Day twenty six

Friday March 24, 2017

Today began with me walking across the Fontana Dam and right up onto the back of The Great Smoky Mountains. I hope to follow her backbone all the way to Virginia.

The day began cool gray and windy as hell. The wind rushing through the bare trees overhead. I’ve been thinking about how to describe this sound. At first I thought like surf but that’s not quite accurate. What it does sound like is like being at sea in a big following sea, and a big roller comes through, lifts your stern and then rushes underneath you. Exactly like that.

The trail is dry today, and leaf strewn. The oak leaves crunching softly under my feet as I climb.

You’re probably tired of hearing about me climbing but today I climbed virtually nonstop from the dam to the summit of 4586 ft.Mollies Ridge where the first shelter in the Smokies is located.

It was 12.5 miles of climbing but it is now behind me and I am secure in my tent.

177.0 miles down      2012.8 miles to go