3/17-3/24: Franklin, NC -> Fontana Dam, NC

It was an interesting, varied, and fun week on trail with Daniel. He got a real taste of everything the trail has to offer so far! I missed Sophie but was thrilled to reunite with her towards the end of the week as we prepared to enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Sophie, Daniel and I had a fun afternoon and evening together in Franklin. We even treated ourselves to a hibachi dinner! It was nice to spend some time all together since we wouldn’t get to hike together all week like we had originally planned. The next morning, we went to a free pancake breakfast at a church in town that puts one on for hikers every day for a month straight. It was really generous! They offered to mail a letter for us too so we could write a note home.

After that special treat and a relaxed morning, I said goodbye to Sophie and Daniel and I shuttled back to the trail at Rock Gap. We had a relatively short, easy day for Daniel’s first day on trail. It was an interesting change of pace to hike with Daniel instead of Sophie; we talk about different sorts of things.

At Winding Stair Gap, Daniel got his first taste of trail magic! (It was also our first trail magic in North Carolina after we had been veery spoiled in Georgia.) We had delicious homemade cookies, among other things.

After a great social experience prior to our day off, I was hoping to see some of our new trail friends that night and introduce them to Daniel. We didn’t see that crowd, but it was nice to see Hucklebuck and Gypsy and make some new friends at the shelter. It was very cold that night, with negative wind chill in the forecast, so everyone was in their tents early. Daniel and I were very cozy sharing my tent, which helped for warmth.

The frigid temperatures continued into the next day. It was so cold that I hiked in my baselayers under my hiking outfit all day. It was a much longer and harder day for Daniel’s second day, but he was up for the challenge, especially carrying a lot less weight than I was. We summitted both Siler Bald and Wayah Bald that day, which both offered some of the best views on trail so far!

It was a rewarding but tiring day. This section was very muddy, which got frustrating over the course of the day. We ended the day at Cold Spring Shelter (cold spring indeed, brrr…), where I was excited to run into Trinity again! It was the coldest night yet. We all decided to sleep in the shelter, which luckily was actually pretty sheltered from the wind, to conserve warmth. It was my first night in a shelter, so something new for both Daniel and I to experience! It didn’t feel much different from my tent that night, although I did kinda miss the privacy of the tent.

It significantly warmed up the next day (thank goodness!), and Daniel and I had a pleasant hiking day as we summitted Rocky Bald and Wesser Bald, which had great views from another fire tower. From Wesser Bald, we walked along an extended ridgeline for a while, which was cool except for the many blowdowns. Those have really multiplied in this section of trail; apparently regulations and road closures in NC make it difficult to clear trees etc. blocking the trail before April. Certainly annoying.

From there, the trail descends steeply as it approaches the Nantahala Gorge. (I remembered the syllables by thinking of my two favorite breads: “naan to challah!”) I generally don’t like downhills as much, as they’re harder on the knees, and as such, I was prepared to hate our mostly downhill day. But to my surprise, it wasn’t that bad. The beginning of the descent was especially dramatic and fun, and the remaining terrain was so much nicer compared to those darned Whites descents that I’m used to. It made for a satisfying day. Daniel and I stopped at a shelter for the night right before the gorge, and the next major stop on the AT: the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC).

The NOC is a major destination for white-water rafting and kayaking, on a beautiful spot along the Nantahala River. The AT crosses the river on a bridge right through the facility, which was the biggest water crossing on trail so far. Daniel and I descended the last half mile into the gorge and spent a nice nero day there. I arrived at the NOC feeling like I could keep going, but it was good to have a break and show Daniel the zero day experience. Daniel and I stayed at an eclectic little hostel down the road; besides the basic bunkhouse (the “Chicken Coop”) that we stayed in, guests could stay in cabins converted from various buildings and vehicles, including a UK double-decker bus! We had a nice stay there; our host was very friendly and accommodating. Daniel and I hung out by ourselves for most of the afternoon there, doing laundry and our other chores. It was amusing to see Daniel take such pleasure in small comforts like a shower and a real pillow. It’s the little things on the trail…

I learned an important lesson that afternoon when Daniel and I didn’t eat enough for lunch. We knew we’d be having a big dinner and so hadn’t wanted to shell out for lunch too, but we got very hungry come the mid-afternoon and weren’t feeling like ourselves. I have a tendency to be frugal, sometimes to a fault, and on the trail it’s extra important not to skimp out on food for money reasons. We need to eat a lot more than usual out here to maintain our lifestyle of extreme exercise! Lesson learned, hopefully.

We did go back to the NOC and eat a big dinner at the restaurant there that probably tasted even better than it would’ve 😉 I had a cup of chili and a trout cake sandwich; Daniel had pasta and got very excited about his garlic bread. It was fun to eat out alone with Daniel and realize that was potentially the first time that had ever happened! Afterwards we enjoyed walking around the NOC, observing some kayakers, and learning about canoe slalom.

Our trail friend Hucklebuck ended up staying at the hostel with us, and we had a pleasant evening with him. He treated us to some beautiful guitar playing! It was a great day off on the whole, probably the most relaxing thus far.

I also realized that if we’re to finish in our target of 6 months, that day would mark 1/10th of that time. It was an exciting and daunting realization, since we’re nowhere near that point based on mileage, but I’m confident we’ll be able to make more progress as we go on.

Daniel and I hiked out of the NOC the next morning in the pouring rain. It was my first day of truly bad weather all day, and with the big ascent out of the gorge it made for a challenging day with lots of uphill. We stopped at an absolutely packed shelter for lunch feeling like we never needed lunch more. I loved the vibes there, as about 20 people were crammed into the shelter and already in their sleeping bags at 1:30pm. Everyone’s wet gear was hanging from every available spot to dry. It was wonderful. It was also super nice to be greeted by an excited chorus of “Shaggy!!” when we arrived; my trail friends like Dex, Tacos, and Malka were happy to see me.

Daniel and I hiked on, however, feeling very rejuvenated by food and friendly faces. The rest of our day was a lot more fun despite the continued rain. It was an important day for me, proving to myself that I can still have a positive experience on the trail in horrendous rain. I kept thinking back to one thru-hiker who Jenn and I ran across on the Pemi Loop, who approached us in similar weather with a big smile on his face saying “What a day to be in the Whites!” I’ve adopted this as my mantra for staying positive on the rainy days, regardless of location. The more confused looks I get, the better. (My journal from the time actually confirmed that I’ve been misquoting him, but the sentiment was there, and my paraphrasing shall remain.)

Finally we arrived at our tent site for the night, where Daniel and I made a blunder and learned another important lesson. The rain had mostly stopped at this point, just dripping off the trees, and so we decided that we would cook dinner first, then set up our tent, so that as soon as we were inside the tent we wouldn’t have to leave again. Big mistake. Sure enough, as I was finishing up my ramen, it started raining again and we still didn’t have shelter. Setting up the tent in the rain was a frantic mess. I felt a huge sense of relief once we were inside, warm, and relatively dry. It was a rollercoaster of a day for sure, full of firsts and learning opportunities. I was definitely glad that Daniel was there, as it would have been much worse to face these challenges alone, and it was fun to goof off together in my tent once we were inside for good.

The next day was amazing. It was probably my favorite day on trail, and for once it had nothing to do with views. We did see a really cool view through the trees of the fog in the valleys; it looked like a majestic coastline with volcanoes rising from the sea.

That morning was thankfully warm and dry. It felt like a healing morning. I quipped that “nature is healing,” but nature was totally fine; nature loves the rain. Nature was healing me. I have a sort of spiritual reverence for nature on days like that…humble respect for the rain, gratitude for the sun, and so on.

Not long into our morning, we reunited with Sophie! We met up with her and her mom at Stecoah Gap after they had spent a lovely few days together. Her knee was feeling better and she was excited to get back on trail armed with a new knee brace and a new perspective. It was really great to see Sophie again, and to see her mom before she left! They even brought us trail magic in the form of delicious pastries and fresh veggies, which was a delightful surprise.

Also waiting for us at Stecoah Gap was another awesome trail magic spread! We had sandwiches, cookies and more from a guy who had just gotten back from umpiring at MLB Spring Training. I enjoyed talking to him about that.

Meanwhile, Hucklebuck told me and Daniel that he really appreciated how we always seemed to be in a good mood and maintained a positive attitude on trail, and that it lifted him up. I was really happy to hear that; I aspire to be that positive presence and was so glad that others appreciated it.

Now all together, the three of us headed out of the gap up the trail. It was so much fun to hike with both Sophie and Daniel! We had a great rest of the day together talking up a storm. We ran into a ton of friends on the trail, too, including Dex, Boxer Mom, Malka, S’mores…it was probably the most overlap while actually hiking we had ever had.

The shelter was crowded that night and full of friends and friendly atmosphere. It was a great social day, and I was really glad Daniel got to experience that to end our week together. Between being reunited with Sophie and all the fun socializing, it was an amazing day on trail.

The next day was Daniel’s last on trail as he completed his section hike at Fontana Dam. It was a short day, but with a relatively hard descent as we approached the dam and Fontana Lake below. I loved the views of the lake and the dam we got as we came down, and when we arrived at the bottom it was even more spectacular. The lake was absolutely gorgeous, with the Smokies looming behind and above, an exciting preview of what the next week had in store for us. It was probably my favorite place we’ve been so far.

We ended our hike at Fontana Dam Shelter, affectionately called the “Fontana Hilton” because of its size and amenities. It had a solar charger for electronics, a real bathroom with flushing toilets and even a shower!! I reveled in showering at the shelter later.

But now it was time for Daniel to head out, and his ride arrived in the form of our brother Nicholas and his partner Adelina! It was wonderful to see them and for the three brothers to be reunited for a little while.

The five of us rode to nearby Fontana Village, where we had a nice big lunch at the grill there. Sophie and I resupplied at the general store in the village, preparing for 6 days straight of hiking to get us through the Smokies. It was technically our first “hero” day, meaning a day where you hike into somewhere, resupply, then get back on trail without staying the night in town.

After that, we all went to check out Fontana Dam itself. It’s the largest dam east of the Mississippi, and it was super cool to see it up close. Surprisingly, despite climbing all these mountains, it was the dam that gave me the biggest sense of sheer scale so far. It was a great afternoon all together and we were in high spirits as Daniel, Nick, and Adelina took their leave.

Daniel really got the full gamut of the AT experience, from bitter cold to rain to beautiful warm days, from running into old friends to making new ones, from 12-mile days to a nero. He even got a trail name! Predictably, someone had immediately suggested Scooby, which Daniel rejected as “too obvious.” Later, though, someone (Tacos, actually, the same person who gave Sophie her trail name Shoes!) gave Daniel “Scrappy,” which he eagerly adopted. Much like my name Shaggy, in addition to the Scooby-Doo connection, Scrappy has other meanings so it could stand alone. I was glad to have him join us with the S-tier names.

It was wonderful to have Daniel with me for the week, and have lots of brotherly bonding on the AT. Til next time, Scrappy!