April 7, 2016 - Day 20

The hikers got up early to catch the 8:30am shuttle back to the trail, but it was full.  A visitor to the village offered them a ride back to the trail head in her jeep.  They squeezed in and were thankful they didn't have to wait for the next shuttle.

A few miles down trail they came to a shelter with an overlook of Fontana Lake, known affectionately as the Fontana Hilton.  They took a rest (and pictures/video) and got back on trail.

Fontana Lake

 

 

A short distance down the trail was the Fontana Dam.  For those of you who saw the movie "A Walk in the Woods", this is the same dam.  At 480 feet, the Fontana Dam is the highest dam in the eastern United States!  The dam is a 1 1/2 mile hike across with an awesome view down to the base.  Ken took a video but he says it doesn't come close to the actual view.

 



Once across the dam, they began a long uphill climb.  They were now in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park!  At the crest of one of the hills, Ken got a breathtaking shot of the village below.

"I took this on top of some mountain"

A little about the park:  Established in 1934, the Smokies is the most visited of the traditional national parks.  The highest elevation of the A.T. is at Clingman's Dome at 6,643 feet.  The Smokies also has the most rainfall and snowfall on the A.T. in the South, and many hikers are caught off-guard by the snow and cold temperatures that the high elevation means.  And our hikers are heading right for it...

Up, UP, UP they climbed until they reached Mollie's Ridge Shelter.  When they arrived, it was "Very Cold!"  Ken put every piece of clothing he had, wrapped himself in a space blanket and climbed in his sleeping bag.  He called me from inside his tent and I tried to help him visualize somewhere warm.  He picked one of our favorite spots...my Uncle Jim and Aunt Gayle's house on Abaco Island in the Bahamas.  We talked about the palm trees, warm sand and gentle breezes.  He finally said it was more torture than help (he also said he was warmer!), so we laughed and I bid him a good night.

Mile 177.3
Elevation 4,570