Fontana Dam, NC to Garenflo Gap, NC

Day 9, Friday, October 6

Davenport Gap (Mountain Moma's) to Groundhog Creek Shelter, 9.6 miles AT, 10.85 miles total

We're up at 7:00 AM. I shower quickly and finish packing up before Mountain Moma's opens at 8:00 AM. Bacon, egg, and cheese on toast with grits and a Mountain Dew. The breakfast of champions. After a week in the woods this is a gourmet breakfast. A lone hiker wanders in to reprovision as we are finishing breakfast.

We have a big day ahead of us and I hope Mike and Bob are up to it. It's a pretty long climb out of Davenport Gap up Snowbird Mountain. The weather forecast is for showers this afternoon, but so far the fog has burned off to reveal the same bright blue sky that I've been seeing for a week now. We finish breakfast and drive our packs over to the other side of Interstate 40. We're going to park at Big Creek Ranger Station, walk the 1.25 miles up the dirt road to Davenport Gap and slackpack the first 1.5 miles. Hopefully that'll make the ensuing climb easier.

Wrong! The climb up Snowbird is one of the longest climbs I've made. It's a little steep in places, but the gradual incline just keeps going, and going, and going.

We had reached Davenport Gap at 9:45 AM, I-40 at 10:00 AM, and the place we stashed our packs a little after 10 AM. But it ultimately takes us until almost 2:30 PM to reach the top of Snowbird and hear the humming of the FAA tower there. Along the way we sweated, panted, rested, ate lunch, cursed, prayed, etc. A five-hour climb to cover 5.5 miles. Ugh. I did pretty well, but Mike and Bob really struggled. I shouldn't have started with them here. They hung in there though without complaining and we finally made it to the top.

During our climb, clouds have begun to pile up in the sky. By the time we reach the top of Snowbird Mountain, it's socked in. No view. I did take a picture of the FAA tower, but would have rather have seen the view.

We still have 2.6 miles to go. Downhill as steep as the climb was uphill. As we slog down a pretty good trail, it begins to rain softly. Not enough to get you very wet, but you can hear the rain in the treetops.

I've moved ahead of Mike and Bob now trying to teach the shelter a little earlier to get spots. Something tells me it might be crowded. Groundhog Creek only holds space for six anyway. When I reach the shelter, there are already three folks there. The three of us makes six, so full house at 3:30 PM.

The three folks in the shelter are an older couple from Chattanooga, TN who have been tent camping over the last few days, and a southbound thru-hiker named "Corn Dog". "Corn Dog" is from Maine and started from Katahdin on June 11.

After unpacking some of my gear, I walk back up the ridge to find Mike and Bob and make sure they don't miss the trail to the shelter.

I spend most of the next two hours boiling water for supper. Hot soup, chicken and rice, and finally hot chocolate. Not bad. The rain keeps coming the rest of the afternoon getting harder as darkness approaches. The temperature has dropped several degrees as well, now in the low fifties. Everyone is in the sack by 6:00 PM except me. I want to finish a few notes and look at tomorrow's schedule.

My pack today for some reason felt heavier than I think it should. I make sure to eat everything heavy that I can. Hopefully, that will help. When I washed my clothes last night, I couldn't do any more than hang them on a clothesline on the front of the cabin. They didn't dry overnight, so I started with everything still wet this morning. Luckily, I did have one pair of dry socks left. Otherwise I'd have been miserable. Maybe those wet clothes added to the weight of my pack today.

We've strung clothesline all over the shelter and clothes are hanging everywhere. With the lower temperature and the rain tonight there isn't much hope of anything drying out. Thank goodness there was room in the shelter for all of us.

I finish writing about 8 PM by candlelight and turn in. It's still raining and it sounds like it might continue all night. The temperature is now about 48-50 degrees, so it's not too cold. It would be if you were wet. Until tomorrow.