Bear Country

June 8th- 17.5 miles
Woke up early and hit the trail at 7. Not more than 30 minutes into my hike I run into 3 black bear cubs. I clank together my trekking poles as they scurried away. The entire day I clicked my poles together around corners, as to give the bears time to run away. Turns out the smokey mountains are home to the highest concentration of lack bears in the country (1600). Hiked to Rocky Top Mountain where I ate a big lunch. Got to drink a coke I had brought from the day before. Made some phone calls to family members (Amy, Mom, Grandma), hope I can reach you soon. Started hiking where I ran into a high school football team. My feet hurt and ached all day, but no blisters or hot spots. Made it to Sillers Bald shelter at 17.5 miles. There is an AT service group here, which makes for some good company. I hike 10 or so miles to Gatlinberg tomorrow, can't wait to get some much needed rest and shoes. Night

Fontana Dam

John and I left camp at 8:30 and after a couple hours of hiking, we were at the Marina outside of the Fontana Dam. Got a ride to the Fontana Resort, which is where I resupplied for my journey in the Smokey Mountains. Ate at the grill, where I got a BLT sandwich for the trail. John and I got a ride back to the Fontana Dam soon after. Checked out the Fontana Hilton. What a shelter! With its bathrooms, porch, over 24 sleeping accommodation, fire grills and water faucets. Hiked over the dam, which is the largest dam on the eastern coast. John had finished his hike, but longed to hike the full trek. We parted ways as I entered the Smokey Mountains park. Hiked up to a fire tower all the way up on a mountain. Ate my BLT up at the top. Hiked a couple hours to the Mollies Ridge shelter. I wanted to go on further but the light was failing. Set up quickly in the shelter and went to bed after hiking 20.5 miles.

Night hike

Woke up at sun rise (6am) at the NOC's bunk house. Was on the trail at 7 to hike 9 miles up to Cheoah Bald, what a view! Ate romen noodles at the sassafras gap shelter and continued on to Cable Gap shelter. Twisted my right ankle pretty good which cut my pace significantly. The AT is filled with tripping hazards, with it's roots covered in moss, to wet boulders, and steep drop offs. Went to the Brown Fork gap shelter at 4 pm due to my ankle. Met some interesting people from Florida around dinner time. Ate three different entrees, my appetite is kicking in now for sure. My friend John showed up at 7, where he suggested we night hike to the Fontana Hilton, the nicest shelter on the AT. We night hiked for two hours where we decided to camp at the Cable Gap shelter. It was 11 by then so we set up camp and were ready to make it to the Fontana Dam in the morning.

The NOC

Yesterday I hiked 15 miles from Franklin. Set up camp and had to deal with the rain all night. My friend John along with two others that were marines are trying to get me to go marines, what a lesson. Got some much needed supplies from the three eagles outfitters. Today I hiked 12 miles mostly down hill to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The NOC is a big outdoor place for whitewater rafting, NOBOs and camping. My friend john and I got a hostel room and went down to the dinner where we both ate the hungry hiker burger, a 1lb burger along with Tator tots. Soon after we did laundry and checked out the shopping center. Tried to get me some trail runner shoes as my boots are not helping me hike the AT. Turns out they don't carry a size 13 or 14. I'll have to try my luck in Gatlinburg. Eating and preparing for tomorrow. I have 6 miles of straight climbing, so I'll be starting early. Hopefully with luck I'll make it 22 miles tomorrow.

NC

Hiked 24 miles today, with a 2+ miles an hour pace, feels good. Met up with my new friend V-Tech, who's hiking for 160 miles. We made it into Franklin NC. We got a taxi and headed to McDonalds where my friend VTech and I ate over 2000 calories in one sitting consisting of two big macs and other entrees. I think my boots aren't going to work out. Still developing blisters, going to get some new shoes in Wesser NC. Tired, going to bed now.

Saturday the 2nd

After being dropped off on the trail again, I hiked 17 miles to Standing Indian shelter in North Carolina. Met the owner of zpacks, a light weight camping company. Went to bed early, after setting up my bear bag, no set up bear bags in NC. Happy to have left Georgia, one state down.

Rest

Yesterday I hiked 4 miles into town (Hiawassee, Georgia). Got a hotel room and have been laying in bed resting my feet. Ordered a huge supreme pizza from Big Al's pizza, finished that quickly. Today I got food and supplies to continue on my trek tomorrow. It's going to be a great day.