Still foggy. An early get out an 13 miles walk to Fontana Hilton. The downhill into Fontana Dam takes forever. This is compounded by the rumor that Leap Frog Cafe is set up at the Hilton. When you reach the road going northbound there is still another 1.1 to go before reaching the shelter, but there is an immediate clean bathroom, so we have that going for us. Fittingly the sun comes out just as we get to the shelter. The rumors are true. Fresh Grounds whips up seemingly endless batches of beans, hot dogs, and chessy eggs. This is one of the early large gatherings of hikers that I really enjoyed. There is something about Fresh Grounds that brings the best out of hiker culture, it accentuates the vibe of this crowd a lot I feel. We've made it to the Great Smoky Mountains. This is where the hike moves into the small child stage. Most at this point are comfortable with the idea of a thru-hike, but there is still a lot to learn. One more day and this will be the longest backpacking trip I have ever been on. I am breaking new ground. I meet Sunbear, Grease, Canary, Joules, Haiku, Blink, Dorothy, Rambles, Wrong Leg, and TurtleFish. All young people. Turns out the older contingent stayed at the resort down the road. It is a perfect afternoon to sit around and arrange resupply and eat as much as possible. Sunbear immediately makes an impression on me. He is very quick witted and tries to make a joke out of everything even when he knows it may fail, but it rarely does, or at least I don't think it does.
One if the things I forget about this early stage is that it is still very cold. So this rare sunny, slightly warm day is very welcomed.
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| Hikers take advantage of the sun to dry their brightly colored belongings |
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