Day 18 (Wednesday, April 30th) - Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam Shelter

Today's Miles: 15.10 
Trip Miles: 165.80

Donna from the Cabin in the Woods drove us out to the gap to resume our hike. We had everything dried out and a new appreciation for the weather in the mountains. Cassidy, a young woman from New Jersey, started out with us, but was going slowly to get through an injury.

I think this doohickey right here is the flash....DOH!

A mile in we began to climb "Jacob's Ladder," a steep climb over a short distance. I had added more protein to my diet and it seemed to help; I had a lot more stamina on the rises. The wind was still blowing through the mountains and it looked like it would rain. The sky was a washed grey tight against the tree tops.

We made good time after the ladder and passed a few hikers on the trail, but no one we knew. The cool, wet day meant we weren't worried too much about finding water. We didn't stop until noon at Cody Gap. Natalie and Mike were eating and I went down a side trail to get water. The way to the creek was a staired path among jumbled stones. I kept my head down and eyes to the ground to avoid tripping. About a hundred yards in I stopped and turned to call back to Mike and Nat and saw that I was surrounded by thousands of white flowers. The wind was rocking them back and forth making them look like butterflies between the trees. I got the water and went back to show the kids what I had found. Natalie was as taken as I was. Mike said, "Oh."

We hiked the next nine miles in good time and got to Fontana Dam Information Center around five p.m. It was raining pretty heavily now and the views were limited. We headed out for the last 1.3 miles to the Fontana Hilton, a 20 person shelter on the lake formed by the dam. It filled up pretty quickly with hikers and some were camping nearby. It's called the Hilton because there are showers and flush toilets just up the road.

We had supper late and sat around talking to the other hikers. Natalie and Mike will go for resupply in the morning and we'll head into the Smokey Mountains.

Bye for now.