AT Adventures: Day 15, 6-29

So we woke at the Fontana Hilton fairly early. C because he was uncomfy in the shelter, and I because I heard him crunching on the rocks that are around the shelter. Or So Close wanted to get an early start and woke us. Regardless, we woke early, and wandered down to the Fontana Dam Visitor's Center, where we were planning on calling a shuttle and getting picked up to go into Wesser. There was little to no traffic on the road, so hitching was out, and we wanted a sure ride, even if we had to toss a few bucks to get it. We show up at the center, and its closed. Moreover, it won't open until 9, and it was like, 730. There were bathrooms with showers in them, so I took my dirty self to those with some camp soap, showered and washed my clothing, which went right back on, then emerged. C went in to do the same, and soon after he came out, a van swung by with some guys. They had gotten a shuttle from Hot Springs, and were doing the section from Fontana to Hot Springs. We talked to the shuttle driver, and he ended up giving us a ride into Wesser, the town nearby. C and I needed to pick up our mail (PO opens at 9...sigh), and we both wanted a large breakfast. We get into town, and its...frightening in its smallness. I can't express aptly how small this town was. It was tiny. Miniscule. Mote-like. There are almost more people in my family than live in that town. There was a general store, a PO, and a hotel. The hotel was very nice, and people go out there to get away from it all...little realizing that away from it all means that there's nothing nearby remotely resembling anything to do. Except hike an awesome trail. But if you're into that, you'd have gotten there the old fashioned way, and not stay at the hotel. Unless you really wanted to, because you needed to stay someplace and shower. I digress.
We wandered around a while trying to find a place to eat. The restaurant was closed, so we ended up going up to the hotel. We had only split a clif bar (I've a passion for splitting, I don't know why) at the shelter, so we were hungry at this point. Very much so. The hotel had a restaurant. The restaurant was open. Caleb and I were happy. We ordered, and lots of food came out. And we finished it all. I don't think I could have in real life, but this was a special occasion. Caleb got some perfect French Toast. It looked perfect. Exquisite. Slabs of soft bread dusted with powdered sugar and radiating toasty brown tastiness. I ordered...something large. I forget what, but I had syrup. Pancakes, perhaps? I'm going with those. My syrup was in a little ramekin, and when I saw it, I thought: I'm going to finish that. And everything else on my plate. So C and I shoveled in, were silent for a while as we shoveled, and then sat back, replete and satiated. Then we wandered over to the PO. We were warned the lady was cranky, so we were very polite, and she was as well, so I think the people just annoyed her. We picked up our stuff, sorted through it all, picked up a few items (cheese) at the general store that we needed that couldn't be mailed, and called the shuttle. Wandered back over to the Dam, and set off towards the Smokes.
The Smokies...mmmm...incredible. Early on in the trip, we ran into a guy that said, 'you guys will really enjoy the Smokies. They'll open your mind'. I didn't believe him until the day after this one, when my mind was opened...it was crazy.
So the entrance to the Smokes isn't as magnificent as the Smokies warrant, but it starts off with a climb up Shuckstack mountain. This had been compared with the Jump Up from the NOC, so I was worried, but about an hour or two later we stood at (basically) the end of the climb, and thought: are we done already? It was a really simple climb, and one that convinced me my trail legs showed up. Which is nice. There was an awesome tower off the trail a bit, we had been told to go see it, and it was totally worth it. It was, I think, for fire-spotting, but had long since been discarded or unused or whatever. Anyway, we went up. It was awesome.
We came on down, continued our trek, and had some other interesting adventures. We saw our first bear! It was...incredible. So Close, because she was hiking by her lonesome, and quietly, had seen several at that point. C and I, because we made lots of noise, had seen none. But we're rolling along, we hear a big noise to our right and behind us, and lots of movement. Lots. Think...well...a bear running through lots of crunchy leaves. Its loud. I assume it was a mom, and the crunching was the cubs running away/up trees, but we didn't see them. Just momma's head, swinging around, interested in what was going on. We were torn between looking back and moving forward, because she was big. We only saw her head, and she was big. Big like woah. That was the first bear encounter. It was awesome.
A few hours later, we roll up to the first shelter. We were thinking of spending the night there, but quickly changed our minds. You have to spend your nights in the shelters in the Smokies, they have bear cables rigged up, and you hoist all your stuff up out of reach, then sleep in the shelter to minimize impact on the trail/surrounding area. This was great for the people who tented and stuff, but horrible for C and I. Our hammocks are the most comfy things ever, and not having them...sad times. So we show up, and there's a troop of Boy Scouts there. C and I look at each other, plop down on the bottom tier, and look at our map. There was another shelter maybe 2.5 miles down the trail...we eat some gorp and think it over. The boyscouts had various and sundry conversations that teenaged boys have. C and I were still thinking of stopping, until a conversation started about bears. One said he'd punch one in the face if it came into the shelter. Another gave an example of how he'd hold knives between his fingers, and then punch it. C and I moved on. Boyscouts. While there are good ones out there, the vast majority...sheesh.
Anyway, we keep going, and roll into the shelter to find So Close there already. We set up and sack out, then meet a few others. We had passed a guy with two sons of his on Shuckstack, and they ended up wandering in. Two ladies that were doing the smokies next, and then a guy from the UK who was spending a year in the States. He was leaving on July Fourth (a bi' ironic, me leaving for england on the 4th, isn't it?) for back home. He had been all over, climbing in Utah, hiking all over, and now was out for a few days before heading on back.
We're all eating dinner, or finishing up, or doing dishes, when So close looks up from her journal, and says, 'Guys, a bear!'. Everyone freezes and looks. There's a juvenile bear moseying down the trail, following the AT and ignoring us. It was surreal...he walked right by all of us, as we all watched him warily, moseying along. He stood about 3 feet high, didn't look that thick. His fur was black and tan striped, which was really neat, but a little odd too. Like a tiger, almost. Didn't make any sound as he went, just tottered along and disappeared down the trail, further down the road. Surreal, but totally awesome.
Then it was bedtime, and we discovered the mice. Mice in the Smokies are bold. This one scurried all around, amazing us with his acrobatic agility. I was very glad that my pack was the one hoisted this night.
This was also the first shelter we felt the effects of drought, and not having our own water filter. When we show up, they report to us that the spring is dry, and basically, its a drainage puddle we'll be drinking out of. So Close lent us her filter, so we were able to procure water, but it would have been a thirsty one if we hadn't found it.