Fontana Lake - Go Blue!

Day 164 – It took us 3 nights in the Smokies to get through there. When I say “get through”, it meant it say “to really get through”! The smoke was really bad for most of it and the views were basically non-existent. That is, until the last day. Just as we began the brutal decent to Fontana Dam, we came upon one of those spectacular moments-just a short hike (straight up, of course) to the Shuckstack Fire Tower. Not to be missed, it provided what could be one of the very best 360° views on this entire expedition!

It was not planned to take a zero today, but we rarely planned too far ahead. Thing is,  we are now planning all the way to the finish. There is 164.2 miles to the to go and 67ish of those are still closed due to the fires. Being a day and a half from the Nantahala Outdoor Center (which marks the northern end of the closure), a hitch/shuttle around the fire will put us at 69.6 miles remaining. By the end of the day on Monday 11/28, we'll be around 60 miles to completion.

Our current location for this zero is the Fontana Lake Resort. Deluxe accommodations for our hiking team at a reasonable rate. Two reasons for this zero: 1) Michigan vs Ohio State and 2) Finish date = 12/2. The first reason is self explanatory as the championship of college football is on the line. The second? My mom’s birthday. Our trip started on 6/16, my dad’s 90th (we trail named him “TreeMan”). There is also a ping pong tournament this afternoon that we hope to join (if reason 1 above is fully executed). Hummingbird, lacking the Tai Chi class, will be twisting it up at the yoga class offered by the resort.

35°25′57″ N  83°49′16″ W
Elevation : 1930 (same year mom was born)