Hotel Hilton Fontana Dam
Starting mile 156.2
Today I made it to Fontana Dam and in the morning, I will be starting the Smokies. I started at Cody Gap a little after 7:30 because I wanted to get to Fontana Village for lunch. A nice big burger or pizza sounded great.
It was a nice downward sloping morning for the first three plus miles down to a shelter. I cruised on down there enjoying watching the mountain come alive in the morning. This is definitely my favorite time of day to hike.
Taking my breakfast at the shelter a couple of the guys I camped with the previous night passed me, so I figured it was about time to get going. This led to our only climb of the day and after yesterday I was a little worried it would be straight up again. Luckily it wasn’t. After a short time, I looked at my phone, and I had already done half the climb.
It was during this climb that I first saw Fontana Dam. It looked so close but I still had 5 miles to go. I had a nice little ridge walk with views of the dam before the 3.5 mile down hill. Some might think the down hill is easy but when it is Rocky and steep I prefer going up.
I made it to the marina about noon, just in time for lunch. We call the shuttle driver to bring us into town and wait. Of course as we are waiting we are all talking about food, something that is always on our mind. The six of us waiting threw or bags into the van as soon as it arrived and all piled in. Strider, who was sitting up front asked if we could just be dropped off at the restaurant? The driver said sure I could do that, but the restaurant is closed. We were all very disappointed, all we wanted was a good meal. Instead we had to eat at the gas station. Not what any of us wanted.
After eating at the gas station I caught the shuttle back to the marina and hiked the 1.5 miles to the Fontana Hilton. I took a hot shower and did some laundry in the sink. I wouldn’t say my clothes are any cleaner but I was able to rinse a lot of salt off them.
The rest of the day was just relaxing around camp, trading stories with others staying here. This included “Squid “who I hadn’t seen in over 100 miles. It was a relaxing evening that ended with a little Trail Magic of grilled hot dogs and chips.
I ended up doing 10 miles for the day with about 1,800 feet of elevation gain. Tomorrow morning, I get to do a 12-mile, 5,000-foot climb. It should be fun.
Ending mile 166.2