Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam

APRIL 20, 2012

Stecoah Gap to Fontana Dam - Moderate

15.4 miles in 7.5 hours

The Cabin in the Woods, Stecoah Gap

Today we slackpacked.  Whoo – What a relief!  We woke up bright and early in the beautiful Cabin in the Woods, made our breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, packed up our lunch, water and a few snacks and called for a ride.  Phil, Donna's husband, had us up to Stecoah Gap in ten minutes.  We started our hike at 8:20.  As was to be expected, it was a steep climb out of the gap.  But without our backpacks it was an enjoyable hike and a welcome break.

The Cabin in the Woods,  back porch with a view of the mountainside.

The Cabin in the Woods, Stecoah Gap

By 9:30 we were at the Brown Fork Gap Shelter but since it was off the trail, decided not to go in to see it.  We would have seen some of our comrads there; a few who had made this shelter their goal the day before. A few had stopped at Locust Cove Gap.   So, we were without our usual company today and we missed the camaraderie, but did meet another young man today who was thru-hiking and trying to be the first to make it to Mount Katahdin wearing the skele-toes.  We are interested to hear if he made it all the way, since they did not look too stable to us.

At Cody Gap we needed water, but found that the water hole was off the trail down a steep bank, so decided to take our chances and walk on, hoping to find water on the trail.  We did find a very good water stream right before Yellow Creek Gap. 

Can you see Fontana Lake down there?

At 12:00 we stopped for lunch at Yellow Creek Gap, SR 1242.  We had hiked 7.6 miles in 3.5 hours.

The remainder of the day was up and down (literally), but nothing compared to the day before.  The ups were steep but not too high, and the downs were not too bad.  Many welcome gaps of rolling ridge-walking.  Some spots were rocky, some spots were muddy and slippery.  

See Fontana Lake through the trees?

We first spotted Fontana Lake from the top of the mountain long before we got to it.  It was a welcome sight, but we didn’t know at the time that it would be a long time before we actually got to it.  It was a long descent into the valley.  We finally came to NC Highway 28 right before the Dam Marina.  We still had 1.4 miles to go over a mountain to get to the dam and the Visitor’s Center.  After a bathroom break at the marina, we began climbing again to cross over to the Fontana Dam.  We were tired and ready for it to be over; therefore did not welcome the climb that was ahead of us.  Putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, we finally made it to the Fontana Dam at 4:00. 

Hwy 28 goes through Fontana Village.

We wanted to see the “Fontana Hilton” shelter, so made ourselves trek down the hill for a glance.  It indeed was the largest shelter we had seen.  It was two levels on each side of a center breezeway; built to shelter 24 people.  The showers and water fountains that were advertised in our 2011 Thru-Hiker’s Companion though were not in service and looked like they had not seen water in awhile.  There were showers, though, at the Visitor’s Center, but we didn’t have a towel or soap with us, so we were unable to use them.

Our vehicle parked in the Visitor’s Center parking lot was a welcome sight. The first thing we did was take off our boots for more comfortable shoes and then went to the soda machine for a cold drink.  Unfortunately, my camera quit working before we got to the dam and we could not take pictures to prove that we had made it—but I promise you that we did!! 

91 miles in 8 days.