For most of the night, the gusty winds made for some good "white noise". The moon was quite bright again, giving me the impression at one point that is was sunrise when it was only 0200. But, once again, I managed to get some rest in my warm sleep system. When everyone started stirring in earnest (0700), I noticed that everything had been soaked with a thick coating of dew. It made sense when I looked out of the Shelter and saw a thick fog surrounding us. At least the wind had died down, though... I took my time getting ready again and, with packing breakfast (leftover gumbo and an orange) and water filtering to complete, I didn't depart until about 0815. By that point, I'd said goodbye to "Nice Hat" (who left much earlier) and the Thru Hikers - I hoped I'd see all of them again. For the first mile or so of my hike, the terrain sloped noticeably downward and I made good time to the bottom of the hill. By this point in the three days of the hike, however, I was experiencing conditions that have given me trouble before: sore shoulders, tired calves, achy feet (with blisters this time). Also, I encountered many more downed trees than I had during the previous two days (probably the result of the wind storm over the weekend). Still, I soldiered onward, hoping that the general downhill of the day would make it easier to keep going. Sadly, these thoughts turned out to be illusions and I had to cope with another series of "sawtooth" hills for the first half of the hike. I crossed on high hill called Doe Knob but the rest of the tops didn't seem to have names. Instead, I passed through a series of low-points: Mud Gap, Birth Spring Gap and Sassafras Gap before climbing what seemed like a huge summit called Shuckstack. In hindsight, I can see now that I'd lost nearly 1000 net feet of altitude by then - but, when you are tired, everything "up" seems like a big climb. During this phase of the hike, I again encountered "fearless deer" who wouldn't easily move from the trail so I could pass - I guess they aren't hassled by anyone on the ridge... I stopped a couple of times for snacks along the way and layered down to a short sleeved shirt as the temps climbed into the 70s. What a difference the warm weather made on my progress! Instead of feeling peppy, I started to feel overheated and sweaty. But, as I passed (and skipped the climb of) Shuckstack Fire Tower, I started to pass NOBO Thru Hikers who had WAY MORE to complain about than I did. Their ascent from the Fontana Dam required over 2500 of nearly continuous climbing (the main reason I had chosen to hike south, rather than north). Each one of them was huffing and puffing and trying their best not to turn back (I heard from the Fontana Dam volunteer staff that this hill has sent many a prospective Thru Hiker home). I tried to be encouraging to each of them but some were overtly jealous of the opposite nature of our futures... I should mention that I was able to see the Fontana Dam for almost the entire rest of my hike. As the crow flies, I was probably only about a mile from Shuckstack but the AT arced around the lake for over three additional miles - tantalizing… By this point in my day, however, I was hot, tired, hungry and thirsty and my feet were screaming at me about the blisters that had only been a nuisance earlier in the day. As a result, I took very few photos during this part of my hike. Downhill, I was getting a gravity assist but I was still susceptible to lower blood sugar and depleted electrolytes. By the time I'd nearly reached the boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I decided I desperately needed to stop for fuel and spent about 20 minutes in the only shade I could find, charging up my body with candy and "Liquid IV". While I ultimately finished all of the water I was carrying, I only had to walk about another mile to finish. I passed a few more NOBO Thru hikers, just starting their day - they were part of a group of about 40 that I saw during the day. Near the end, I remembered that the last bit was a section of AT I'd already completed back in 2014. Walking on the pavement of the Fontana Dam road (and the Dam itself) felt really good - I was done! As I came into the parking lot where my car was parked (1415), I encountered "Nice Hat", who was waiting for his wife to retrieve him. We shared some snacks and gave each other a fist bump for conquering the southern half of the Smokies over a tough few days of weather and trail conditions. When I realized that the Dam had a shower (1445), I gladly took advantage of the amenity and peeled off the clothes I'd been wearing for about 60 straight hours. Before beginning my drive to Virginia, I returned to the Fontana Village Resort to pick up my computers (I'd left them while I was hiking). While I had WiFi there, I tried to join a "pop up" work call I'd heard about but had trouble with Zoom. By 1530, I decided to leave the area of the Resort and drive east. I used NC-28 until I reached US-74, which I took all the way to Sylva - I got some early dinner at McDonalds there (1645). Once I had cell signal again, I talked to Brenna and Mollie. I also listened to audiobooks to pass the time. I continued on US-74 all the way to I-40 and then continued east to Ashville. From there, I got on I-26 and drove north to I-81 (and into Tennessee). I continued all the way into Virginia and stopped for the night in Marion at the Travel Inn (1930). Hoping to get a head start on my next full day of work, I set up my computer and checked some emails. Enough had happened during my absence that I stayed at it until 2300 - after that, I went to bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I pondered the results of my trip to the Smokies to finish my last 30 AT miles south of Maine. Today's hike had been about 11 miles, of which I could only count part (because of a 2014 hike). Still, it felt good to have cobbled together roughly 35 miles of backcountry walking, camping and exploring. All I've got left now is 67 miles of Maine and my AT journey will be complete! AT Today = 8.0 miles / Grand Total AT = 2118.3 miles / AT Left = 67.0 miles
