April 21, 1996 12 miles and Fontana Dam . Man-o-man my dogs are aching. I was right! These downhills and my wet socks really roughed up my feet. I raised my first blister. The knees felt like gravel. I got to the highway and thumbed my way to Fontana Village and got a bunk at the hostel.

April 22, 1996 Stayed at the Village . Susan caught up with a repaired knee. I gassed up on provisions and was ready to hit the Smokies tomorrow.

April 23, 1996 Weather soured so I decided to stay another day , but we moved to Fontana Motel . The owner was a really cool guy who shuttled us to his place and then to town to eat at some of the restaurants. He said that he would drop us at the dam tomorrow. You just can't turn hospitality like that down.

April 24, 1996 10 miles My destination is Mollies Ridge Shelter. A great day for a hike with the temperature in the low 60s and clear skies. The uphill grade leading into the Smokies is really easy compared to what I have been hiking. I was never really tired until the last mile or so which was a sort of steep climb up to the shelter. There were gorgeous fields of lavender wildflowers that really made me glad that I was there. Susan and I both started at the same time this morning, but she is in a great hurry to get out of the park so that she can get her little Scottie out of the boarding kennel. The little dog was the one that barked so much at Bly Gap. She plans a mail drop in Gatlinburg, but I have enough food to get me all the way through to the other side. I met a really nice family who is hiking the trail too! They call themselves the "Hugstables"

April 25, 1996 11.3 miles Derricks Knob Shelter. It was a really long day, but the scenery was worth it. Really pretty mountain meadows with tall grass and wide open spaces. It was also extremely dry and I was really hitting the water hard. I had a wild time at Rocky Top and Thunderhead Peaks. The wind was blowing so hard that I feared that I would get blown down. I really like the Smokies. I saw a white tailed deer this evening at the shelter.

April 26, 1996 7.2 miles Double Spring Gap Shelter. It rained this morning and I didn't get going until 10:45am. The day did improve and the terrain wasn't too rough. My back has been hurting me and Cristy "Hugstable" gave me a massage this morning while we waited for the rain to slow down. There were a lot of ups and downs between the shelter and Clingmans Dome tomorrow.

April 27, 1996 18+ miles to Gatlinburg, TN. The day started off well enough. I was on the correct trail for about 8 or 9 miles, but somehow I missed the turnoff trail the leads to Newfound Gap & US441 . I made it past Clingmans Dome and my knee really started to hurt so I decided to rest it for the afternoon at the Mt. Collins Shelter which is really about ½ mile off of the AT. I started feeling much better and decided to move on and try to make Ice Water Shelter . I was so gung-ho that I forgot that I was actually on another trail. I just started walking and didn't pay any attention to the lack of white blazes. With my glasses off they were hard to spot in the Smokies anyhow. I hiked and hiked and later than sooner I realized that I was no longer in Kansas Toto…Without any maps I stuck to the trail and finally came upon an intersection that showed a route to the to Newfound Gap Road. Oh well. At least I could yellow blaze to Newfound Gap and 441 now. It was really starting to get dark now, and I needed to consider bedding down for the night. I could here the road traffic in the distance so my instincts were to aim toward the noise. When I got to the road, there was maybe 30 minutes of light left. I started walking and stumbled on some tourists out for an evening walk. I asked them for directions and they told me that I was really close to Gatlinburg. I asked for a ride and they said that they don't help strangers. So I footed it down the road. I headed toward Gatlinburg because it was only 5 miles west. The correct AT trail head was closer to 12 miles east. I walked for a couple of miles until I met a Kentucky couple out for look at the wildlife. I told them my story and they offered me a ride into town. Thanky' Harold for the ride. They dropped me in the heart of town. I felt like a vagrant among all of the pretty people. I checked into a motel that had the last vacancy sign on. Although they were actually full, Angel, the desk clerk, said that her boss had another motel in Pigeon Ford . She called him and he came and picked me up! Nice folks. As luck would have it, there was an A.Y.C.E. next door. I showered and walked over for a belly filling feast. Once again my God protected the idiot from harm 8^). I did some laundry and called the family. I've never had such an eventful Saturday night since the time many years ago when I did shots of tequila and wound up swimming in the middle of Bayou Texar looking for my socks 8^)

April 28, 1996 yellow blazed to Davenport Gap . I thought about hiking the rest of the 30 miles in the Smokies, but at the last minute found a ride to North end of the Smokies and Mama's Country Kitchen . I guess that I was a little peeved with myself and just wanted out of this park! I hung out in town and had a few beers and about 3pm a taxi came to take me over…I had given up on hitching around Gatlinburg. I spent the night in the bunkhouse at Mama's. I ran into Funkfoot again. His podiabiofunk has all but disappeared.

April 29, 1996 9.5 miles to Deep Gap Groundhog Creek Shelter. I was off to a good start. I had a BLT sandwich and a pint of whole milk for breakfast. Its going to be a hot one today. Temperature got up into the high 80s. I drank a lot of water and still felt drained. I'm glad that the hills weren't too steep although the last couple of miles of downhill switchbacks seemed to go on forever. I am tenting tonight because the shelter is full. We had a good thunderstorm this evening, but tent is snug and dry.

April 30, 1996 11.2 mile haul to Roaring Fork Shelter. It rained pretty hard last night and the tent had some condensation at the foot. The sleeping bag got just a little wet. Kinda cold and wet this morning and it reminded me a bit of the day that I started up Springer Mountain. The weather cleared by 1pm, but the wind blew hard all day. Going over Max Patch Summit in gale force winds was a little tough, but the view was beautiful. Sorry that I can't share the scenery with any one; too much of a torrent to stop and get a photo. I stopped to get some water at a creek. I loaded up on water and nearly got hypothermia with all that cold water inside me. I had to put my thermals on to stop the shaking. I got to the shelter about 6pm which is not bad for a 10:45am start. I think that the grade of the terrain was milder today. Hiking is getting easier. Knees still hurt though and I am having trouble with my right foot.

May 1, 1996 11 miles to Dear Park Mountain Shelter. Cold this morning but cleared and became a very mild day. There were a couple of good uphills, but the rest was grading down. I actually had time to goof off a little and met one of the local gentry. He was rambling down the slope ahead of me and we stopped and chatted. I asked him about the root that he had collected. He called it a Ramp or something like that. It tasted like a mild green onion. He loaded me up with enough for my rice and beans tonight. I think the guy's name was Charley and his brother had just died a couple of days ago. He said of old age, and I told him that I'd like to go the same way. Charley raises tobacco on his small farm in the valley below. How cool. And how I admired his outlook toward mortality. I wish that I was a writer, then perhaps I could put down into words what I saw in his face. I tented this night because there was too much noise at the shelter. I wanted a little solitude and some time to contemplate stuff. Nice night and an almost full moon. Tomorrow the big city… Hot Springs, NC.

May 2, 1996 3 ¼ miles and a short haul down to town. I went past the Jesuit hostel and headed straight for The Duckett House . What a wonderful flat lawn! A couple of former thru-hikers own the place, and they let us camp on the lawn during their off season. I picked up a mail drop and had some lunch. There were lots of hikers in town. I ran into Funkfoot again and the four women from Maine. One of the women is calling it quits, and her mom has taken her to the airport in Asheville, NC.