I started at the Fontana Dam shelter this morning. The first 4 1/2 miles was a 2,000 ft climb. There were few switchbacks and many stairs. It was very slow going and a very long slog uphill with a full pack.

I stopped at cable gap shelter with several thru hikers. The conversation was great, but the shelter was definitely not the nicest I’ve ever seen. It was down in a hollow without even satellite signal. Everything was damp and dark.

One of the thru hikers I met was MacGyver. He had fun sweeping out the shelter.

AT Thru-Hike Stats
Section Day #1 (5/13/22)
Start — Fontana Hilton (165.7)
End — Cable Gap Shelter (159.2)
Today’s mileage: 6.5
Total section miles: 6.5
Total miles on AT: 1023.1

Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better. — Anon

Today was a travel day. I left St. Louis at about 5:30 in the morning and ended up driving through the mountains along the Tennessee/North Carolina border before arriving at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. I’m spending the night here and leaving my car. I’ll shuttle up to Fontana Dam in the morning, to hike back here over the next three days. The forecast is for rain every day, so they’ll be lots of water!

I’ve met lots of hikers here. I had dinner with Bullfrog, Red Alert and Moonshine. They are finishing up a section hike that started at Aminacolola.

Most people think that faith means believing something; oftener it means trying
something, giving it a chance to prove itself. – Henry Ford

Went for a short hike yesterday but with a full pack. It was nice but slow and steady. Millie went too and she found a turtle.

Here’s where my mileage stands right now:

AT Thru-Hike Stats
Section Day #0 (4/29/22)
Start — Fontana Hilton (165.7)
End — TBA
Today’s mileage: NA
Total section miles: NA
Total miles on AT: 1016.6

Behold the turtle. He makes progress when he sticks his neck out. — JB Conant

It’s time to go back to the AT again! This time I’m planning to finish up the area around GSMNP (Great Smoky Mountain National Park) from the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) to Standing Bear Hostel at the north end of the park. This will complete about 105 miles around the National Park. I’ll be doing two smaller sections, each about 30 miles over 3 days: Fontana Dam to the NOC and Newfound Gap to Standing Bear Hostel.

I leave in 15 days. Everything is all laid out and ready to be packed for the hike. Base weight including some cold weather gear is 14 lbs for this hike. I’ll be documenting the hike on this blog and tracking on my Garmin InReach Mini. Links to photos and my track are on this page. There will likely be very few videos posted on YouTube. There are so many Thru-Hike Vloggers this year; many have fairly poor quality videos. I don’t want to be one of them. I have been following Jay Wanders Out, it’s like being there again.

I’ll be posting again soon…

 “The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.” – Theodore Roosevelt

After hiking 42 of some of the toughest miles on the Appalachian Trail, I decided to stop hiking this section here at Fontana dam. There are many reasons I’ve made this decision, the biggest one is that my daily miles are not anywhere near what I need to make it to Atlanta in time for my regatta.

So I got a hiker shuttle into Knoxville late last evening and I am taking the bus home from Knoxville. Looking at the weather, it might’ve been an even better decision.

I’ve got lots of projects at home including building a deck and lots of sailing stuff. I also have a lovely lady and sweet dog that I haven’t seen for sometime.