With tired legs and determined souls, Laura and I started south from Fontana Dam for our 3rd long mileage day in a row. My knee was still bothering me from Saturday’s fall so we decided to do more hiking and less running. It was the first day in four days that I didn’t get rained on.
Most of the day was a perfect temperature with a nice breeze. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been trying to catch up with another female flip flop thru hiker named Dropknife. She is also a PhD chemist. I keep catching up to her when she is in town and then I get ahead. I go back to work and she gets ahead. So this time she had signed the register at the Cable Gap Shelter that indicated she had been there this morning. Chances are I will finally meet her since there are no towns nearby and it is unlikely she is hiking to the NOC in one day.
This is a really pretty section that includes a couple really steep climbs. The view from Cheoah Bald was very nice. When we got to Sassafras Gap Shelter, I went down to get some water and finally met Dropknife. She was very nice. We busted for a few minutes and then I had to head on down the trail to catch up with Laura.

Dropknife….fellow female flip flop thru hiker and PhD chemist from Munich, Germany.
We finished the last few miles in the dark again today. Once we arrived at the NOC, we found my car where Laura S. and Susan K. had left it on Sunday morning. Thank you again! We drove back to get Laura’s car at Fontana Dam and then headed home. At this point, I have hiked all of the trail north of Hogpen Gap this year. I will share the posts from April going from Hogpen to the NOC. Only 38.6 miles to go!!!! I’m looking forward to friends joining me next weekend for the end of my thru hike.