Out On Trail

We began Day 4 with a breakfast of biscuits and gravy (review posted separately) at Kirkland Creek Campsite (Site 76). By this stage of the hike, Mike had begun to develop blisters. It's important to take care of your feet when hiking in wet conditions, and it's equally important to tend to issues as soon as you notice them developing, to prevent the situation from worsening. After ensuring the injured areas were properly protected, we hit the trail for our last "full" (10+ mile) day of hiking. The start of Day 4's hike was similar to the end of Day 3's, providing consistent glimpses of Fontana Lake through the trees, with an occasional scenic overlook. The views had a different tone this morning, as the sun had been replaced by thick, dark clouds. On this section of trail, we continued to encounter stone walls, rusted metallic relics, and other evidence that human civilization had once thrived in the area. We continued to enjoy the prevalent mountain laurel ...

We began Day 3 with a breakfast of egg scrambles (reviews to be provided in a separate post!). As we were breaking down camp, we chatted with one of the friendly local fisherman with whom we shared the camp. He was full of fascinating knowledge: from stories about the clearing of Proctor, prior to the building of the dam, to the current black bear and wild hog activity within the park. Having stayed a bit longer than we had intended, we eventually parted ways and got started on the Lakeshore Trail. A few minutes into the first uphill section of the hike (there would be many literal ups and downs throughout the day), we passed a couple of hikers carrying fishing poles who inquired about the creek. We informed them they weren't far off and continued on our way. We didn't know it, at that point, but those hikers would be the last people we would see for the next 27 hours!   Most of the work was in the early part of this day. After a couple of fairly long, steep inclines, we reache...