Fontana Dam, NC to Gatlinburg, TN (4/7/10 - 4/11/10)

April 7

• Crossed our first dam on the AT (Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee)
• Entered the Great Smoky Mountain National Park right after crossing the dam
• It was a long, hard climb out of Fontana
• Stayed at Mollies Ridge Shelter
• Hiked 11 miles

Fontana Dam - Little Tennessee River

April 8

• Getting ready to leave and a storm with lightening arrives; stay put for awhile
• Around 11 a.m., a ridge runner (an AT person who monitors the trail) informs us that the shelter is booked full for the night and that we would have to either hike on to the next shelter or set up our tents outside the shelter.  We opted to move on to the next shelter 2.5 miles away.
• We arrived at Russell Field Shelter soaking wet.
• This shelter has a chain link fence over the front of it to keep bears out.
• Late in the evening, three young men from Ohio arrive.  They are also soaked.  They are section hiking rather than through hiking.
• Hiked only 2.5 miles

Russell Field Shelter

April 9

• Weather this morning is clear and cold; great after the rain.
• We start out by climbing, for the first five miles, over a mountain called Rocky Top to the top of one called Thunderhead.
• The views from Rocky Top were fantastic.
• Between Rocky Top and Thunderhead, the tree branches were covered with ice.
• From Thunderhead, it was a steep downhill trek into Derrick Knob Shelter where we spent the night.
• Hiked 9.2 miles

Iced Tree Branches

April 10

• Fairly easy hike today.  We decided to keep today's hike short so that we can go into Gatlinburg tomorrow night for supplies.
• We hike into Double Springs Shelter, 7.2 miles
• Two volunteer trail maintainers (Mack and Tom) stay the night at the shelter too.  One of them has an mp3 player with a set of small speakers.  Went to bed listening to some good bluegrass.

Mack & Tom - Volunteer Trail Maintainers

Two stories here:

Bears - The food supply at some elevations in the Smoky's has been so scarce that the mother bears went into hibernation without enough fat stored up, and they died during the winter.  Their bear cubs are coming out of hibernation without a mother and are starving.  Some have been rescued.  This means that the bears will be more aggressive this year.

Turkey - Some hikers told us that at one of the shelters when the weather was so bad, there was a turkey who attempted to roost on top of the shelter.  The wind was so bad and the roof was metal; the turkey slid off several times.  The turkey finally gave up, went into the shelter that was full of hikers and spent the night!

April 11

• Climbed out of Double Springs Gap to Clingman's Dome--the highest point on the AT (6,643 ft).  The views from the observation tower are stunning.
• Coming off the Dome, we hike in snow making footing very slippery.
• The hike into Newfound Gap is a long downhill hike, hard on the feet.
• At Newfound Gap, a trail maintainer from Vermont gives us a ride into Gatlinburg.  Don't remember his name.
• Hiked 10.8 miles
• WE'VE SURPASSED THE 200 MILE MARK!!

Clingman's Dome Observation Tower

Descending Clingman's Dome

Me Crossing Another Stateline

We'll stay in Gatlinburg until April 13, when we'll start the next leg to Hot Springs which will probably take us six days.  Til then.....