Today’s Miles: 8
Trip Miles: 180.6
“Smoky Mountain rain keeps on falling …” – Ronnie Milsap
A chance of rain before 8 a.m., then patchy fog and showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 61. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible.
Up at 7:20. Walked to the restaurant and ordered breakfast at 8:00. Walked down to the store/office and checked out. Waiting on the shuttle to take me back to the bathroom by the marina where I stopped yesterday. No cheating on miles!
I’m starting in shorts today. Super humid with all the rain and it’s warm.
I’m not feeling good about hiking:( Rainy, 7 days in the Smokies, alone, and generally blah. I need to find some people over the next several days and try to be more social. Gotta get my head straightened out. Texted with Vicki and Matt Canada. That helped.
And the heavy rain just started at 8:50. Looks like it’s going to be heavy rain till around noon. Lovely.
Got the shuttle to the bathroom near the Fontana marina and it was pouring. Waited under cover 15 minutes and changed my plans based on a comment the shuttle driver made. Is it really worth it hiking in pouring rain for the next 3 hours versus sitting tight under cover? Decided he was right and walked down to the marina, got a cup of coffee, plugged in to power up, used their WiFi, and waited for the worst of the storm to pass.
YouTube video of the rain at Fontana Marina
Looking at the radar map, the last of the worst weather will move by around noon. I’ll head out after that. Just means I get in later tonight. I’ll still be wet, but there is a huge difference in walking in a shower vs walking in pouring rain.
YouTube video waiting out the rain at Fontana Marina
Was feeling pretty sorry for myself at first. Sitting here at the marina listening to Kenny Chesney radio on their outdoor speakers plus talking to Dana got my head in a better place. I need to learn to slow down, enjoy the moment, and stop worrying about schedule/pace.
Since I had good WiFi at the marina I could watch the weather radar and see when the worst of the rain would be done. There were a few 15 minute breaks with sun that fooled a few people, but I waited until everything went by at 12:30.
No way I can make Mollies Ridge Shelter as originally planned with this late start. I’ll just do 8 miles to Birch Spring Campsite. Stopped at the Fontana Hilton and took some pictures. Damn nice shelter and there are showers about 50 yards up the road.
Hiked across the Fontana Dam about 1:30 and took several pictures. Also, my new umbrella rigging is working great! I would be dry other than the fact that it’s 90% humidity and I’m sweating to death.
Just on the other side of the dam, I met a husband and wife pair of section hikers. They are finishing their hike, but they want to walk about another mile or so to see the drop box where we put our backcountry hiking permits. We hiked together for about 40 minutes and had a nice conversation. They took pictures of me at the entry to the national park and of me putting my permit in the box. Very cool!
The next 3 hours were a half-day climb up into GSMNP. Very steep, long climb from the dam up to Shuckstack Firetower.
Made it to the tower at 5:00. Passed a father-son pair headed to the dam and chatted briefly. The tower is sketchy. The metal structure is okay, but the wood floors at the top are scary. I kept my feet on the metal braces and not the wood floor. Took two videos. A cloud was rolling in on me, so not the best views, but cool all the same.
YouTube video at top of Shuckstack
YouTube video at top of Shuckstack NOT inside the tower
Rained on me while descending the tower. Then stopped when I got to my umbrella. Go figure. Hiked about another 2 miles to camp by 6:30. Nice camp site. Sun came out just as I started to set up my tent. Yea…no wet tent!!
Two people here with me: Lolly, who I have met several times in the past 4 days, and a ridge runner. Made dinner at 7:30 … very nice chicken curry I picked up in Fontana. Lolly and I chatted with the ridge runner over dinner. Lots of warnings about bears. Also picked her brain about some upcoming shelters.
Hung all my smellables on the bear cables at 8:30 and crawled into my tent. It’s getting chilly, but it’s very damp/humid. Bad combo. Caught up on the blog for today, then called Dana a bit after 9:30.
I should go 17.5 miles tomorrow to reach Dereck Knob Shelter, but that’s a long way with Rocky Top Mountain in the way. Odds are I have to bail and only make it 11.7 miles to Spence Filed Shelter. There are no other options, and in GSMNP, you MUST sleep in or right beside a shelter. You will be fined if caught breaking that rule. Lots of bear activity up here.
Overall, what started out as a bad day ended up being fairly decent 🙂
Technical Notes:
- Milk 250
- Coffee 0
- Breakfast skillet 500
- Snickers 250
- Trail mix 270
- Spicy chicken curry 630
- Dehydrated chicken 270
- Water liters 3.7
- Miles 8.5
- Time 5:53
- Elevation gain 3038
- Calories consumed 2170
- Calories burned 3500
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