Day 24: April 27, 2021

Fontana Dam to Mollies Ridge Shelter – 13.2 miles

I made sure to check every inch of the hotel before we left. Every outlet, under the blankets, everywhere. Since all my gear had a purpose, and I was packed minimally, I didn’t have the luxury of leaving anything behind. I was actually quite paranoid about it.

Dad took me back to Fontana Dam, where I had gotten off trail, and stayed with me while I stretched. I can’t say for sure how he was feeling, but I was eager to get back on trail. I had never taken a double zero before, and while I loved spending that time with my dad, I had a trail to hike! The AT had become my home, and I missed it. After I was done stretching, I hugged my dad goodbye, slung my pack on, and walked into the woods.

I hiked in the forest for a couple of miles before the trail spit me out onto a road, which I followed across Fontana Dam to the beginning of the Great Smoky Mountains. I dropped my permit in the hiker box and began the arduous uphill climb that followed.

My pack had to have weighed 40 pounds! My dad bought my resupply, so we went a bit overboard with the food, though it wasn’t without reason. Most of my friends mentioned getting off trail in Gatlinburg to resupply and take a zero. I figured I could take that time to hike more in an attempt to catch up with them. My plan was to hike through the Smokies without stopping, which I estimated would take about seven days. It was the most food I had ever carried, my usual being three to four days in-between resupplies. In addition to all my food, I had to carry all the water I would need for the day as there was only one place to fill up for the entire 13 miles. For those that don’t know, one liter of water weighs 2.2 pounds, and I usually carried two to three liters.

As I hiked up the never-ending hill, I realized how much of a mistake packing this much was. The extra weight compressed my already aching feet and knees. I decided when I made camp, I’d lay all of my food out and pick the heaviest things and eat those first.

I stopped for lunch at a fire tower and did my best to lessen the weight in my pack. I didn’t usually have as many snacks as I show in the videos below, but I wanted to show they types of food I ate.

The highlight of my day was the enormous oil beetle that crossed my path. At the time, I didn’t know it was an oil beetle. If I did, I probably wouldn’t have let it crawl over my hand. These insects are part of the Blister Beetle family (family Meloidae for my fellow entomology buffs). They are named after their unique defense mechanism in which they secrete a toxin called Cantharidin which causes blisters when it makes contact with skin. But as I said earlier, I knew none of that at the time, I just admired this weird alien that waddled by.

A couple of section hikers named Hannah and Craig were at the shelter that night along with Dead Horse and Player One, both of whom were thru hiking. When I first met Hannah and Craig at the fire tower at lunch, I introduced myself as Feisty, and Craig replied, “Oh, you’re using a burner name? Well, we’re just Hannah and Craig.”

Dead Horse was an older gentleman, likely hiking after he retired, and Player One was on his third thru hike attempt. I wonder if the third time was the charm for him. He said he had skipped Georgia that year since “it was too hard” and he had “already hiked it twice.”

Day 25: April 28, 2021

Mollies Ridge Shelter to Derrick’s Knob Shelter – 12 miles

I slept without my rain fly last night and I was gifted with a pink super moon! It was so bright that I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking someone was shining a flashlight in my tent.

When morning came, I’d flutter my eyes open, blink, and somehow a half hour would pass. I sensed I’d be able to do this all day so around 8:00, I gave myself the kick in the pants I needed to wake up. I reached my hand up above my head to the air valve on my sleeping pad and pulled the plug. I laid there as the warm air rushed out and I sank onto the chilly forest floor. This is a sure-fire method to get yourself up and moving on a sleepy morning. You can’t lay in bed all day if there’s no bed.

Like usual, my digestive tract turned on once I was far enough away from a privy to utilize it. I found myself clenched and bushwhacking through wildflowers looking for a good spot to dig a cathole. The ground around me was loose and ripped up and I wondered: what did that? I took another step but stopped dead in my tracks. About 50 feet away from me was a huge trap. Similar to the kind you trap a raccoon in but made to fit a bear. Why do they have that? Is there an aggressive bear in the area? Is this just here in case they have to relocate a bear? My thoughts were racing and only quieted when I saw the small black movement farther away. It’s the bear? No, it’s too small. Oh my God it’s a baby bear! There’s two! Where’s mom? I had seen a comment on a water source saying there was a momma bear and two cubs in the area. Before I could fester too much on the fear of the bears, the black creature walked more into view, and I saw its tail, naked except for a little wiry tuft at the end. That’s not a bear…is that a pig? It's a boar. I felt a little relief but then remembered boar can be dangerous in their own ways. I decided that was too much fear for five minutes, so I turned around and hiked back to trail. The sound of my shoes breaking twigs alerted the boar and scared them off. I decided I didn’t need to go to the bathroom that bad anymore, I could hold it.

From that moment on, any dark spot I saw on the trail looked like a bear. It’s funny how your mind can make obscure shapes seem like something totally different.

With the bear paranoia hanging over me all day, I put my audiobook on, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk. Emma Rowena Gatewood, or Grandma Gatewood, is well known on the AT for being the first solo female hiker in 1955 at the age of 67. She went on to hike the trail twice more, becoming the first person to hike the AT three times. I highly recommend giving this book a read or a listen. I’ll include a clip from the audiobook that was my favorite part.

It just goes to show how much effort has been put into the AT for it to be the trail I hiked. I bet Grandma Gatewood would have enjoyed the 2021 conditions much more.

Next time on Packing It In: I struggle to cope with the fact that I am behind my tramily and my ever-present aches and pains appear to be getting worse. I also reach Clingman’s Dome, the highest elevation on the Appalachian Trail and home to the 200 mile marker.

Did you see a word you didn’t know? Check out my Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker Dictionary for a list of hiker terminology. If you don’t see the word on this list, comment below and I’ll add it!

Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker Dictionary