Day 6 - Russell Field to Fontana Dam

  Great Smokey Mountains National Park, United States
Sunday, October 28, 2007

Doug at our last lookout

Our last day on the trail was about 13.8 miles, a good deal of which was downhill. We went from 4,360 feet down to 1,775 feet - all 2,500 of which hammered my knees and drove my toes into the front of my boots (I do not like hiking downhill). The bathrooms and showers at the Fontana Dam visitor's center called to us, and we were very exited to get clean. Doug was an absolute lunatic hiker that day. Becky and I are still convinced that he ran the whole way down to the Dam.

The hiking that day was fairly straight forward - right, left, right, left... The frequency of views was diminishing, and after learning from day hikers that the Sox had won yet again we were anxious to finish up and to find a place to eat pizza, drink beer, and watch baseball. We had lunch at our final scenic view of the trip - it was quite sunny that day, and much warmer due to the lower elevation.

Chad at Fontana

Fontana Dam

When we got to Fontana Dam, we were shocked at how low the water was. I actually mistakenly thought that the dammed side was the LOW side.

Fontana Dam

Becky at Fontana

After a few pictures on the Dam, Becky and I arrived at the visitor's center and found Sweet Tea and his friends lounging in the sun, and Doug doing the same by the car. We attacked the bathrooms and showers like people who hadn't been clean in a week, and soon after we were ready to head out. Two of Sweet Tea's friends asked us for a ride towards Newfound Gap because their arranged ride hadn't shown up. We were happy to help them out and we drove them to where they could get a shuttle to their car. Along the way we learned that Sweat Tea's brother had hike the trail before him, and another one of their friends had done it as well. It's interesting interacting with people like that. Instead of being hypnotized by the XBoxes, Playstations, and computer games like most kids their age, these guys were out there experiencing nature at its finest, and enjoying every minute of it.

done

After dropping our friends/hitchhikers off, we headed east towards Raleigh. After a few hours we found an area just off I-40 that had everything we needed: a cheap motel (I think it was $60 for the three of us), a pizza delivery place, and a grocery store where we could purchase beer. After all the talk and extra hiking to get to a place where we could watch the Red Sox win the World Series - I must admit that I fell asleep in the 7th inning. Becky woke me up just in time for the last out... Go Sox.