Shuttle Steve dropped me off at Stecoah Gap at 8am on schedule. I was physically and mentally ready to conquer my first 15 mile day. In fact, I committed to it. Steve advised if I were to stay in the Fontana Lodge as planned, I should play it safe and make a reservation.
So that’s exactly what I did. I figured having a room secured would provide extra incentive for making it all the way. If for some reason I didn’t make it, what I’d end up with was a very expensive stay in my tent!
Starting out from Stecoah Gap, the trail climbs. But the climb is not grueling. It was just what I needed to get warmed up. About 1 mile in the hike I started to climb “Jacob’s Ladder” which is a 600 foot climb over half a mile. If you do the math, that’s nearly a 25% grade! Further, that’s just the average grade. Some parts are really steep, others less so, but it’s a 25% average grade!
All while hiking this section, I was more convinced I’d made the right call the previous night. If I’d have forced myself to hike past Stecoah Gap, I don’t know what would’ve happened. It reminds me of that day back in Georgia when I was trying to catch Voyageur but had to stop early.
I blew by the side trail to Brown Fork Gap Shelter which marked the 2.4 mile point of the day. No break for me yet! I was determined to not take a break until I’d covered about a third of the day’s miles. Besides that, I was in a zone and didn’t want to stop.
I was finally ready to stop when I reached Cody Gap, my originally planned stopping point for yesterday. I’d covered 5.3 miles and a quick time check showed the time was just before 11am. That’s almost a 2mph average which included the steepest climb yet! I was pretty happy with my progress so far.
But no time to rest on my laurels. After a quick snack and fluids, I was hiking again. This part of the trail was mostly downhill of a modest grade. I was able to really punch through this section. I covered an additional 3.2 miles in just over an hour and arrived at Cable Gap Shelter.
It was only about 1230pm, and I’d already covered 8.5 miles. A quick check of the guide showed I had 5.5 miles remaining for the day. This fact showed that I was mentally off by 1 mile. This would be a 14 mile day instead if 15.
I had to arrive at the Fontana road crossing by 6pm in order to secure a shuttle to the lodge. That meant I was in great shape! I had 5.5 miles to cover and had 5.5 hours to do it. Even at the slow pace of 1mph, I would make it. I decided to take an extended break here at Cable Gap Shelter.
While here, I had some visitors! First was Chef Oden, who I’ve seen on and off for a couple weeks. Second was Wayward, who I just recently saw again when leaving the NOC. (She and Pippy were last seen back before Rock Gap where they were headed to Franklin) Last was Gnome, who I’d just met 2 nights ago at Sassafras Gap Shelter.
After an extended lunch break with everyone, it was time to get moving! The time had crept up on me and was now 145pm. Move it, I got ground to cover! Yah!!!
Right out of the shelter was a healthy little 800 foot climb. Unlike Jacob’s Ladder, however, this climb was over a mile so was not as strenuous. Following the climb, there were a bunch of sharp little ups and downs. They do not show up in the guide’s trail profile. It’s that scale problem I’ve written about before. These ups and downs became so relentless, I was getting mad!
If there’s one thing I learned from Shakedown Trip #4, it’s this: When you get mad at the trail, then employee some good old fashion smack talk and direct it right at the trail! It works wonders! Here’s a sampling while climbing a hill and anticipating it will be followed by another hill: “Oh yeah?!?! Got this climb for me, huh? Well, I got something for you… Mojo’s coming to cut you down to size… I know you got more climbs… I’m coming for them too!” And there was one occasion where the trail went up this climb but veered to the side and missed the high point. My reaction, “what’s wrong? Not worthy enough for the trail to roll right over you? Huh?! Guess not!”
This coping mechanism is great, but it can’t be the norm. If I were to do this all the time, I don’t think it would have the same effect. It would be like eating really good pizza all the time, it would eventually be reduced to “just pizza.” Anyway, I use the technique sparingly. Today it worked great to add some energy to a tiring hiker.
Once it was obvious there were no more climbs, I took a short break at Walker Gap. It was 345pm and I had 2.7 miles left. The trail descended 1700 feet over this distance. Easy peazy!
…not so fast there, quickdraw… I forgot about rock and bolder walking. Those are common on downhill runs, and this was full of them. These features require serious attention to each and every foot step. How the foot is placed, what surface it’s on, where the trekking poles are placed, all these things and more go into each step. That slows ones progress considerably. Seriously, one bad step is all it takes to completely end a thru hike. One step.
Despite the rocky areas, there was enough graded trail which allowed me to make up time. I finally made it to the Fontana AT Road Crossing at 500pm sharp – a full hour ahead of schedule. I was super pumped and excited – I’d just knocked out my first 14 mile day! Hell yeah!
Here at the road crossing, there are restrooms, a soda machine and a phone. The phone is linked directly to the front desk of the Fontana Lodge. All you have to do is hit zero. So that’s what I did… “Uh, yeah, I’m down at the AT Road Crossing – uh, can I please get a shuttle to the lodge?” “No problem, sir, I’ll send the shuttle right out.” “Thank you!” While I was waiting, Wayward came out of the woods, having reached the road crossing herself. She was heading to the Fontana Shelter, known as the Fontana Hilton because it’s one of the larger and nicer shelters on the A.T.
It took about 20 minutes, but I was finally picked up and driven to the lodge and was checked into my room by 530pm. Not more than 5 minutes in my room, I see M’mot and Zeeba walking past my back door. (I have a ground floor room with a direct door to the back) I immediately recognized and greeted them. It was like Franklin all over again. I never expected to see those two again.
They invited me to join them to dinner. After tending to a few items, I was out the door and met up with them at the Wildwood Grill. We all had a great dinner and good conversation bringing each other up to date on the other’s adventures. It’s so cool to meet up again with people you haven’t seen in days or weeks. Out here, one is constantly meeting new and previous hiking companions.
After dinner, we walked back to our rooms. For myself, I was fast asleep by 830pm. With a full stomach and a 14 mile day on the legs, there was nothing to do but sleep.
Wandering on…
Mojo
Way to go Mojo! 14 miles! Awesomeness!