Fontana Dam, NC to Garenflo Gap, NC

Day 4, Sunday, October 1

Birch Spring Shelter to Spence Field Shelter, 9.7 miles

Another October 1 and I'm in the woods again. Makes three years in a row. Some day I'm going to write a book about my October 1 adventures.

Up at 7:00 AM. Cook some noodles for breakfast and away by 8:40. I'. Taking longer on this trip to get up, break camp, and get away. I've got to get more efficient.

I take a break at 9:30 AM for 25 minutes and catch up on my journal. It's tough to devote time to writing when you are with a large crowd. I've passed several folks hiking South already this morning. A mother and two sons and three other guys hiking together.

I reach Gregory Bald Trail at 10:12 AM. About 2.5 miles to Mollies Ridge from here.

Reach Mollies Ridge Shelter at 11:40 AM. Long 2.5 miles! The sun is out, it's gorgeous, a little breezy. POBO (Pack off, Boots off) and lunch until 12:30 PM.

Reach Russell Field Shelter at 1:40 PM. More like it. Two-and-one-half miles in one hour and ten minutes. Have to wonder about that mileage. Two-and-one-half miles to go to Spence Field, where I'll spend the night.

It's a long 2.5 miles, part on a relocated portion of the trail not in my book. Horses also use the AT through the Smokies. One of the few stretches over the entire trail where more than foot traffic is allowed. I've been dodging horse crap most of the day, but on the soft ground of this last section of the relocated trail the horses have torn the ground up badly. The trail is very uneven, pocked with holes and very muddy where the horses have churned it up. The hiking is more like plodding, carrying another pound of mud on each boot.

I finally reach Spence Field at 3:20 PM. It's a beautiful open meadow with the first clear view I've had today. I've been under the tree canopy all day. Full fall color abounds and there is a great view northward to Rocky Top and Thunderhead. I reach the Spence Field Shelter on the side trail at 3:30 PM.

As I walk up, three folks are leaving the shelter. Three more from Jacksonville, FL, are staying overnight. I take my time setting up camp. I decide to wash up both clothes and me. It feels so good to be clean again. I hang everything in the sun to dry out as much as possible and begin cooking supper.

First, Lipton chicken soup and then chicken and rice. Full belly!

One hiker from Cincinnati comes in at 6 PM. Three more come in at 7 PM. This place is going to be fuller than I originally thought. The temperature is cooling down. Approx. 52 degrees at 7 PM.

At 9 PM it's plenty dark enough for me and the three guys from Jacksonville to walk back up to the meadow and see the stars. The Moon is only a sliver and still very low in the treeline, so the night sky is very dark. The starts are absolutely brilliant. You can see the Milky Way stretching from one side of the sky to the other. What a sight! Although the temperature is approx. 50 degrees, I've pulled on my fleece and I'm toasty warm. What a great night. The only thing missing is a shooting star.

Back at camp, the three 7 o'clockers from Indiana/Kentucky have finally finished cooking, eating and cleaning up. We hit the sack at 10:00 PM. Calm night, but a whole lot of snoring going on. Me included. I wake up at 2 AM. There's a critter rustling outside the fence covering the shelter. Must be trying to get at something left outside the gate.