Thru hiking the Appalachian Trail is like an abusive relationship. It breaks you down emotionally, physically, and mentally, but for some reason you still wake up every morning excited to start another day of pain. We started out today by climbing Jacob’s Ladder. Apparently there used to be actual ladders on the this hike because it was so steep. Add a 30Lb pack and you’re talking about a slow and not so steady crawl up that mountain. “What’s the percentage grade on this hill?” Danny asked. “Steep” Kyle responded. “Not the answer I was looking for but it is an answer I guess” Danny mumbled. Every time the ground leveled out just the slightest bit I thanked the ground for doing so. It truly was an abusive relationship. Eventually we made it to the top. Only 13 more miles....yayyy. The day was surprisingly easy after the initial climb and I admired the wild flowers that had begun to blossom along the path. Flecks of purple, yellow, white, and pink glimmered among the green grass. It looked as if a painter had taken his paint brush and flicked specks of color onto a green canvas. I took a moment to appreciate how beautiful and alive the earth was. The rest of the day was a pleasant walk until the very end. At the top of the last mountain we climbed for the day, we stood atop feeling proud of what we had accomplished. Fontana Damn/Lake shimmered at us from below the mountain. Let’s get to camp. Camp was five miles downhill. Easy you would think. Not so much. With every step, our knees ached and begged to stop pounding our feet into the groun. It truly felt like the descent would never end. As the parking lot came into view we were ecstatic. The only thing was that there was another mile to our shelter. Why couldn’t they just put the shelter here? I asked myself. Thus began the longest mile of our lives. It truly felt as if it would never end. As we set up our tents for the night, I again thank the ground for being flat so I can sleep. What a relationship.
Our morning was a blissful walk across Fontana Dam. We stopped to take photos as we walked in the middle of the street across the dam. There are many things that feel freeing in life and walking in the middle of an empty road is one of them. As we left the bridge the welcome to the Smokey’s sign appeared before us. Feeling elated, we stopped again to take photos before entering the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, or as Kyle called them: the grand national smokes. We had heard everyone dreads the Smokey’s because the shelters were crowded and the hills were steep. One of those things was true. Right off the bat our legs felt the climb. Our flat walk across the dam had not prepared us for the vertical steps and incline. We had a four mile climb before we got our first downhill. Oof. At this point, I began to feel my muscles craving food and protein. The minute I would put food in my body, I could feel my body turn the food into energy. My muscles chomped down on the protein bars with as much ferocity as my mouth. Today’s shelter was called Mollie’s Ridge Shelter. Temperatures dropped as we climbed up 5,000 feet. We prayed we would have the shelter to ourselves because the shelters in the Smokey’s have tarps covering the front and fireplaces in them. As soon as we hit the shelter, fire and warmth were the first things on our mind. The shelter was completely empty and we had arrived relatively late. Under the impression we our be alone, we set up our tents inside the shelters. (A big thruhiker no no) As we went about our nightly routines, a group of young male deer moseyed around the shelter. As long as we didn’t make any sudden movement, they didn’t mind your presence. I spent my evening dinner watching them run around. What a beautiful day to start in the Smokey’s.
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