The trail goes through there, y’all. I am not kidding. It went on forever, no blaze in sight.

Day 19, Sunday, August 9, 2020

Road Bed at Mile 183.7 to Fontana Dam

Mile 196.6

Today I had to dig deep at times to find the fucking bright side.

Here it is:

At least when I found myself pushing through six foot tall weeds, unsure if I was following a hiker trail or a trail made by feral pigs, those weeds were dry and this was a second day free from rain.

Once I settled on what was good about the day, I could devote my full attention to what sucked.

Not only were the weeds—the Joe Pye weed, the Jewel weed, the nettles and brambles and burr-maker weeds—towering over my head, they had overtaken the trail and hidden the few blazes and signs that marked the way.

I got lost three times. Twice in the same spot. I added two extra miles and 1,000 feet of elevation to my day and stumbled around in a patch of poison ivy after taking a detour through the newly minted ghost town of Fontana Village.

I ended the day blood covered and dehydrated but the day, to my delight, did end.

Okay, I’ll admit, this was cool. Climb up onto the thin edge of Lookout Rock and you can see Fontana Dam from here.

Finally, the BMT merged with the AT and the white blazes of the AT was akin to setting foot on terra firma after being adrift at sea on a raft made of palm fronds.

The AT was clear, well marked and led straight to hot showers at the Fontana Shelter.

And, finally, the angels did sing.