Day 23 - 25

Easter Weekend

Day 23- Good Friday 4/14/17

• Miles traveled: 11.3
  
• Shelter: tent city at Locust Grove gap
  
• High point: crushing Jacobs ladder
  
• Low Point: tired legs
  

Today is the first day my legs have been tired, right out of the sleeping bag. Normally I wake up with fresh, rested legs but not today and today we have Jacobs ladder to look forward to. 😐

Out here it seems that objects in the mountains are further than they appear. For example, you are coming down the mountain and see a road near the bottom of the mountain. IT WILL take you twice as long to reach that road than you expect. Another example, we saw the NOC before walking another 2 miles to get there. You also hear things way before you reach them, like highways, shelters and sometimes storms. 

ALSO INCLUDING OTHER MOUNTAINS. When we climbed up Wayah Bald the other day and a sign displayed the mountains we were looking at on the horizon and it said Albert Mountain. Apparently we were looking at a mountain we summited five days earlier and it appeared to be "only right there, not far at all."

After it was all over with... We climbed Jacobs Ladder without a whole lot of difficulty and we will hike again tomorrow. 🙂

Russ' new ankle braces. 

Boots someone left on the trail. 

Sometimes the trail is just large rocks. 

The green is starting to show. 

Day 24 4/15/17

• Miles traveled: 5.5
  
• Shelter: Fontana Lodge
  
• High point: catching up with Family via FaceTime
  
• Low Point: finding out the lodge is nowhere near the lake (womp womp)

We heard fighter jets pass over us in the middle of the night last night while in the tent. We don't have much cell service out here at all so it's a little unnerving to not know what's happening in the world and just hiking on. 

We have been sleeping at 3000-3500 ft the last two nights and even lower at the NOC. With two people in a tent, sleeping bags are useless. It's just too warm. We know the Smokies are coming. It would silly to assume anything but rain and winter ahead. 

Staying at Fontana Village Lodge for the evening. 

The weather outlook for the next few days. ☔️⛈🌧

We didn't have cell service but Wifi was able to provide us time to Facetime with family, friends and Gracie!!! 

We did hiker trash laundry in the tub and hung it out to dry. This is how we live nowadays. (Also, gross)

We had a great meal and a good night's rest before hitting the Smokies!!!

Day 25 - Easter Sunday 4/16/17

• Miles traveled: 13.1
  
• Shelter: Molly Ridge Shelter in the Great Smoky Mountains
  
• High point: crossing Fontana Dam
  
• Low point: the climb out of Fontana

Woke up at the Fontana Village Lodge. We got right back on the trail where we were picked up at the Marina. We don't skip sections because we can get a ride closer to the trail head. We will hike every mile of this trail. 

We walked over Fontana Dam. It was pretty cool. I was very surprised the visitor center was open Easter Sunday but it was nice to look through the place and learn about the area. 

It was a climb into the Smokies. All day long, up, up, UP. Our packs are SO HEAVY. 7 days of food

We have decided not to stop in Gatlinburg so hiking straight through the smokies will be a lot of work. The climb was brutal but I don't think it was as tough as the NOC climb. 

We climbed to the top of a fire tower. It was pretty sketchy but offered excellent views.

Russ waiting for me at the bottom. 

 We are required to stay in shelters in the Smokies and we must hike with a $20.00 permit through the park. The people we shared the shelter with were nice and considerate. 

Auntie, Lil Veg, Indigo, Dream Catcher, 2 Speed and a few other people stayed in the shelter with us. We caught a glimpse of a few deer the next morning.