We woke up at 7 AM and got ready to start hiking for the day. At 8 we continued our hike up the mountain. We had about 2 more miles up to the top. The hike up wasn’t so bad, especially since we were fresh. We got to the top of the mountain at 9 AM. The goal was to get somewhere that is about 10 miles away from Fontana Dam. So the next day we wouldn’t have to hike much.

The hike throughout the day wasn’t so bad. It was mostly gradual, some big climbs here and there. We did have one big down from Cheoah Bald down to Stecoah Gap. At the top of Cheoah Bald the view was amazing. The only downside was that there were a million bugs! For lunch we had some beef jerky and trail mix at Stecoah Gap. So, it wasn’t really a full meal. At the Gap, we took rest for a little bit. Later in the day, we started to run out of water. The closest stream was at mile marker 152 next to Brown Fork Gap Shelter. So, we decided to eat dinner when we got there, and fill up. At 5 PM we reached Brown Fork Gap Shelter. The stream wasn’t close to the shelter, so we hiked .2 miles more on the trail, and then got to the stream. For dinner we had a dish called Daal Baath. It is a bowl of Daal (lentils) and rice. It was very tasty. We had less than 4 more miles to go to Cody Gap, which is where we were going to spend the night. At 6 we left the stream and continued hiking. Right after the stream there was a short steep climb, but it wasn’t very hard. By the time we reached Cody Gap, it was 8 PM. I was very tired, and very glad to rest. We had only 10 more miles to Fontana Dam.