I arrived in one slightly mangled piece at Fontana Dam, N.C., on Tuesday evening, almost three days ago, and have been resting ever since.
I left the Nantahala Outdoor Center on Saturday morning after having spent six days there, and hiked some 6.9 miles straight up. The first big climb out of there was rather rocky and took me 3,000 vertical feet up to Swim Bald at 4,700 feet. That night I stayed at Sassafras Gap Shelter, where I called in to Free Talk Live with a trail update and a story about the idiots at the TSA.
Sunday was mostly cloudy and cold. I went up to Cheoah Bald at 5,032 feet which still had nice views despite the clouds and completed 9.1 miles to Brown Fork Gap shelter. The day was filled with occasional snow flurries and we got a good dusting overnight. Monday my foot was acting up again, and I didn’t feel like hiking through the snow, so I stayed at the shelter for another day.
And on Tuesday I hiked pretty hard the 12.7 miles to the Fontana Hilton. The hike was harder than it looked on the map, since many of the ridges it followed were very rocky.
I stayed at the Fontana Hilton (the somewhat tongue-in-cheek name for the Fontana Dam shelter) on Tuesday night, after making yet another call in to Free Talk Live. I split a hotel here in the Fontana Village Wednesday night with a couple of other hikers, and I was back at the Hilton last night. The wireless Internet connection here in Fontana Village has been slow and flaky so it’s taken me a couple of days to get all my pictures uploaded and this post completed.
In addition, those rocky ridges on the last day into Fontana twisted up my foot again, and it’s somewhat painful to walk. I am going to remain here for at least a week before I even think of moving on, possibly two weeks, since last time a week obviously wasn’t enough time for my foot to heal up. I’ll take some pictures of the dam, the lake and surrounding area while I’m here. I may even do a video, so stay tuned.
I will probably yellow blaze up to Hot Springs for Trailfest next weekend, and after that, I’ll decide if I can continue this hike or not. If so I’ll head back here to Fontana and pick the trail up again, and if not I’ll just go home. As much as I hate to give it up, I really will need my feet in the future.
3 Comments
Is there a Doctor you can see for your foot? have you iced it, or applied heat therapy to it? NSAID all the time, keep it in your system, maybe sweat it out, by wrapping it. Arnica gel is great for bumps and bruises. Maybe you need an arch support in that shoe to relieve pressure on your arch, making the top feel better? Is it swollen? Hope it gets better for you. Dont give up, rest it, and treat it the best you can. Muscles take a long time to get better. B
The photos are beautiful.
Same questions/advice as Beth… You’re not too far from Asheville, are you? If you can get to a running-specific store, they likely will carry supports and wraps for the exact part of your foot which hurts. Hope your foot improves.
Strange what one can find when one googles old friends. Even stranger to find you on the Appalachian trail. I will be in Pigeon Forge, TN and places thereabouts in 3 more weeks, and plan to spend 5 days vacation/hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.