My Journey Is My Destination...Day 153

Day 153 19.8 miles Spence Field Shelter

Today, I hike for my life long barber, Earl Rice. I’ve been going to this guy for too many years to remember. He is a mainstay in the Johnson City community. He is always friendly, welcoming, and appreciative, another person that I am lucky to know.

I’m starting to get ideas on how to finish this trip. I thought about running the last 30.5 miles in a day. That sounds like something 'Pyro would attempt. No thanks! We hiked up to Clingmans Dome, the highest spot on the AT at 6,643 feet.

We walked up the "Jetsons’ style tower" to take in views of the Smokies. We went down to the bathrooms for some water where I tried to coax some food from some of the tourists we had talked with at the top. A man tried to give us his daughter’s candy bar, but she wasn’t giving it up.

We saw an old timer on our way back to the trail. As we walked by he said, “Them folks got it made”. That made 'Green Flash' and me fill with pride and a little less like we had been feeling, like bums. We walked into another beautiful, peach colored sunset.

Day 154, 155, 156, 157 50.5 miles

I spent this section of the trail not writing. I was enjoying good conversation with 'Green Flash' in the evening and not being in deep thought in my head.

The Smokies were good, but short with some hard hiking. We climbed Shuckstack fire tower before leaving the park. I remember being there with my Dad. We came down to Fontana Dam in North Carolina. It signified another hurdle jumped. We hitched a ride down for some groceries. 'Sugar' and a new guy named 'Treehouse' showed up at the “Fontana Hilton” shelter. 'Treehouse' turned 18 years-old while on the trail. I wished that I could have been more like him when I was 18. I also recognized that everything in life is in due time. 'Treehouse' is cool to the core.

We woke up Thanksgiving morning. 'Green Flash' and I decided that if we couldn’t have Thanksgiving dinner we would fast. Luckily for us, around noon the Bearden family showed up to whisk us off to a feast for the holiday. They are from South Carolina and have been coming to the mountains for 17 years. One of the sons said they pick up hikers every year.

Kurt, Kathy`, their sons Nick & Jake treated us to a family style dinner. We ate our fill. Kathy had done the impossible to fill everyone up with food. We spent all day with them at Fontana Village. We offered them many thanks and well wishes as they dropped us off at the shelter. We could not believe our luck! Once again we were “right on time.”

The next day we hiked into the moonlight through trees sparkling with ice. We camped on top of Cheoah Bald at 5,062 feet in the cold, cold air. The next dawn we hiked down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We caught up with our three other hiking partners and just sat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Later we hiked back to the trail with a strenuous and tough climb. 'Treehouse' hiked on, but 'Green Flash' and I camped.