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View Full Version : AT Section Hike, Fontana to Hot Springs, 6/5 - 6/9



CamelMan
06-11-2016, 08:25
For my 40th birthday, I took some days off this week and managed to section hike the 107 miles between Fontana Dam and Hot Springs, plus the short distance from Laughing Heart Hostel to Sunnybank Inn. This is the next section of the AT that I had to do, having done the first section in 2010. Here's my itinerary:

Day 1, June 5th: 10.6. I started at Fontana in the early afternoon and hiked up to Mollies Ridge Shelter.
Day 2, June 6th: 25.5. Mollies Ridge to Mt. Collins.
Day 3, June 7th: 27.1. Mt. Collins to Cosby Knob.
Day 4, June 8th: 10.7. Cosby Knob to Standing Bear Hostel on Green Corner Rd.
Day 5, June 9th: 33.5. Green Corner Rd to Hot Springs (Sunnybank Inn).

It was an ambitious hike, but not without a lot of training and a little planning. I was somewhat undertrained for the weight, though. I went stoveless, with a 12 pound base weight, and only one pair of each clothing item except socks. Other than phone apps, I had no map or compass. No bear spray, either, and zero ways to start a fire. Oh, and I forgot my 30g bug spray, but that's because I had debated whether or not to take it and had accidentally left it out instead of in.

I had the Guthook app and Chimay Smoky Mountains, with the maps I needed downloaded to the phone. I did carry the pages I needed from AWOL's NOBO guidebook. The 2 pound tent was unnecessary but made a nice firm pillow. I left my heavy camera and 570-lumen, UFO report generator (i.e., headlamp) behind, and only carried one light source, a Fenix PD-32 LED flashlight.

I can see a lot of the places along the way any time I want, so the focus of the trip was doing the distance in the time I had, and making the big finish. I skipped the tower on Clingman's Dome, and the side trails to Charlie's Bunion and Mt. Cammerer, all of which I've been to before. Normally, they are not to be missed. I would have gone to the fire tower on Shuckstack, but the weather made it pointless.

I liked both Standing Bear Farm and Sunnybank Inn, each in its own way, but I felt a little too dirty to be at Sunnybank. It was my first time at either of those places. I wouldn't hesitate to eat my last raisin before reaching SBF, since there is plenty of resupply to hike to Hot Springs with.

I have to say I experienced a big boost in personal confidence after I finished. I also met a few interesting, "normal" people for a change, which was nice. I still have not dug a single cat hole on the AT, and my orange trowel is now available in the hiker box at SBF, if anybody needs one.

A full journal of the trip, including my menu and equipment list is at TrailJournals (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=20240). I've embedded Garmin courses for each segment at the bottom of the journal, so you can see the track and elevation profile. It differs from the official mileage because of trips to water sources, getting a little off track, etc. I'll post an update when I stitch together a video of the trip for YouTube.

Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to take any time off for a while, but hopefully will soon be able to do a big weekend between Tanyard Gap and Erwin. (I did the old/new AT loop hike to the Rich Mtn fire tower from Laughing Heart in May 2015, so I can start at the nearest convenient place.) In the meantime, I can work on finishing the rest of the miles of trail in the Smokies for the "900 Miler" merit badge.

-Rush-
06-12-2016, 12:28
Congrats on the finish. This is informative as I'll be hiking Stechoa Gap to Hot Springs this summer. I have a few questions...

How crowded were the shelters? Were you able to tent if you wanted?
How many ridge runners/rangers did you encounter?
What Garmin device did you carry?

CamelMan
06-12-2016, 13:48
Congrats on the finish.

How crowded were the shelters? Were you able to tent if you wanted?
How many ridge runners/rangers did you encounter?
What Garmin device did you carry?

Thanks!

There were 4 people at Mollies Ridge but the other two were completely full. Thru-hikers had to yield at Mt. Collins and tented in some space behind the shelter and one guy had a hammock. There was a small grass field in front of that shelter that could have held a few tents, too, but might have been lumpy. At Cosby Knob, there were some tent sites farther from the shelter and also up on the hill behind it, and they were taken. It was muddier there, and I didn't see any good spots, so even though I did consider tenting (because I was tired and wanted to be away from noisy people) I decided against it.

The only ranger I saw was the one who was setting up at Tri-Corner Knob to dart a bear that was making the rounds there. I didn't see any ridge runners that I know of, but I did meet 2 paid ATC staff members and a group of trail maintenance volunteers who were there to work on a piece of trail near Silers Bald Shelter.

It was the 920XT. The GPS reception is like night and day compared with my old Forerunner 305, which frustrated me quite a bit. On the last day, I thought the battery might be getting low, but it held out for 14 hrs and then even longer as a watch in power save mode. I charged it up every night from a battery pack, that was way too big and heavy for what I needed (20,000 mAh).

edit: I did see another ranger but it was in the parking lot at Newfound Gap.

u.w.
06-12-2016, 21:42
sounds like a pretty darn good hike!
interesting to see that I'm not alone on the "birthday present to self" thing, lol. speaking of which, happy birthday - I'd say a thirty plus mile day is a good present.
for mine last year i did the same with a thirty-eightish mile day. Good times!

u.w.

MockingJay
06-13-2016, 08:04
Camel,
I completed a short section similar to yours just 2 days earlier for my 40th (40 miles for 40 years). The sad part is that I took 2 days to complete what you did in 1 (green corner to hot springs). I commend you on your mileage and your physical shape as the long haul up to Snow Bird and the climbs out of Deep and Brown Gaps were no joke.

CamelMan
06-13-2016, 08:52
...I'm not alone on the "birthday present to self" thing...
for mine last year i did the same with a thirty-eightish mile day. Good times!

Nice! I'm going to linger in the 50k range for a while (high 20s, low 30s) so I don't get injured, but add more running to bring down my times. Tomorrow I'm going to do a much easier 31.6 to finish up a trail in GSMNP. If that goes well, then I'm already scheming to do Erwin to Tanyard Gap SOBO in 2 days in a couple of weeks. Anyway...

CamelMan
06-13-2016, 09:01
I commend you on your mileage and your physical shape as the long haul up to Snow Bird and the climbs out of Deep and Brown Gaps were no joke.

Thanks. I agree, it was pretty steep. I was really, really happy that it wasn't rocky. My feet were visibly swollen the next day.

daddytwosticks
06-13-2016, 16:07
I did Standing Bear to Hot Springs about four weeks ago. Left SB at about 11 am day one and got into Hot Springs at about 2pm day three. There were some hard climbs during that hike. Couldn't imagine doing it in one day! Glad you enjoyed your hike. :)