Day 15- Fontana Dam to Mollies Ridge Shelter

May 20th Friday

Total Miles Hiked: 177.3
Miles Hiked Today: 11.7
Weather: Rain

   We awoke to grey skies that threatened rain. The Smokies are known for rain, so we pressed on, expecting to receive an authentic Smokies drenching.

   We walked from the shelter to Fontana Dam and did some final preparations of our packs and feet at the visitors center. I also grabbed one final charge for my battery bank.

  We dropped our Smokies permit in the box, that starts the counter, we now have 7 days to get through. We hope to do it in 5.

We made good time for the first two hours. Just as we approached the top of a major climb, it started to rain. Just a light rain, I didn't even bother putting on my raincoat.

  It was a long climb,  we took a few breaks along the way.

   There wasn't much for views because of the clouds and mist,  but we enjoyed the hike and made good time.

  We saw some wild turkeys today, this is my best attempt at a picture.

 Within an hour of our arrival at the shelter, heavier rain began to fall. We beat the storm. Some of the group we have been hiking with were going to run some errands and start the hike later in the day.  I hope they changed their plans and decided to take  a zero.  I'd hate to think they are hiking in the wind and driving rain. 

(Written at 5pm)

For the next couple hours, completely drenched hikers continued to slosh into the shelter. By the time everyone arrived, all 12 slots in the shelter were full, and the 13th set up his tent.

   I was next to a guy in the shelter who was on his first overnight backpacking trip. He was carrying 70 pounds of gear. Bears are a real problem in the Smokies,  even an empty candy wrapper in your pocket can cause a bear attack in the middle of the night.  This guy had Skittles and MREs spread everywhere around his bunk. Since i did not want to be eaten by a bear, I asked him to please hang his food. He made a joke about fighting the bears, and then said don't worry about it,  he'll do it.

     In the morning,  I , noticed he had some MREs and an empty bag of skittles under his sleeping bag. To put this in context, a few days ago a bear bit someone through the side of their tent 6 miles away from that very shelter. The bear has still not been found.

    Other than that fellow putting us at risk of bear attack, it was fun to hang out with the other hikers in thr shelter on a cold, rainy night.

     Sage got a bit of a debate going by asking " Would you rather be attacked in the shelter by a Puma or 5 Racoons?"