Day 20 – Cable Gap Shelter to Fontana

A chance of rain showers between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Up at 7:00. Drizzle. Packed up camp, then went to shelter to eat and finalize organizing my backpack by just after 8:00. 

I carry an ultralight umbrella and have had good luck with it for the past few years. Ever since I got my backpack properly fitted back at Mountain Crossings, my old setup is not working. The umbrella is attached to my left pack strap at two points so that it is hands-free AND rides at an angle that keeps it well above my line of sight when climbing a mountain. Unfortunately, my old setup no longer works. I saw a ridge runner with an umbrella earlier this week, and they had a carabiner attached to their left load lifter as their second point of attachment, and that seemed to work well. Since I have a week of rain in my future and I hate traditional rain gear in warm weather , I took the time to re-rig my umbrella. Used the traditional umbrella attachment strap high on my left pack strap, then added a carabiner on my left load lifter. I can thread the umbrella shaft through those two and then use a small shock cord to fix the umbrella handle to my sternum strap on the far left side. Works perfectly. I’ll try to get a picture.

Left camp at 8:30. No rain gear as trees are blocking drizzle. Put up umbrella after an hour when rain got heavier. New setup worked extremely well!

Made a call to the Fontana resort once I got some cell service. They just had a cancellation for tonight, so I grabbed it. Otherwise, they were all booked. Yes!

Got to Fontana marina and bathroom at 11:45. Shuttle took me to the store and checking at 12:30.

Turns out the Minis are here this weekend. I thought that was last weekend. Need to text Laura some pictures.

Grabbed some snacks and a six-pack from the store and lugged all my gear up to my room…about 1/3 of a mile and it was UP. Unpacked, put out the tent to dry, sorted the remaining food, called Dana, and took a nap for 2 hours. 

Woke up at 4:00. Showered, worked on blogs, and got my laundry sorted. Walked back down to the store at 5:00 and got change for the laundry. $3.00 for wash and another $3.00 to dry! Got laundry going then bought my resupplies for the next 3 nights on the trail. 

Worked on blogs some more then joined Jon Lunning’s virtual Friday happy hour Zoom at 6:00. Ed Byrd was on the call. That was an awesome surprise. Great to talk to everybody for an hour.

Walked up to the restaurant and had a burger for dinner, then trekked back to my room. Finished the blogs…Will post them later tonight.

I have a call with Dana at 9:00 to plan out some resupply that she will ship to Hot Springs, NC for me this weekend.  I have the basic supply box ready at home, but need to tweak it a bit.

I need to get all my gear packed before I go to sleep later. Need to be able to move quickly in the morning so I can get breakfast and catch the 9:00 shuttle back to the trail. Got about 14 miles to hike in the rain tomorrow as my introduction to the Smoky Mountains. Fun, right?

Almost forgot, I’ve been hiking alone for the past 3 days. Mike is moving on and making big miles. I may see him partway through the Smoky Mountains, but not counting on it. I’m solo now. That is making some things more mentally challenging. I’m honestly not looking forward to the Smokies in the rain. Need to dig deep and muscle through to Hot Springs, NC which is 7 or 8 days away.

No pain, no rain, no Maine.

Technical Notes:

• Waffle 150
• Nut butter 220
• Snickers 250
• Other food at Fontana Lodge
• Water 1.7 liters
• Miles 5.2
• Time 3:24
• Elevation gain 1185
• Calories consumed … a lot
• Calories burned 1500