Day 14: (Nantahala Outdoor Center (mile 136.7) - Tentsite North of Stecoah Gap (mile ~150.6))

I woke up to find that I had not been swept away by river flooding in the night. After momentarily rejoicing, I packed my things, prepped my breakfast, and said my goodbyes to Hobo Island. Before setting out on the trail, I made a quick pit stop at the restroom and took time to complete my morning stretches. The N.O.C. is situated at the bottom of Nantahala Gorge, and after spending much of yesterday completing the steep and rocky descent into the gorge, I knew that the climb out would likely be tough.

My goal for the day was to hike approximately halfway to Fontana Village (my next resupply). After crunching some numbers and referencing my navigation app, I determined that Stecoah Gap was roughly the halfway point at 13.8 miles away. This would be a pretty long day with some major climbs, so I decided I would first shoot for Locus Cove Gap, a campsite 10.8 miles away. If I reached Locus Cove and still felt good, I would push the next three miles to Stecoah Gap.

I started hiking at about 8:30am and immediately began climbing out of the gorge. I passed Katie and Jasmine after a few minutes and they asked me if I liked the trail name “Frog Man,” because: “thats what everybody calls you anyways.” I told them I was not immediately opposed but I was also not sold yet. We will see if it sticks.

The climb was gradual but constant for the first 3 miles. In the morning I passed a pair of hikers who introduced themselves as Tracy and Cloudkicker. I also passed Amanda who I met last night at N.O.C. Amanda wears a glitter fanny pack and always looks like she is ready to hit the disco. After hiking about 5 miles, I made it to a rocky outcropping known as the "Jump-up." From the Jump-up I could see the Nantahala River down at the bottom of the gorge. It is always a cool feeling looking back at how far you have come.

Peering down into Nantahala Gorge from the Jump-up

After completing the first big climb of the day, I ate lunch at Sassafras Gap Shelter. The gap was windy but I was able to find a little relief from the cold in the shelter. Tracy and Cloudkicker also joined me in the shelter for lunch.

After eating, I did some quick stretches in anticipation for the short but steep climb to the top of Cheoah Bald, which is also the northern terminus of the Bartram Trail. I was excited to see Cheoah after hiking the Georgia section of the Bartram Trail back in January. The climb was indeed steep, but I powered up the bald and was rewarded with a spectacular view. On top of Cheoah Bald, I met Justin, a fellow thru-hiker and rugby player from Charlotte, NC. I chatted with Justin for a bit and then started the 2.5 mile descent to Locus Cove Gap.

I reached Locust Cove Gap and found very few available tent pads. It was mid-afternoon at this point and I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to push the next 3 miles to Stecoah Gap. On the climb out of Locus Cove Gap, I ran into Evan who explained he was now going by the trail name "Delta." This was a reference to his favorite saying: "it's all about the deltas!" which refers to the greek symbol delta, signifying change. The trail is constantly changing: terrain, weather, and scenery are never the same for long. So the trail name "Delta" is an acceptance and celebration of this change, which I think is pretty cool.

As Delta and I desceded towards Stecoah Gap, we joined up with Amanda and Madeline, who informed us that there might be trail magic waiting for us in the gap. Sure enough, as we continued our descent, we could see a large group of people gathered below in the gap picnic area. When we arrived, we encountered a group of four trail angels who offered us hotdogs, burgers, pasta salad, beer, whiskey, and an assortment of snacks. One of the women explained that they were doing trail magic in honor of her father, Eddie Noonkester, who passed away during his thru-hike attempt a few years ago. This was their second year honoring him and she proudly told me that they planned to continue the tradition as long as possible. I also learned that two friends of the family are currently attempting a thru-hike and are carrying Eddie's thru-hiker tag to Mt. Katahdin.

I ate two burgers, two helpings of pasta salad, and a beer. Since I was planning to camp at the gap, I decided to lounge around and took my shoes and socks off and elevated my legs. I also joined Madeline for a stretching session and she showed me a couple new stretches and movements to open up my hips and increase mobility. I will definitely be adding these to my usual routine because I have been feeling some soreness in my right hip over the last couple days.

The Stecoah Gap trail angels and me. The woman on the far left is Eddie Noonkester’s daughter

As I continued lounging around the gap, I overheard a section hiker explain that there was an unmarked tentsite about 15 minutes up the trail. This piqued my interest because the only real place to camp at the gap was on an old gravel road. At this point in the afternoon, I was feeling rested and I also desperately needed to dig a cat hole, so I opted to continue to the tentsite. I thanked the trail angels for their generosity and hurried up the trail. The climb out of the gap was steep, but it leveled after about 10 minutes and I was able to find a suitable cat hole spot. When I finished my business, I was shocked and embarrassed to realize that in my haste to get out of the gap, I had hiked off without my socks! I realized that I left them hanging on a fence back at the gap🙃 I left my pack next to the trail and practically ran back to Stecoah Gap. To my embarrassment, I passed Excel, Amanda, and a handful of other hikers on my way back to collect my socks. Each time I passed a familiar face, I had to shamefully re-explain my foolishness - much to the amusement of the other hikers😅

I collected my socks and hiked back out of the gap without incident. After collecting my pack, I continued hiking for another five minutes or so and found the unmarked tentsite. After hanging my bear bag and setting up my tent, I retired for the evening and assessed the upcoming hike tomorrow. First thing in the morning I would be tackling "Jacob's Ladder," which involves about 800 feet of elevation gain over a half mile. After that, my goal was broadly just to get as close to Fontana Village as possible.

Don't forget your socks
they're an essential item
that you'll miss dearly

Day 15: (Tentsite North of Stecoah Gap (mile ~150.6) - Fontana Dam Shelter (mile 165.7))

I started hiking today a little before 9am. My plan was to hike about 15 miles and camp as close as possible to Fontana Road. This is the road to get into Fontana Village, NC where I needed to pick up the resupply box I mailed from Franklin. I mailed the box to the Fontana Village Post Office with a note stating: "hold for thru-hiker." This is something most thru-hikers do on occasion, so post offices in trail towns are accustomed to holding packages for short periods of time. The Fontana Village Post Office closes at 3:45pm, and seeing as how I was nearly 15 miles from Fontana Road, I decided it would be best to camp near the road and catch the earliest possible shuttle into town tomorrow. This would give me more time in town to call AC, get a warm meal, and maybe try to catch up on hikers logs.

The hiking was immediately angled upwards and after about a mile, I reached the incredibly tall and steep hill known as "Jacob's Ladder." During the climb, I caught up to Delta and Justin who must have passed me while I was packing up. They too were huffing and puffing up the hill and together we joined in a chorus of expletives venting our frustration with the bonds of gravity.

View from the ridge after Jacob's Ladder

After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the top of Jacob's Ladder and began hiking along a ridge. We passed Brown Fork Gap Shelter and I stopped at the next water source to collect water and eat breakfast. My breakfast was a concoction of ramen noodles and potatoes which was originally supposed to be last night's dinner (but the trail magic at Stecoah Gap had served that purpose). After eating, I continued hiking and passed through Hogback Gap which is labeled with a sign that might have been useful 20 years ago.

Around noon, I stopped for lunch at Cable Gap Shelter around noon. I found Delta eating lunch at the shelter and he informed me that the shuttle into Fontana Village will pick up hikers from Fontana Dam Shelter which is a little over a mile past Fontana Road. The Fontana Dam Shelter is affectionately referred to by hikers as the "Fontana Hilton" because of its luxurious accommodations. Apparently, the Fontana Hilton is not only a massive 20 person shelter, it also has flushing toilets, showers, and power outlets. Needless to say, this became my destination for the evening.

From Cable Gap Shelter, I had roughly 6.5 miles to hike before reaching the Fontana Hilton. This included a brief climb followed by a long meandering descent towards Fontana. While making my way down, I was struck by the number and diversity of wildflowers lining the trail. I stopped frequently to take pictures and was excited to observe such clear evidence that spring was reaching southern Appalachia.

Eventually, I made it to Fontana Road where I ran into Delta, Tracy, Cloudkicker, and Justin. They explained that they were planning to get a room at the Fontana Lodge and I told them I had a reservation at the Fontana Hilton. Also waiting near the road was a thru-hiker sprawled out across his sleeping pad playing a ukelele. I thanked him for serving up pleasant tunes to suit the lovely afternoon. He laughed and explained that his trail name was "Tunes." I responded: "that makes sense," and hiked on down the trail.

The trail followed the lake shore from Fontana Road to the Fontana Hilton. This made for a scenic mile of hiking as my anticipation quickly grew for the luxurious evening awaiting me. Eventually, I rounded a corner and caught my first glimpse of the massive shelter looming above. When I arrived, I was struck by the sheer size of the shelter. I was also in awe of the solar panel phone charging station and water spigot. The only other hiker at the shelter was Amanda who explained that the toilets and showers were in a separate building up the road.

The 20-person “Fontana Hilton" — The 20-person “Fontana Hilton”

By the time I had set my tent up, Excel and a hiker who introduced herself as "Jollygreen" had arrived at the shelter. Amanda and Excel both explained that they were actually spending the night at the Fontana Lodge and soon they hiked up the road to catch the lodge shuttle. I then made my way to the shower building where I planned to simultaneously shower and wash my clothes. I was not expecting much from the shower house, but the water was hot and someone had left a little baggie of shampoo in the stall. I stepped into the shower with all my hiking clothes on and rinsed them to the best of my ability. After my shower, I hung all my hiking clothes to dry on a fence near my tent and silently vowed to not hike off without my socks again.

Jollygreen and I ate dinner and I learned that her trail name was a reference to her height and green puffy jacket which made her resemble the Jolly Green Giant. While we were eating, a hiker arrived who I immediately identified as "Aquaman." I had seen Aquaman's stamp in multiple shelter log books and I was excited to see that he was actually wearing an Aquaman patterned top. He explained that he is often paid to dress up as Aquaman and visit hospitals and comic book conventions. He says that DC even used his likeness as the model for Aquaman in a video game. If you want to follow Aquaman's thru-hike, he is vlogging it on his YouTube channel "Aquaman on the AT."

After eating dinner and chatting with Aquaman and Jollygreen for a bit, I retired early at about 7pm. Tomorrow my plan is to catch the 9am shuttle into Fontana Village and pick up my resupply package whenever the post office opens. After that I will cross over Fontana Dam and into Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Despite growing up in the southeast, I have never visited the Smokies, so I am super excited to hike across the entire park as a thru-hiker!

Climb in the morning
then stop to smell the flowers
in the afternoon