162.5 miles in

Passsed the 7% mark today.  I’m in Fontana Lodge now – it’s a really upscale place.  I’m actually rather surprised security didn’t escort me from the building when I entered sweaty, smelly, and unshaven.  Not only did they begrudge my existence, but they gave me a special hiker discount – I’m sleeping here for $59 when the usual rate is $109.  That being said, the cost of groceries at their general store seems to make up the difference.  However you look at it, I get a hot bath tonight, ice for my knee, and no snoring to keep me up all night.  Also, this place has an elevator, and it amuses me to no end.  The concept of going up without blood, sweat, or tears has become a novelty.  Running water is also becoming quity the luxury, but I have yet to develop the same childlike fascination as I have for elevators.

Oh right, my knee.  That’s kind of the major obstacle at the moment.  It’s been bothering me since day 1, but it’s gotten progressively worse, and actually became rather severe on my climb (2968 feet in 5.9 miles) out of the NOC (Nantahalla Outdoor Center).  The issue is with my IT band.  Google it.  Treatment is basically ice and rest, neither of which are all that prevalent on the AT.  Instead, I’m taking a break from 20+ mile days and doing some stretches every night.  It helps.  It still hurts, but not all the time and not as bad, so I can probably limp through the remaining 2,015.8 miles.

So what’s happened since I left Franklin?  Well, first day out of Franklin I hiked 11.2 to Wayah Bald Shelter and arrived about 4:00, left around 5:00 and did 4.8 more to Cold Spring Shelter arriving around 7:30.  Rested there, then set out again around 8:30 with my headlamp.  Night hiking is okay.  You can certainly do it, and it’s nice getting out of the sun, but you don’t see any of the sights.  Flowers, cliffs, vistas, critters, all of it is pretty much gone.  It was cool seeing city lights on the horizon, though.  I also heard frogs and wolves, which you don’t get during the day.  Then the wolves started getting closer, so I found a stealth campsite and built a fire using pages from a book I found atop Wayah Bald.  Safe from the wolves with my fire burning, I pitched my tent at which point it immediately began raining.  I quickly bear-bagged and ducked into my tent to sleep around midnight.  It rained right up until the moment I woke up at 10am, at which point the rain stopped – good timing.

The next day I headed to the NOC and got a bunk there.  It’s a nice place for vacation, but not laid out the best for thru-hikers.  The restaurants and shops are separated from the bunkhouses by a rather steep hill, many steps, and at least a quarter-mile.  Left NOC in the morning after breakfast and limped/screamed/cried my way to Sassafras Gap Shelter, and spent the remainder of the day, and all of the next, healing.  There was some wild mint growing at Sassafras Gap Shelter.  It smelled a lot like oregano.  You can tell it’s a variety of mint because of the square stem.  Evan used some to make tea.  I haven’t found his body lying on the trail yet, so it must have been edible (The AT is like Everest – bodies are far too heavy to carry out).  I also starting whittling to pass the time during my zero.  Turns out I’m not bad at it.

After my 0-day at Sassafras, I hiked 9.1 miles to Brown Fork Shelter, then 11.5 to the Hwy 28 crossing to Fontana.  Called the shuttle on the phone there because I’d rather pay $3 than walk another 2 non-AT miles.  30 minutes later I called again to ask where by chance the shuttler could be.  15 minutes later I spent 30 minutes walking the 2 miles to Fontana Village.  Reached the village, bought some groceries, ate a bacon cheeseburger, and checked into the lodge.  Tomorrow I enter the Great Smoky Mountains, just 3 miles north of here.

I pooped in the woods the day I left Franklin.  It wasn’t such a big deal.  I don’t know what all the fuss is about.  Also, some of my toes have gone numb.  Permanently?  Probably.

It turns out Safety Rail (This is Safety Stu – he was indecisive on a trail name, but finally settled on Safety Rail because he doesn’t care so much about safety; he just doesn’t want to fall out of bed) is a computer security consultant.  We’ve been hiking the same distances since Sassafras Gap shelter, and it looks like we’ll be sticking together all the way to Gatlinburg 40 miles north of here, maybe further.  He’s a good guy.

Oh, also there are bugs now.  Good lord are there bugs.  They look like skinny flies and they bite, and it hurts, and it itches forever.  I’ve been calling them blackflies, but everyone here says they’re gnats.  Supposedly the blackflies are bigger and hurt more.  In Iowa gnats are smaller and don’t bite, they just dive-bomb every orifice from the neck up.  Whatever you call them, I hate them.  Their one redeeming quality is that they’re slow, so you’re usually able to murder the little bugger that just bit you.