(Fontana Dam Shelter (mile 165.7) - Birch Spring Tentsite (mile 172.3))

I woke up at 7am this morning and spent a little over an hour trying to catch up on Hikers Logs in my tent. I ate breakfast in camp and visited the bathroom facilities one last time before calling the Fontana Shuttle at 9am.

The woman on the phone told me to wait in the parking lot for the 9am shuttle which would be arriving shortly. Sure enough, I was only waiting a couple minutes before a white passenger van pulled up and a cheery shuttle driver hopped out and introduced himself as "Shua, as in Jo(shua)."

Shua drove me into Fontana Village and gave me a tour of the tiny community. It quickly became apparent that the entire "village" was just a mountain lodge and resort. Shua explained that basically all the residents of Fontana Village were resort staff. It also became apparent that April 1st was opening day for most of the amenities in the village. Unfortunately, this meant I was too early to take advantage of the ice cream shop.

My goal in town was to pick up my resupply box from the post office, which opens at 11:45am, so I had a while to wait. Shua dropped me off at the main lodge and I found a comfy lobby chair in which to pass the time. After about an hour, Delta, Tracy, Cloudkicker, and Justin emerged from the lodge dining room and explained that the breakfast was outstanding. Delta said he was thinking about packing out half of his breakfast burrito and half of his burger from last night, but he did not think he could eat both. He asked if I wanted either and I happily accepted the half breakfast burrito. It was delicious.

At noon I made my way across the village to the post office, filled with anxious speculation as to whether my package had actually arrived. You see, when I shipped my resupply from Franklin, I foolishly forgot to note the tracking number for the package. This meant I had no real confirmation that the package had shipped successfully. Fortunately, the man behind the counter at the small one-room post office quickly found my package. I made my way back to the lodge and transferred the contents of my resupply box into my food bag. As I was packing, Katie and Jasmine arrived with their own resupply box and offered me several snacks that they did not want.

Packing my resupply in the Fontana Lodge lobby

After packing, I waited for the shuttle to arrive back at the lodge. Shua arrived about a half hour later and I climbed into the van along with Katie and Jasmine who offered me a single serving shot of Fireball cinnamon whiskey. I figured why not and took it. Shua dropped Katie and Jasmine off at the Fontana Road parking lot and then dropped me off at the Hilton parking lot. After thanking Shua for his services, I took my Fireball shot - which I immediately regretted - and headed down the trail.

From the Hilton parking lot, the AT follows a road which leads over Fontana Dam and then up a hill to the southern boundary of Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

When I reached the southern boundary of the Smokies, I encountered a metal box labeled "AT THRU HIKERS DEPOSIT PERMITS HERE." I dropped the bottom half of my permit into the box and kept the top half to deposit when I reached the northern boundary of the park. I was now officially in the Great Smokey Mountains.

My goal was to hike about 4.5 miles into the park. Based on what I had been hearing from other hikers, the first day or two in the Smokies is a neverending climb to reach the mountain ridge. Sure enough, the trail started climbing immediately. Early in the climb, I saw two large pileated woodpeckers, but was unable to get a picture of one. The climb continued for a while, but overall the trail was well graded, and it was not too strenuous.

After a little over 3 miles, I took a short but steep side trail to the Shuckstack, an old fire tower with incredible panoramic views of the surrounding area. At the base of the tower were the ruins of a cabin which used to house the fire tour attendant.

After appreciating the views from the Shuckstack and avoiding a fall on the ridiculously steep stairs, I continued down the trail. A little over a mile later, I arrived at the campsite which seemed to be quite the popular spot. I recognized a few familiar faces including Delta, Tracy, Cloudkicker, Justin, and Tunes. After setting my tent up in one of the few remaining spots, I made my way down to the creek to soak my feet in the cool water. This is apparently really good for your feet after a long day of hiking, so it is something I should try to be more intentional about in the future. I ate dinner while soaking my feet and then retired to my tent for the evening when it started lightly sprinkling.

From my tent, I could hear Tunes singing and playing his ukelele. He played a bunch of different songs, but some standouts included "Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede, "Africa" by Toto, and "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. At some point I realized that the side of my tent was glowing red. I quickly wiggled my way out in time to catch the tail end of an incredibly dramatic sunset. The sky looked like it was ablaze as the sun crept below the mountains. It was a good way to end the day.

Fontana Hilton,
you sure have been good to me
but the Smokies call