The NOC to Fontana Dam

Restful Stay and a Challenging Section

Rambling Roots Hostel

Fellow Missourian, Jack, caught up with me while I was at the NOC working on my last post.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant and decided to stay at Rambling Roots Hostel.

Bookie was an excellent host and had a very nice and well-thought-out setup. From the sounds of things, the hostel was recently renovated to match her vision. I feel this worked very well. 

An added bonus was that Bookie is, I believe, a physical therapist and was able to provide advice on our aches and pains!

NOC to Sassafras Gap Shelter

We were shuttled back to the NOC in the morning and we began our ascent. 

We had a 7-mile journey to the next shelter. It took us a majority of the day as it was almost entirely uphill. 

Weather

The climb was tiring, but it was paired with inclement weather. We were about halfway up when it started to hail on us. This was a novel experience and I was excited about this. 

The hail turned to rain which poured for the remainder of the climb. We saw a flash of light and thunder boomed forth. 

The hail and rain turned the trail to mud and we slipped and slid our way into the shelter near the top. 

Sassafras Gap Shelter to Brown Fork Shelter

Still Chill

It was cold today; I believe the high was in the 40s. The chill slowed our progress, mainly because I wasn’t motivated to leave the warmth and comfort of my hammock until it warmed up a bit. It never really did and I finally got up and headed out.

The weather teased rain for most of the day. Clouds were rolling through and the sun would occasionally shine down. 

I put on my rain poncho early because in the morning we had a short sprinkling. As soon as I got the poncho on it stopped, but I kept it on as a precaution. Anytime I went to take it off it would begin sprinkling again, so I just kept it on. 

Slow Going

Around 11am I passed a day hiker saying I was the 20th NOBO he had seen since 8am. 

I stopped for lunch around noon and realized that in 3 hours I had only walked 3 miles. The trail was wet and muddy and the weather was uncomfortable, but this still seemed slow. Jack caught up to me when I stopped, and after a time, we pushed on. 

Eventually, we split apart but reunited at a road crossing for the final climb of the day. There was construction going on, and I saw that even the construction workers were pestered by the bears and had to hang their generator to keep it safe!

Jacob’s Ladder

The final climb was a bear to climb. It was called Jacob’s Ladder and it caught us off guard. It seemed to go up forever, and the further up it went, the steeper it seemed to be. Oh, and the weather stopped teasing us and it finally started to rain in earnest. 

My legs complained the whole way, so I walked backward, and sideways, took breaks, walked extra slow, and walked only on the balls of my feet. Finally, we made it to the top and stopped at Brown Fork Shelter for the night, exhausted, cold, and wet. 

Brown Fork Shelter to Fontana Dam Shelter

The sun was out and not a cloud was in the sky! It was still cold, the high being low 50s, but it was so much better than it had been. 

My legs were still tired, but we were able to cover some ground quicker than the last couple of days. It helped that there were no heartbreaking climbs on the agenda.

We got to Lake Fontana after around 11 miles of hiking. We missed the shuttle into town but checked out the Marina. Here we bought ice cream, frozen pizzas, drinks, candy, and chips. We ate like kings and decided to stay at the shelter and go into town in the morning.

We pushed on to Fontana Dam Shelter. Aka, “The Hilton”. There were bathrooms, showers, a patio, tent sites galore, clean water, and even a charging station. I was so tired I went right to bed.

Zero Day at Fontana

We rode into town on the shuttle and had a breakfast buffet. Afterward, we went to the general store for a pricey resupply. 

Later, I was sitting out front of the store waiting on the shelter. There were a handful of hikers here I had met before. Junco, Pickles, Froggy, and Flash. There were two others whom I had met previously, but then realized I knew from further back. Knabby and Ambassador. These were two of three hikers I met when I was climbing the stairs at Amicalola! 

 

One of them was quiet, but when he said something about being in the military, everything fell into place. I had wondered what happened to these two and was excited to see they were still on Trail. 

Afterward, I rode back to the shelter to take a rest day. Tomorrow we will continue our journey across the Dam and into The Great Smokey Mountains. 

Experiences

Caloric intake aka Food

For a plus-sized gentleman like myself, I haven’t worried too much about this. The skinny folk have it rough out here though. 

I just worry about not being hungry, but they are worried about starving. They are looking at food for 32 miles, but more importantly, they are counting calories for 32 miles. 

I’ll do my best to explain why this is. One day I kept track of what I ate: 2 packs of oatmeal, a tuna packet, a tortilla with cheese and pepperoni, a brownie, an ice cream cone, a heath bar, chips, an entire frozen pizza, and Gatorade. According to my step counter, I was still in a calorie deficit. 

Weight vs calories

On an average day, we are not eating pizzas and ice cream. You eat what you pack out. You carry what you pack out. 

So these skinny fellas are having to somehow carry thousands of calories worth of food for each day they are on the trail. I don’t think it’s possible to carry enough. 

It’s easy to forget that everything has weight. Carrying armloads of heavy groceries from the car is one thing. It’s quite another to carry heavy groceries for 32 miles on your back. 

Stacking calories

They put olive oil into their food, mix ramen and instant potatoes(Ramen bomb), carry baggies of crushed chips, and loads of candy. Many are spreading peanut butter on tortillas to ear. Yet several are still in a deficit.

It’s a curious reversal compared to how we normally look at calories and weight loss vs weight gain. 

One last musing

It’s curious, too how the more I eat, the less weight I have to carry. So, in a way, I weigh less the more I eat!