Towards the Fontana Dam: the walk

Fontana Dam or go bankrupt!

Week three was a push to get to the Smokies before going off-trail to attend the 101st Great Smoky Mountains Wildflower Pilgrimage. Heather and I will be joined by my sister Ginger. Meanwhile, I had a few kilometers left to go.

Day 15: Winding Staircase Gap 109.6 to Stealth Site 120.0 10.4 miles

Despite my best intentions, I didn’t start until almost 2pm today. This left me with a difficult day, with a long climb racing against the clock to reach a campsite. Earlier, I passed a man with a campfire despite extreme dry conditions and an active “no burn” order. I wasn’t near a water source to put it out and I was clearly not a hiker. Later, the same guy was setting up camp in a good spot where I would have otherwise stopped, but I decided to keep going. My assumption at the time was that he knew about the burn ban and didn’t care, so I avoided conflict. In hindsight I should have said something… the worst that could have happened would have been a rude comment, which is way better than a fire at Forrest!

I found a good stealth spot a little further down the road. Except for the positive social aspect of the shelter environment, I really prefer stealth camping.

Day 16: Mile 120 to Tellico Gap 129.6 9.6 miles

I met the coach at the creek just below where I camped the night before. He is from the “TN Oriental” and has all kinds of shackles in the fire. At 50 years old, he trains fighters. and decided to climb the AT as a challenge. With no hiking experience, he says he has significantly reduced his backpack weight from more than 50 pounds when he started, but he still carries many pounds of protein bars and powders. He is interested in educating his online audience about how difficult it is to hike and boasts that several people who view his YouTube posts have said they canceled their planned hike based on his descriptions. Later joined by his friend, Patches (named for the military patches on his cap), we decided to hike to Tellico Gap, hoping to find an off-road campsite. The best we could find was a cut in the road. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable camping there alone, but it was great with the three of us. Shortly after dark, car after car (or van) passed us in no time, coming from Forrest Service Road (FSR). Finally, we realized they were Forrest Service employees leaving work!

Day 17: Tellico Gap 129.0 to NOC 137.0 8.0 miles

In the morning we were joined by a hiker whose name escaped us all, but who has a large white dog named Marcus. I was looking for water for Marcus. Patches offered him some of his own, but the man had also lost his bowl of water. I tried to offer them my pot, but no matter how hard I tried, they ignored me. The coach shrugged and said, «That’s just the way guys are.» It really bothered me. Am I really that invisible? They resorted to pouring water into his hands for him to drink, which wasted most of the water. The dog was nice, but I’m not a fan of dogs on the trail. They are often equipped with backpacks to carry their own food, which can’t be good for their backs, and people assume that their hiking companions like them. With a daughter who is very afraid of dogs, I am frustrated by the lack of concern often shown toward fellow hikers, but I am most concerned about the well-being of the dogs.

Meanwhile, Patches had been experiencing increasing pain in his heel that was threatening to put an end to his walk. It seemed likely that this was because he was running uphill on his toes. After much discussion, he agreed to slow down and concentrate on planting his entire foot on the uphill slope. He quickly declared his developing plantar fasciitis cured!

Today was a day for a riot of different flowers. I could (should) have spent much of the morning taking pictures. The long descent to the NOC was really killer, and when we reached the bottom around 3pm, I was ready to go to the hotel and take a hot bath.

Day 18 zero

Day 19 Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) 137.0- Locust Grove Gap147.7 10.7 miles

I’m glad I didn’t look closely at what today’s hike would be like in advance! The NOC’s tone was long and pronounced. I was following a zero, so my legs were strong for quite a while, but by the time I reached the top of Cheoah Bald, I was totally exhausted! My hike was mostly solo. In fact, I passed a woman (dancer) who looked about my age. I told him he was the first hiker I had seen and that he didn’t look much younger than me. She volunteered, «I’m 69,» to which I responded, «Me too!»

I came to a place where it looked like the trail came to a “T,” but I didn’t know which direction to turn. After a brief «guess» to the left, I realized it was wrong. After consulting with Far Out, I realized I should have done the right thing. However, this caused a strong “landslide”. When it became clear that this wasn’t right either, I had a hard time (like crawling on my hands and knees) to get back on the trail. I had the brief thought that if I had slid any further down, I really wouldn’t have been able to get back up. Forgetting that I had the Garmin in case I needed it, I had the fleeting thought that no one would ever find me!

I camped in a large area with plenty of tent sites and a fantastic, if a bit distant, water source. When I arrived, Chipper, a small, thin young man with a scraggly beard, was talking by the campfire to an older man who had some underlying medical issues and wanted to get off the trail. They were standing in what seemed to be the only place the tent remained. Chipper told me there were more spots behind the trees, but that spot looked great (flat with nice logs to sit on), so I settled there. The walk (hike) to get water was long and downhill. I filled my 3 liter bag and trudged back to camp. When I put up my tent and went to filter the water, I realized that about half of it had escaped from the lid. I wasn’t going for more!

Chipper, whose store was quite close to mine, had a long phone conversation with his mother. He will start law school in the fall and will only travel to Virginia, his home state. He called the tradition of awarding trail names “sophomore fraternity games,” which I found a little sad and maybe a little arrogant, but mostly I thought it was sweet (if surprising) that he had a long personal conversation with his mother in a place so visible to other campers’ ears. I liked Chipper.

It was so cold that I decided to sleep with my new Sawyer water filter, since freezing could ruin it. I felt pretty comfortable at first, but my feet got cold. Instead of taking off the wet socks I had walked in, I pulled out my mommy bag and added another pair on top. Now my feet felt uncomfortable because of the tight socks and after a few minutes they were cold again too. Refusing to get out of my mommy bag again, I decided my feet would have to deal with it! However, in the end I slept pretty well!

Day 20: Locust Grove Gap 147.7 to Yellow Creek Gap 158.5 10.8 miles

At some point during the night Dancer arrived, but I couldn’t talk to her and she was leaving when I left my tent in the morning. I was disappointed that Chipper was gone too. However, I really enjoyed my breakfast of sausage and gravy before heading out on what I hoped would be an easier day.

The morning started with a steep hill that convinced me I was still tired from the day before. Plus, I never saw a water fountain all day. I should have filled up again that morning but I was in a hurry to get going. Plus, water is heavy and I was trying to get comfortable carrying less. At lunchtime, I couldn’t find a place to eat and realized I didn’t have enough water to make my usual granola cereal anyway, so I could skip it.

Meanwhile, I was passed by a woman from Florida who was walking with her friend to Fontana Dan. Since there was no mountain where they lived, he said they trained by walking across bridges. I asked her if she had seen the ladies’ slippers we had passed by (I would see 5 that day!) and we compared photos until her friend arrived. We hiked together to Stecoah Gap, where road construction caused a detour to the trail. The hike was easier after that and I enjoyed the profusion of spring flowers.

The trail led out onto a gravel road just off Kroc Creek Rd. I arrived about 20 minutes early and as I waited for Heather, truck after truck drove drunk up the hill, covering me in gravel road dust. Josh and his friend, who work at the NOC, drove by and we wondered why so much gravel was being carried up the mountain. A top secret data center, no doubt!

Heather and I are at the nice Italian restaurant in Tyson City that I remembered from 2024. It was a bit disappointing and the service was poor from the young Italian who served us. It’s always risky when I try to recreate a great memory.

Day 21: Yellow Creek Gap 158.5 to Fontana Dam 166.8 8.3 miles

Today was an easy hike, even though there was a long descent approaching the dam area. There were more rock formations than the previous days than the smooth trail we had been enjoying so far, but they weren’t difficult. I was relaxed packing (carrying only the essentials for a day hike), which helped. I was in a hurry because Heather and I were going to meet Ginger, my sister, in Gatlinburg. I called the hotel (the Wander Inn) just to make sure Ginger could get into the room even though I had checked in online, but you never know.

Before we started that morning, I explained to Heather that there were two parking areas before Fontana Dam with about a mile of trail between them. I wanted to reach the distance if time permitted.

As I walked, I passed Elaine and her friend from Florida. We passed each other several times but I didn’t see them once I reached the dam. Meanwhile, I was running an hour earlier than I’d told Heather to expect, but when I came out of the woods, I got a message from her saying that the Far-Out coordinates were taking her to the wrong place, so I’d be 45 minutes late. I sent him a message saying I would walk to the second parking lot. When I got to the second location, I saw that he hadn’t received my text, but he had sent me one saying he was «in the parking lot.» I tried calling her, but I had no signal, so I finally walked about a mile, hoping I wouldn’t miss her since there were two possible routes. Luckily, I found it, but it was a great example of how unreliable phone service can be even out of place in these mountains.

From here you would be out of the way of the annual Great Smoky Mountains wildflower pilgrimage.