I Want Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere…

Morning from the shelter was beautiful. My tramily specifically positioned ourselves to get woken up gently by the sun. Nothing more gorgeous than waking up to a view of Fontana Lake.

The rest of my tramily left quickly… they wanted some peace in their morning. I ate a Pop Tart, and bade those left at the shelter farewell. It’s time for the Smokies! But first, a trip down the CCC’s crown jewel — Fontana Dam.

As I was walking to the dam, I saw a vehicle go by and a man gave me a quick wave, before backing up and pulling down his window. Surprise, it was Bandit, my original shuttle driver to Amicalola! He was in a different car than last time, so it took me a second to recognize him. But it was definitely a surprise, because even though I knew he shuttled through the Smokies, I didn’t figure it’d be a popular spot. We spoke a bit about my trail experience, and he offered me an ice cold coke. Yum! Drank it while walking up to the parking lot that demarcated the Smokies.

As a California native and a Boston transplant, it still feels a bit crazy to me that while popular National Parks out there feature lines of cars and hours of waiting, the only thing stopping me from entering the Smokies unnoticed was a small black box on the side of the trail. (Well, that and the fact I’m beaming the details of my thru hike on a public blog, but that’s neither here nor there). Anne previously let me know that it was actually codified that as part of the agreement for the Smokies to become a National Park, they could never take an entrance fee. Thus, the lack of need for rangers at entrances. Cool!

Michaela and I spent the morning walking up to Shuckstack Tower. It was really cool to have seen it from the dam earlier, and now to be climbing it! While the tower felt a little precarious, it wasn’t inherently unsafe. We were also blessed with relatively clear views around us — gotta soak them in while we’re at this high of elevation! At the base, had a typical trail meal of tortillas, salami, and funions. I might’ve also tried it with PB. (note to reader: salami and peanut butter just tastes like PB. Please enjoy salami separately)

Saw my first snake on trail today! Nothing major to report, I don’t think it was one of the two venomous species we get out east. It did go into defense mode… oops, but Michaela and I just sidled by. We also encountered a very large millipede! Centipede? Crawly bug boy.

At some point, my stride quickened, but I was feeling something new for trail. While previously, I’ve always had plenty of nuts to keep my energy stores up, I forgot to resupply on trail mix at the Dollar General (not that I remember seeing any either, this DG was in BAD shape). So I’ve been trying to ration, but I felt the effects of bonking starting to hit. So, I ate as much as I could stuff from my pack, but it was mostly carbs. Luckily, the Smokies had one last gift for me. As I crested Doe Knob, I saw a field of beautiful white wildflowers. This coincided right with my music — “Belle Reprise” from Beauty and the Beast started singing in my ears. What a romantic sight.

About two miles out though, something hit me. I don’t know what, but it resulted in me needing to take a fifteen minute breather and nap on the side of the trail. I’ve done more mileage than this before! I really think it was the nutrition plan. I was super sleepy today. In general, on other days, the first thing that gave out was my feet, not my engine. So just recuperated and pushed HARD on the last two miles to the Mollies Ridge Shelter. I knew the rest of my body could do it, but I needed fuel.

I think my two weaknesses while hiking have been foot pain and nutrition strategy. Food is an eternal struggle, but the foot pain I can trace back to not standing as much as I could’ve. In my engineering job, any deep thinking for me required sitting, but I could’ve been more diligent about standing up. The biking and walking mean my cardio is never in question, and the lifting means I can do well to chew uphills. But when there’re downhills? My feet cry in agony.

At camp, made a Knorr side, and dumped as much stovetop stuffing as I could in. I think I’m done with Knorrs forever, I just can’t handle the salt content. It gets gummier too. I was just kind of sick feeling, though I’m sure the stuffing didn’t help.

Tennessee shelters don’t have privies! The toilet area is a field of sticks and unburied toilet paper 🤮. I know thru hiking isn’t a glamorous sport, but… cmon.

Mollies Ridge itself was a decent enough shelter. The Smokies actually require anyone who gets there to first sleep in the shelter, and only tent up if the shelters are full, to reduce impact on the trails. So, time to start my shelter era in earnest. I made my bed, and then noticed… I had a bar of reception! While I can write draft posts offline, I can’t put images on them. So whenever I get the chance, I insert the images and schedule the posts. I had a bit of reception outside, so did that and then called some friends for the first time on trail. It was nice to hear voices from home again. Due to the physical struggles today, it was rough. But I have a system to help support. Even if statistically our odds are still slim, there’s no shame in not trying to beat them.

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek’s ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!

To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.