Spring 2017 AT hike, day #6

Thursday, May 18, 2017
Start: Derrick Knob shelter
End: Fontana Dam shelter
Miles: 23.9

I woke up at 6:10am and left the shelter this morning at 7am.

From the shelter (4882'), I climbed over Thunderhead Mountain (5527'), past Rocky Top (5440') and Spence Field shelter (4916'), and then down to Russell Field Shelter (4348'). I descended to Big Abrams Gap (4115'), climbed to Mollies Ridge shelter (4586'), descended to Ekaneetlee Gap (3842'), climbed Doe Knob (4520'), and then started the long descent out of the Smokeys.

I arrived at Fontana Dam shelter (1853') at 5:30pm. I walked past the visitors center (1700') around 5pm and they weren't open, though the guide said they should be, and the soda machine was out of order. The Fontana Hilton is quite nice. There's a formal bathroom and shower with running water. The shelter is nice though I decided to tent. I was also totally bummed to find all four hostels at where I wanted to stop tomorrow evening are full up and don't have space. Unfortunately, that will mean rearranging my miles for the next few days. And the weather forecast isn't so great - rain every day for the next 6-7 days. *Sigh* We shall see how much suffering is involved.

Spring 2017 AT hike, day #5

Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Start: Newfound Gap/Gatlinburg
End: Derrick Knob shelter
Miles: 17.8

After a nice evening in town, I got to bed around 10pm. I was up this morning at 6am and my shuttle picked me up at 7am. I was on trail by 7:30am.

From Newfound Gap (5045'), I climbed past Mt Collins (6187'), descended to Collins Gap (5750'), and then up to Clingmans Dome and observation tower (6667') which is the highest point on the AT. I passed by Mt Buckley (6590'), down past Double Spring gap shelter (5510'), and over Silers Bald (5607'). From there, I went down to Buckeye Gap (4817'), up to Cold Spring Knob (5203'), and then descended to the shelter (4882').

I arrived at 4pm and settled in; there were already two people there, one of them a ridge runner (Morgan from Nashville). A group of 4 section hikers came in around 5pm and 4 thru hikers (B squared, Magic Mike, Bushman) arrived around 6:45pm. Looks like the shelter will be fairly full tonight. Here's to hoping things will be quiet-ish tonight; I bought some earplugs in town. Tomorrow I have a long day planned to get down to Fontana Dam Shelter.