If You Stay at the Hilton, There Should be a Bar!
Day 30
Fontana Village to Fontana Dam Shelter 1.4 Miles. AT mile 166.0
Card of the day – page of wands
The start of the day was a little hung over for the crew, but we had a really good night.
We ate in the restaurant and took some beers back to a room to play cards. Normal hiker life.
Kegstand stole my toast and brutalised the butter by trying to rub it on. Then Meg reached over and helped herself to my home fries! Like ladies a boys gotta eat!
I have hiker hunger too!
Next was laundry and resupply. Now the site really has a captive audience but $142 for a four-day resupply was a tad expensive. And then charging us $5 each way when we were staying there. But hay ho.
As we were all still wiped out and there was an eclipse due to happen, we made the unanimous decision to do 1.1 miles and stay at the Fontana Hilton Shelter. We also decided that we would buy beers for trail magic, and there was also trail magic!
Mike the trail angel from Gooch Gap with the snickers bars was set up with snacks and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which I’m still yet to try, and he followed this up later with hotdogs, of which I had two. What a hero.
Howie missed a mile; he took the shuttle right to the shelter instead of the marina where we left the trail. He promised that when he gets to Momma K, he’s coming back to do it. I promise to hold him to that.
All in all, it was just a cool day.
In the evening, I lit incense and did a meditation to the dark moon. One Luna month in. I can hardly believe it. And it some ways it kind of seems fitting to be the start of the Smokies.
By hiker midnight I was all in my tent, however it seems that two hikers were getting it on in the middle of the campsite, which is not something I really needed to hear. What happens on trail, right.
Sometime after 10:00 I thought there was a sports team coming to camp late and setting up hammocks right next to my tent, all without a red light! Turns out it was Meg. I popped my head out to give them what for with their bright white light, and it was just her. Bright light shining right at me, but her big smiling face just said sorry, and I went back to bed. Flashlight Meg has a ring to it, I think.
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