Russell Field Shelter 2012.3 to Fontana Dam 2026.8 (14.5 miles, 2026.8 total miles)
My 5AM alarm was quickly silenced in favor of sleeping until 6AM when the section hiker in the loft with Happy and I began packing up. I got up as well, stepped out of the shelter and was greeted by the brilliant sight of a meteor shooting across the sky in front of me. It seemed a wonderful way to start the day.
In fact, the whole sky was clear, scattered with stars. For the first time in three days it wasn’t foggy and rainy. Everyone else started getting up while I began packing as efficiently as possible, wanting to get to town early.
We were all in great moods, ready for showers and town food, our spirits boosted even further when Lentil announced we were only hiking 14.5 miles today instead of the 16.5 we’d all thought we were doing. Apparently the pickup point for our hostels was a little earlier.
I saw Spice had been in the tent we’d seen while hiking up last night, and she left first followed by Milky Moo and Painkles. Shady Tree had already left before we got up, as seemed to be her usual method. I went next, hiking out at 7:15AM, a nice early start into a beautiful day.
I noticed I felt great right away while I was hiking, and was surprised as I’d expected to be tired and groggy after hiking so late the night before. The solid seven hours of sleep I’d had seemed to hit the spot, thought my feet were in quite a bit of pain still, even with the Advil I’d taken before bed.
A flat couple miles warmed me up, then I climbed an easy mile up to Mollies Ridge Shelter, where the other three were. A shovel was included with this privy-free shelter, and it was being put to use that morning by us. I signed the logbook before I left, taking out my second breakfast of strawberry poptarts to eat while I hiked.
I was 3.8 in already, and descended down the next 1.7 miles on a nice grade. The next climb was 700 feet up over 1.3, and I put on some music and made quick work of it, passing Milky Moo and Painkles on my way up while they were taking a break.
They were generally very fast hikers, but I know only too well speed can vary day to day. I was enjoying feeling night and day better than I had yesterday, so when I saw Mosey taking a break at the summit of Doe Knob, I only stopped to chat for a couple minutes before zooming on.
The next 3.3 miles were mostly downhill and passed by in a blur as I jammed out to music, deeply appreciating the blue skies and views of distant ridges through the trees after all the fog and rain the last few days. It felt fitting that the last day we’d finally have the best weather, but I knew I’d like to come back in good weather and see all the places I’d missed in the fog.
I saw a sign saying I was only 3.7 miles from Fontana Dam, and checked my phone for the first time since Mollies Ridge to see that I was only .3 from Shuckstack Fire Tower. I climbed that quickly, arriving at the spur trail at 10:52, having hiked almost 10 miles already.
I dropped my pack and took my snacks and water bottle up to the top of the very tall tower that was .1 off trail. The view was immense, and absolutely lovely. Shady Tree was coming down as I was going up, and I sat up on a platform under the enclosed top of the tower for 20 minutes until I heard someone coming up next.
I went up into the tower to make room for what ended up being Milky Moo. Painkles didn’t come up due to a fear of man made heights, which was very understandable. Later on after they’d left, Lentil, Looseleaf, and Happy arrived. We were all going to the same place in town, so I was waiting for them to coordinate our shuttle.
Flamingo showed up as well, and after 20 minutes or so we headed back down. My knees were stiff from sitting for an hour, and I joked I had no idea how I was going to get down the Approach Trail to Amicalola- 9 miles of going down stairs, which was going to be tough with hiker knees that were often swollen and painful.
The sign I’d seen earlier was apparently wrong, and it was actually 4.7 miles to the dam. We began our long descent out of the park, me going ahead because I was a little quicker today, which felt really nice and reminded me of being up in Maine when I was at my fastest.
We passed by Spice and Mosey on a break, and though I wanted to chat more with them I kept going, since we had the shuttle coming at 2PM. I listened to a new podcast episode I’d been wanting to download for days but had finally had enough service to at the tower, and cruised down the 1,800 foot drop.
It wasn’t too steep, but rather it was very leafy and I had to be careful to try to avoid rocks and roots that would trip me up. My right big toe in particular was throbbing with pain, and I hit it on rocks a couple times more accidentally, which definitely didn’t help.
At the bottom of the mountain, I passed the northbound hiker permit kiosk, a great feeling of relief over me that I was out of the park. It was my own fault for having expectations, so it hadn’t been my favorite section, but I was really glad I’d accomplished it and I thought in time I’d remember it more fondly.
There was a nice road walk for a mile and half, where I could finally see the ground again and not worry about hidden obstacles. I circled the lake, admiring the little islands, and began to cross over the top of Fontana Dam, the tallest dam in the eastern United States.
Just like Clingmans, this was something I was very familiar with from reading about prior NOBOs thru hikes. It felt like it took a very long time to walk the dam, with a hot, bright sun overhead baking me on the concrete.
At the visitor’s center, which was closed, I dumped my trash and used the bathroom before hanging with the others for a few minutes before Nancy arrived in an SUV. She was a very kind and friendly older woman, and took the four of us on a long drive to town, included with the price of our room.
In Robbinsville, we ate at a Mexican restaurant, where I had a huge platter of food that I put down easily. I noticed my hiker hunger levels had felt the same, but the food I could eat was increasing to a whole new level than it had been before.
After the restaurant, we stopped at Ingles, a southern grocery store chain I hadn’t been to before to resupply. We didn’t need much, but also grabbed food to eat for dinner and breakfast tomorrow morning.
When we got to the Inn, which was a small motel just for hikers, we got settled in to our rooms, and Nancy washed our laundry for us. After showers, Happy and I relaxed in our room, reading, eating dinner, and packing our bags.
The Inn was a little more expensive than a regular hostel, but it was absolutely worth it for the shuttles and laundry being done for us. Nancy was attentive and seemed to really care about our comfort, which was very appreciated. It was the perfect place to rest after the Smokies before moving on to the rest of North Carolina.