demanding climbs and drowning climbs. Don’t worry, the park will not be mined, the US has large reserves of lithium in other more commercially and economically friendly places.

The highest point on the Appalachian Trail

The rain will continue for the next two days. It’s supposed to be a strong storm. Most people are fleeing to NewFound Gap to let the rain pass. Today’s hike was over what used to be known as Clingman’s Dome. Clingman’s Dome is now known as Kuwohi. This is the old Cherokee name that the tribes called this place before the relocation of the Cherokees and the Trail of Tears. Kuwohi is approximately 6,600 feet tall and barely surpasses New Hampshire’s Mount Washington as the highest elevation on the Appalachian Trail. On our way to the highest point, the foliage changes from lower elevation southern deciduous trees to evergreens. It looks like Northern California.

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.