Section Hiking the Appalachian Trail

So, get this: Back in 2021, I was like, "Why not take a crack at hiking the Appalachian trail with absolutely zero backpacking experience? What's the worst that could happen, right?

Let's see:

1. Get attacked by bears
2. Fall off the side of a mountain
3. Die of hunger or dehydration
4. Crazed lunatic attack

I was nervous to do this by myself, so I found a hiking buddy. Dragging my son with me, we stepped into the great unknown. Between us, we had the combined knowledge of a goldfish. But hey, we muddled through, embraced the danger, and voilà, now I'm a certified mountain goat. Who knew?

My boy Waite and I were ready to go and find out what the AT was all about. We rented a car and drove to Gainesville, GA. Our shuttle driver, Bret, was punctual when picking us up at 4 PM to drive us to the top of Springer Mountain.

During the drive, Bret shared with us some interesting information about the Appalachian Trail. For example, did you know the trail didn't originally start on Springer Mountain? Well, the original terminus could be found on Mount Oglethorpe, about 20 miles to the northeast.

Mount Oglethorpe was named after James Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of Georgia. I've heard that there are truly dramatic views there, but I'll probably never find out. In 1958, the terminus was relocated due to the construction of a gravel logging road on the mountain, ensuring better access to its breathtaking scenery. Hikers were delighted by the improvements, as they no longer encountered unpleasant odors from nearby chicken farms while exploring Mount Oglethorpe.

Many hikers choose to start their journey at Amicalola Falls, a state park that offers the 8.5-mile approach trail leading to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail on Springer Mountain. While this section may not be considered an official part of the AT, it's probably a wonderful addition to the hike. But for me, I didn't feel the need to add include additional miles that are not officially recognized.

The drive-up Springer Mountain on U.S. Forest Road 42 was a leisurely adventure, winding through picturesque scenery along the gravelly road. Bret mentioned that his truck took a beating on those roads. Being a shuttle driver is quite the challenge itself, navigating the mountains throughout the day. At 6 PM, he dropped us off at the Springer trail head (Big Stamp Gap) and even captured some cheerful pictures as we embarked on our journey.

Bret dropped us off around 6 PM so we didn't have much remaining daylight left for our brief journey. The starting point of the AT was just one mile to the south, so we retraced our steps to that renowned location. Despite encountering a swarm of bugs along the trail, we remained undeterred as we commenced our adventure.

We arrived and spent some time at the plaque, just as thousands of people have done before us. While the view may not be spectacular, the sight of the boulder and the two bronze markers signifying the southern terminus of the AT was a significant and uplifting moment for me.

You can see the first white blaze of the trail behind me. There’s like over 80,000 of them.

I found a hiker registry book at the summit but didn't write anything in it. We headed back to the trailhead and eagerly started our hike towards our first shelter - Stover Creek Shelter. Despite being new to this, we embraced the short 2-mile walk with enthusiasm. We took our time strolling along the flat path to the shelter, appreciating each step of the journey. It was a special moment when we filtered water for the first time, taking in the beauty of the surrounding plants and flowers, particularly the abundance of ferns in the forest. We were excited to reach the shelter around 7 PM.

"I can't believe it's finally happening - our first shelter!" I exclaimed with excitement. I had been eagerly anticipating my very first shelter experience. Stover Creek Shelter is spacious - accommodating 16 people on two levels. Many hikers choose this as their first stop on the trail.

There were a few tents set up, but the shelter was empty. We set up our sleeping bags and enjoyed a decent dinner. We securely stored our food in the bear bin.

An experienced hiker kindly demonstrated how to use the bear cables. Initially, we didn't hang our bags properly and opted to place them on pegs inside the shelter. As we were getting organized, we were joined by a group of hikers from Ukraine. Despite the unsettling backdrop of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, we engaged in friendly conversation as they enjoyed their dinners at a nearby picnic bench. I approached them and we had a pleasant exchange. At one point, they lit up a joint, adding a relaxed and jovial atmosphere to the evening.

At around 9 PM, it was quiet, so we tried to sleep. I had trouble sleeping without a pillow but drifted off after 20 minutes or so. Only a few minutes later, Waite woke me up. “Hey, we have a problem. There are mice all over our bags.”

We shined a flashlight on the adorable little guys. They were white with pink feet. The mice were all over our bags looking for food. So, we grabbed our bags, went out in the dark, and hung them on the bear cables. This would be our first experience with mice. The Ukraine hikers were walking back and forth looking for water until midnight. They sat around the fire pit and smoked more weed.

We returned to our sleeping bags. The mice crawled around most of the night but didn’t bother us too much. My bigger problem was not having a pillow. I didn’t sleep well. At night, there are lots of noises in the woods. It's kind of spooky. I was expecting a bear to terrorize us. The first night was difficult and I just wanted to get started on our first day.

It was getting light out when I saw an animal appear in front of the shelter. Was it a small dog? Armadillo? Maybe I was dreaming. I have no idea. Anyway, morning came, and I was glad to get up. We got packed and ate some breakfast. Stover Creek is at the bottom of a steep hill down from the shelter. I walked down to fill our bottles then walked the steep hill back up. I was already exhausted. Little did I know that we were going to pass this stream on the trail. I should have filled it up then. "Duh!" We got going at around 8 AM. The hiking was nice and easy at first. After a half mile, we crossed a bridge at Three Forks.

This was where we saw our first double white blaze on a tree.

We were confused for a minute but figured it out, thankfully. At 2.3 miles, we stopped at Long Creek Falls - a must see on the trail. We passed a maintenance crew on the way there.

There were some people in hammocks there just waking up and eating breakfast. We chatted for a bit. One guy there took our picture and we moved on. We marched on to Hawk Mountain where we stopped for a snack. It seems that most hikers stop here on their first day. But we’re not most hikers! We intended to eat at the shelter but the .2 mile walk was too much for us. We found a tenting spot with a big log and sat there instead. Searching for something to eat, we found some treats in the bear bin which gave us an early pick-me-up. From Hawk Mountain the trail descends to Hightower Road. We cruised past that road, passed Horse Gap, and started the climb up Sassafras Mountain. This was the first hard climb. We did ok, I think. Waite found some bullet shells. It turns out that we were near Camp Merrill, a U.S. Army facility used for training. The climb down was full of rocks and roots.

“We hiked over Sassafras Mountain,” I told Waite. “Cool,” he replied.

We then bravely tackled the daunting Justus Mountain. As we huffed and puffed our way up, the mountain surprised us with a path so smooth and wide it felt like strolling through a shopping mall. The trees formed a luscious green umbrella, as if Mother Nature herself was trying to shield us from the sun's wrath. This part of the hike was seriously amazing, and we were loving every second of it. We probably should have milked it for all it was worth, but hey, you live and learn!

At 11 miles, we finally reached Justus Creek. The creek looked pretty intimidating with its strong current. To our surprise, a couple of young ladies were already there, looking all confident. We couldn't help but joke that they were totally out-hiking us.

The lack of sleep was getting to me around here. We arrived at Gooch Mountain Shelter at around 3 PM.

There were plenty of people in the shelter, so we found a spot on the ground nearby and enjoyed our meal while considering our next steps. We chatted with a few guys who were getting ready to head back out. One of them let out a loud fart and we couldn't help but chuckle. We briefly considered joining them on an 8-mile hike, but we were feeling quite exhausted and decided to rest instead.

As they walked away, Waite said, "That dude just ripped ass while he was talking."

"Yeah, I noticed that," I replied.

We met our goal, so we ended our hike there. With the shelter full, we set up the tent for the first time.

The shelter also has a bear bin, so we put our food in there and hung our backpacks on the cables. We were basically experts on day 2.

I was so exhausted, I collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Our tent way too small - no room to stretch, but hey, at least I got some decent shuteye!

I woke up refreshed after a good sleep. We were both sore. I applied some Ben Gay on my legs which helped. We packed up and filled our water bottles. The shelter has a piped spring which makes filling up your water bottle much easier. Then, we hit the trail.

We hiked over Ram Rock Mountain admiring the view of Atlanta from the top. The fun continued to Woody Gap. This sign told us what was ahead...Blood Mountain!

We stopped at Woody's Gap to have lunch. This was the highlight of day two for sure. We had phone service for the first time, so I checked my fantasy baseball teams. Oh yeah, then I called my wife who was worried. Priorities!

There's a nice picnic table here where we ate a sandwich. A real bathroom was available, but we were both backed up so couldn’t take advantage of that luxury. We realized that we didn’t pack toilet paper, so we stocked up, though. There were also trash cans which we were surprisingly happy to see.

We left Woody Gap for some serious climbing up Big Cedar Mountain. The first steep climb came right after we left Woody Gap, though this one was short. The trail entered Blood Mountain Wilderness, then went up 500 feet in 1.2 miles.

Along the way, we met Larry, a 70-year old man from Indianapolis, IN. He was a cool dude. He was going much slower than us. I thought to myself, “This dude won’t make it far.” I was wrong by the way. We stopped at Preacher’s Rock.

There were people there, so we didn’t linger too long. We watered up at Lance Creek - 7 miles to Neels Gap. It was here that we found it easier to fill up with a cup rather than directly into the Sawyer Squeeze filter. Game changer. We saw Larry again before heading down to Jarred Gap where we found a big log. We stopped there for lunch.

Next, we hiked 2.7 miles up Blood Mountain which rises to 4,458 feet in elevation - the highest point on the Georgia portion of the Appalachian Trail. I had read about this mountain. Apparently, many lesser hikers quit after the grueling climb.

Everything I’d read was true as the hike up Blood Mountain was difficult. Tiny tree worms dangling from tree limbs made it even worse. They clung to our heads which sucked! There’s an old stone two room shelter on the way to the top that’s pretty cool.

Sitting near at the summit, the unique shelter that sets itself apart from the typical trail accommodations along the AT. Built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, this two-room stone cabin holds the distinction of being one of the earliest AT shelters. Despite its historical significance and spacious layout, I doubt that it's a good place to stay for the night. There's no water nearby and it's drafty in there. I wasn't finding out anyway.

We had to get to Neels Crossings before 5 PM to pick up our food drop. Waite was doing better than me so I told him to go ahead. The roots and rocks that covered the trail made for a painfully slow trip for the next 2.4 miles down to Neel Gap.

When I arrived around 5 pm, he was waiting there for me. I was beat down! The trail goes through Mountain Crossings - an outdoor gear and hiker resupply store. This place was definitely on my bucket list. It was cool to be at a place I’d read so much about.

We decided that we were done hiking for the day. I had no interest in sleeping in the tent again, so we called Mountain Crossings Inn to stay for the night. Larry showed up just then, so he tagged along. Bill picked us up. That night, we watched baseball and ate some Domino's Pizza.

We rested up and got dropped off in the morning around 9 AM. It was pouring down rain. We put on our Disney ponchos and walked through the monsoon. Leaving Neel Gap and Mountain Crossings, the trail goes through a breezeway between two sections of the building. This is the only place on the entire trail that goes under a roof. We stopped under the roof for a minute and noticed that Larry had much more rain gear than we did. Were our ponchos enough for this heavy downpour? We would soon find out.

We slogged through the rain up the trail. The trail was covered in water. The mud was a slick ooze but I didn’t slide around too much. Waite was hiking through the torrential downpours better than me so he went ahead. I told him that we should stop at the next shelter called Whitley Gap Shelter. Off he went. We hiked past Tesnatee Gap at 3,140 feet in elevation. The trail climbs up to a spot near Whitley Gap, at 3,623 feet. I made it to Whitley Gap but my boy wasn't there. It's still raining! Like, hard!

The shelter was 1.2 miles away so I would not have chosen to stop here but I did tell him that we would. Now what do I do? Should I proceed to the gap or go on to the shelter? Ugh! I decided to go to the shelter thinking that it would cost me an hour, but I would catch up to him later.

The walk to the shelter is probably wonderful in good weather. You pass a beautiful ridge then you descend into the gap. However, in pouring rain, it sucks! I was hurrying as fast as I could down the hill and fell on my right rib cage. It didn't feel that bad, so I got up and continued.

I arrived at the shelter. Nobody was there which was kinda creepy.

I ate a NutriGrain Bar and headed back up the hill to the gap. I didn't get far when I saw Waite coming down the hill. We went back to the shelter to regroup. We were both shivering with no dry clothes. We didn't know that backpacks aren't waterproof.

We decided to find a place to stay so we called MoneyChanger - an old dude who shuttles people around. MoneyChanger picked us up and drove us to the Holiday Inn in Hiawassee.

We had a decision to make. I thought we should skip ahead to Dick's Creek Gap and head into North Carolina. Waite thought we should pick up where we left off. He convinced me that we should stay on the trail in case we would ever return. This was definitely the smart choice. We laid our clothes out to dry. My ribs were definitely bruised. It was hard to get up out of bed and to take deep breaths.

The climb out was actually not as bad as I had thought it would be. I've come to know that the climb out can look worse than it actually is.

Most of the hiking today was in the "green tunnel" that the Appalachian Trail is known for.

We hiked 4.4 miles to Low Gap Shelter and ate bacon jerky and a sandwich.

This was easily the highlight of the day. Waite and I had fun talking about nothing. We tend to do that.

We left in good spirits. We saw a neat old wall.

We headed up Blue Mountain and passed the shelter (yesterday’s target). Then we hiked down to Unicoi Gap which was rocky and slow.

After hiking 15 miles, we were both exhausted. We had six more miles to get to Tray Mountain Shelter. There were two chairs set out by the sign, so we sat there and ate. Waite was thirsty and didn’t have much water. Someone left behind a half-full water bottle. I told Waite, “It’s highly unlikely that someone would poison a bottle and leave it here. Go ahead.” It didn’t take much encouragement for him to chug it.

Reluctantly, we started climbing. We went from an elevation of 2,949 feet to 4,017 feet in about a mile before reaching the peak of Rocky Mountain. The climb to the shelter was energy sucking. Woo Boy! This was a rough day. There are good views along the way, but it was foggy, so we missed out on that.

When we arrived, my watch said we hiked over 21 miles. We were both tired. There were four people there already. We nabbed the last two spots as the rain was coming in. This was our second time sleeping in a shelter.

Two of the shelter mates were from Russia. A father and son. So, Russia and Ukraine were at war, and we met people from both countries! Like, what are the chances?

The boy had an iPad playing games. He talked and talked until after midnight. We didn't know what they were saying because they were speaking Russian. We may have improved international relations between Ukraine and Russia. Interesting.

Waite and I discussed our next move. More rain was coming, and we had no rain gear. My rib was in pain. I was doing fine hiking, but I feared that something might be broken because pushing on it really hurt. We had a reservation at the Hostel Around the Bend all set. We decided to end our journey there.

People who have a lot of experience hiking long distance trails say: "Don't quit on a bad day." We probably should have slept on it. Oh well.

I thoroughly enjoyed our night at Tray Mountain Shelter. The sound of rain and cool breezes were both relaxing. One of the hikers passed gas a couple of times. They smelled like my dad's farts! That was weird but I still slept like a baby.

We were both sore as we departed around 8 AM. At first the trail going down the mountain was steep, but soon it leveled out into an easier grade.

We passed Kelly Knob which is a mile long with 1000 feet of incline. Soon, we were at Dick's Creek Gap. We got a ride to the hostel and called it a hike. We ate dinner at the Hiwassee brewery where we played music trivia bingo. My wife picked us up the next morning. On our way out, Larry showed up.

I drove directly to the Hostel Around the Bend and stayed the night. Before I left the hostel, I weighed my backpack. It was 30 pounds! “I can deal with this”, I said to myself. Gordon dropped me off around 7:10 or so. I noticed that there were a lot of cars parked there. I should have just parked here and hiked out last night. Oh well. It was still dark, so I put on the headlamp and got moving. I wasn’t in the mood to hike but, but I switched into hiker mode pretty quickly. It was kinda cold, so I layered up with three shirts and a jacket. In probably 20 minutes, I was sweating a ton, so I removed the jacket.

My research about this section said “Tough climb up from Dick's Creek Gap; enter North Carolina. There are three long, steep hills, resulting in the second highest elevation gain so far.”

The description above wasn’t wrong. The climb out of Dick's Creek Gap was so hard. It was a slow go, but I managed.

I stopped at Blue Ridge Gap for some Pop-Tarts.

The climb out of the gap was steep of course. At the top of that second hill was some easy ridge hiking then I crossed the border. My first goal was met!

I passed the famous twisted tree.

Then, I hiked on to Bly Gap where I cameled up and ate some food. I had no appetite to eat or drink but I forced myself to do both. I talked to a fellow-hiker who said water sources were scarce, so I drank over 2 quarts.

The climb out of Bly Gap was even harder. It’s straight up with no switchbacks. This climb is the steepest on the AT up to this point. Lots of big, steep stairs with big steps up a vertical hill. Woo boy! I slowly made it to Muskrat Creek Shelter around 3 pm. My shirts were soaked. The elevation from Dick's Creek Gap to Muskrat Creek Shelter went from 2675’ to 4600’. I was beat down.

Deep Gap had warning signs about bear activity in the area. We were unphased as we hiked to Standing Indian Shelter - less than one mile away.

It was around 7 PM or so. I wanted to sleep in shelters because I’m too lazy to get the tent out and set it up. Then in the morning, I’d have to pack it back up. How dumb is that? I mean, if I didn’t have that issue, we could have gone another two or three miles or so.

We quickly covered over 5 miles in 2 hours. The trail wasn’t difficult. We went up and over Indian Mountain with no trouble. From there, the next 2.8 miles were all easy and mostly downhill to Beech Gap. We continued to Kilby Creek for a break and some water.

We then marched to Carter Gap Shelter for some lunch. Here's some shelter graffiti which is frowned upon by many hikers.

Back to the trail. Check out these views y'all!

The weather was great, and the ups and downs were mostly gradual with plenty of switchbacks. We met a group of women at Betty Creek Gap.

We talked to them for a bit, then headed up to the dreaded Albert Mountain. From the gap, the trail made a mostly gradual ascent until it came to within a couple hundred feet of the summit of Albert Mountain. On the way up, we found another great piped-spring. I took that opportunity to water up, for sure.

On the approach there are a couple places where steps are provided…

…but for the most part the trail simply goes straight up over large rocks. When you get to about 1/2 mile before the 100-mile fire tower mark on Albert Mountain, there is a very steep ascent. At times it’s almost straight up. This is where things got interesting.

This is by far the hardest climb of the first 100. Hang on...that climb out of Dick's Creek Gap was horrible! Maybe they're all bad. Anyway, Waite’s thigh was hurting a bit, so I went ahead. I made it to the top and took in the views atop Albert Mountain at the historic metal fire lookout tower. Waite showed up about 10 minutes later.

We climbed the tower, but the top level was locked, so we couldn't go to the top. The tower acts as a milestone to mark the first 100 miles of my hike from Springer Mountain. The actual spot of the 100 miles is less than a mile to the north. Still, this was another huge milestone for me.

We all sat around for a bit then hiked a quick 2.4 miles down to the Long Branch Shelter. These were the easiest miles so far. We stayed the night in the shelter there with the women in the upper deck. This was the nicest shelter we’d stayed in. Waite and I wanted to relax but more hikers came and congregated in front making lots of noise. It occurred to me that it was probably similar to the bubble. Someday, I may find out.

There was a mist in the air as we got going in the morning. The hike to Rock Gap was easy but the trail goes up from there. When we got to the top, it was nice and flat, though. We met five women hikers. We chatted with them for a bit. One of them is a photographer and took our picture:

We talked to them for a bit. They told us that the bunkhouse at the NOC is pretty awful. This would be confirmed later. After that, we went on down to Winding Stair Gap.

There’s a nice cascading creek here. Waite is a big waterfall guy so he enjoyed this.

At the bottom, there’s a piped-spring. An elderly lady had a few gallon-sized plastic jugs. She filled them up and loaded them into her car. We weren’t sure what was up with that.

I told Waite that the piped-spring is an underrated gem on the AT. It’s so easy to fill up your water bottles. He said I’m just too lazy. Anyway, this piped-spring was flowing great. I used the opportunity to brush my teeth and wash up.

The ladies came down the hill and sat with us a bit. We all crossed the road and climbed up and out. We went through Swinging Lick Gap but someone turned the L into a D for some reason.

Then we got to Panther Gap which isn’t much of a gap at all.

Waite and I bantered about the possibility of creating our own gap. All we would need to do is have the sign made, then nail it into a tree. Boom. We have a gap. I was thinking of “Matt’s Gap” but Waite had many other ideas. If we did this, would it eventually become part of the trail? We’ll probably never know.

We marched up to Siler Bald which is a short hike off trail. We went the wrong way and wasted some time and miles and never actually went up to the bald. I think we’re going to be fine missing it. By the time we got to Wayah Gap, we were both getting tired. The original target for today was the Wayah Shelter but that was another five miles - the first part was uphill.

Waite talked me into finding a ride into town. I made a deal with him. I didn’t want to spend $100 on shuttles. So, I said “If we can hitch into town, we’ll go. If not, we’re hiking.”

The next car came along, I put my thumb out, and the driver stopped! It was clearly a sign from the hiking gods that we should go into town and call it day. The guy who drove us, Mike, works for Oracle. I’m an Oracle DBA. This was an amazing coincidence. We had lots to talk about. Anyway, Mike dropped us off at the Hampton Inn where we ate pizza and watched Mulan and a ball game. The hotel cost way more than I thought. I probably would have been better off calling for a shuttle. Oh well.

But, we were rewarded with the Wayah Bald. The views were stunning.

This was the highlight of the trip so far. We stayed here for a while. I didn’t want to leave but the miles don’t walk themselves.

We headed down the hill to Wayah Shelter where we stopped for lunch.

Someone left an unopened bag of trail mix there. I don’t think it counts as trail magic. We ate nearly all of it over the course of the next three days all the same. We hiked from there to Burningtown Gap then up to Cold Springs Shelter.

It was around 3 PM. The next shelter was six miles away. We would have to get going to make it before dark. We talked about going a couple more miles and breaking out the tent but, again, we’re too lazy to do all that. So, we stopped. The shelter is probably the worst one we’ve seen. The tarp was disgusting, there were bugs flying all over, nowhere to sit, and it looked rough.

Waite got settled inside the shelter. A few younger thru hikers came by. They looked at the awful shelter and decided to break out their tents atop the Copper Ridge Bald Lookout. Another hiker closer to my age stayed with us. He showed me the PCT bear hang which was an experience.

We took a quick look at the bald, but it was all fogged up, so we decided to skip it. Then, we made our way downhill into Telico Gap and crossed over the dirt road.

From Tellico Gap, we hiked up to the top of Wesser Bald, gaining about 760 feet over just under 1.5 miles. At the peak, there’s this cool 30-foot-tall metal and wood fire tower. And let me tell you, the views from that fire tower on Wesser Bald are absolutely incredible!

Over the next 5.7 miles, the trail took a nosedive, dropping 2,500 feet. It’s pretty much downhill the whole way but watch out for the big rocks that make the descent a bit tricky.

We found an awesome spot to chill and grab some lunch while looking out over Nantahala Gorge. Yeah, a slip here wouldn’t be good, but the view was totally worth it!

From here, the hike to the Nantahala Outdoor Center takes a more downhill vibe. It wasn't all smooth sailing, though. Along the way, Waite twisted his ankle and ended up lagging behind. I decided to chill for a bit at a gap while waiting for him. Poor guy! He managed to hobble down to the NOC eventually.

The NOC is pretty awesome! There’s this river where you can see kayakers and boaters having a blast. Honestly, the bunkhouse? Total waste of cash. I heard from a couple of folks it wasn’t worth it. We definitely should've just set up our tent instead of spending the night there. But hey, at least we scored a yummy dinner! After that, we caught a youth group doing this dance thing. It was a bit strange, but who are we to judge, right?

So, Waite said he was all tapped out on hiking. Our car was parked at Fontana Dam, so we figured he’d go grab it and meet me at Stecoah Gap.

After the NOC, there's this monster climb—almost 4000 ft over seven miles up to Cheoah Bald. Most of it isn’t too crazy (aside from how long it is), but there are definitely some tricky sections with rocks and a few knee-buckling steep parts. The switchbacks helped make the climb a bit more bearable.

It was a pretty long trek up to Cheoah Bald - you know, the Grandstand of the Appalachians. Thankfully, there were a few flat spots that made the climb a bit easier. But honestly, the view of the Smokies is just amazing!

From one side of the top, I could see a long range of the mountains I had already crossed. From the other I could see the Smokies, where I would be headed.

After this, there's quite a bit of downhill getting to Stecoah Gap. There were some decent climbs in there, but it wasn’t too bad. I met a cool guy from New York named Steve. He hiked the last three miles with me. He was a talker with lots to say. Steve was looking at buying a hostel in Tennessee called The Station at 19E for 500k. He also gave me a tip on how to use my poles which was useful.

As I descended to the gap, I was concerned that my boy wouldn’t be there. I was glad when I got to a spot overlooking the parking lot. There he was!

Our hiking trip was over, so we drove home.

Not many good stories begin with, “I’m going to sleep in my car parked in a dark parking lot in the middle of Nowheresville.”

I chose this plan so that I could hit the trail early on Thursday. I left home around 5 pm and arrived at the parking lot at 10 pm. There were no streetlights so it was dark and spooky. One other vehicle was parked there. It was a small, older, red pickup truck. I was kinda relieved.

"Another hiker," I said to myself.

It took me a while to get comfortable and fall asleep in my rented Chevy but around 1 am, I was out cold. At 2:20 am, I woke up and saw two people hurriedly getting into the pickup truck. They floored it like they were in a huge hurry and loudly drove away.

I was unnerved by this. What could they have possibly been doing there? "They could be night hiking", I thought. But that seemed unlikely as night hiking isn’t common. Maybe they were hiding a dead body in the woods. If they were doing something really bad like that, they would want witnesses like me out of the picture. My mind was racing with ideas.

I stayed alert for a while. After maybe 20 minutes, I assumed that they were gone for good. I returned to sleep. Then, at 3, another truck pulled in. It was loud like the red one. Only, this truck was pointed directly at my car. I started freaking out. They revved up the engine. I was thinking they were trying to scare me. Or maybe worse.

“Are they going to crash into my car? Will they get out and shoot me right here in the parking lot?”

I went to start up my car and get out of there. Before I could do anything, they floored it and loudly left just like the red truck.

Now, I was freaking out. Why did I think it was a good idea to sleep in my car in this dark parking lot in the middle of nowhere? I pulled out and drove six miles to a grocery store with a well-lit parking lot. I sat there for around 45 minutes. I thought about my options and decided to return to Stecoah Gap. It was probably 4 am.

I came to the conclusion that these two trucks were connected. The red truck left at 2:20. The white truck showed up at 3:00. It makes sense that the driver of the white truck was looking for the people in the red truck. This suggests that they were doing something illegal. Maybe drugs or something worse. I’ll never know.

I was able to go back to sleep for an hour or so.

At 6 am, the road got busy. It was garbage day so loud garbage trucks were heading out to pick up trash. I woke up and prepared myself for four days of hiking. I was glad to put that night behind me. I ate, drank, and packed up. I looked across the street to see what I was dealing with.

Across from the parking area at Stecoah Gap the trail goes up a set of stairs.

It was a pretty long trek up to Cheoah Bald - you know, the Grandstand of the Appalachians. Thankfully, there were a few flat spots that made the climb a bit easier. But honestly, the view of the Smokies is just amazing!

As I hiked up the hill, I looked back at my car. Would it be safe for four days? Will someone steal my catalytic converter? I couldn’t worry much about that. I had to get into hiker mode.

Get ready for Jacob's Ladder - 0.6 mile climb up tons of steps that climbs up the 600 ft elevation gain. There were many vertical climbs to the top.

I made it to the top. Jacob's Ladder wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. It might have been that I was fresh, though. Anyway, I enjoyed the view up there.

A rocky climb down starts here. I passed some benches at Hogback Gap. I was thinking that Waite would probably have wanted to stop there but I pressed on.

The Hogback Gap sign looks interesting.

I climbed over some big rocks out of there and went to Cody Gap where there was a stream which was refreshing. I made it to the parking lot and was ready to take on the next section. I was half-way to Fontana Dam.

I crossed the road and looked at the steps. It was steep.

I struggled making it to the top of this section. There were a lot of boulders to deal with which made it harder. I stopped at Cable Gap Shelter for a break. There was a good stream here.

I saw a frog on the climb out of the gap.

I made it to Walker Gap. The climbing was getting harder.

The last two miles as I descended into the Dam were easy, but my back and shoulders were starting to hurt. The view of the dam was nice, though.

At around 3 PM, I reached the shelter known as the Fontana Hilton. It was built by and is maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). They run the dam and several other power-generating facilities. It’s the best shelter on the entire AT. Well, that’s what I’ve been told anyway.

The Hilton has a number of features not found in any other shelter, such as a solar-powered phone charger and shower facilities.

There were two other hikers at the shelter. I think they’d been there a couple days. They introduced themselves by their trail names - Carpenter and Shroom. I asked them how they got their names.

Carpenter was a young man in his mid-20s. He said he was just wandering up the trail with no specific goal. He got his name at a hostel where he was repairing his boots and talking about Jesus.

Now, Shroom’s story was far more interesting. Shroom was in his early 30s. The week before, Shroom was hiking with a big dude who was interested in MMA fighting. Shroom, - it turns out - likes to gobble up mushrooms. Yeah, that kind. That night, they stayed at the Derrick Knob Shelter. It seems that his hiking buddy had never tried them and asked for one. Being the kind soul that he is, Shroom gave him a mushroom.

Madness ensued as this dude cracked. He went on a journey and wouldn’t snap out of it. There were a couple women at the shelter. This muscled guy was trying to sleep with them and smacked one of them on the butt. Shroom felt responsible and tried everything to get him back to planet earth but nothing worked. Eventually, the trail crew had to come up to investigate. Then they called the rangers. They had to take the guy to jail!

So that story was interesting. I ate some food and got settled. Two women showed up at the shelter. They were both very experienced hikers and loved to tell you where they’d been and offered advice.

The Fontana Hilton was awesome.