Tuesday, march 26

Well......activities  for the day here at the Fontana village resort lodge:
Plan to meet for breakfast at 730..

So me, being full of intention, got up at 630 and showered, possibly (and hopefully) my last opportunity until gatlinburg...put on my hiking underwear(yes, they're different..compression shorts with anti microbial properties), turkey bags, packed up and cinched down my pack and went to the restaurant....zag was not so full of intention...well, not the same intention. Old goat, silver streak and I sat at the table and convinced ourselves that leaving today was the right thing to do. It's just snowing. No gusty winds. But it kept snowing, and zag, being the patient and rational person that she is, kept her eye on the weather. Being the antsy, needs regular physical activity to be sane and has been lounging for 3 days person that I am...I was not satisfied with the general forecast or the heresay chatter. I want to know the actual trail conditions. Not that there is a foot of snow at Mt la conte...or at the Marina, or at the back country ranger station...I want to know what's ON THE TRAIL....there is what's called a ridge runner that monitors and maintains their section of the trail....I called the backcountry ranger station every so often trying to get the report from the ridge runner...I never did.. All reports were discouraging.

Silver streak and I decided we would go slack pack the 1.5 miles from the dam to the Marina...so tomorrow ( ?) we can start from the dam....I'm really looking forward to walking across the dam..that'll be beautiful....it was snowing big fluffy flakes while we walked...it was very peaceful. The lake shore and surrounding area were totally covered in snow...actually EVERYTHING was covered in snow except the roadway. A very nice walk...it calmed me a great deal to be outside, as usual. walk quietly, stand still and listen.....
Came back, had lunch and a nap (yes, I settled down enough to nap)..days of our lives was on...the same characters are still there from my teenage years: Marlena,John black (Roman Brady?), Sammy....didn't see bo & hope...are they dead? Made me laugh and think of my mom and granny and aunt ferra... We all knew not to call or disturb in any way between 1100-100 a they were watching their "stories"..
Hmmmm where was I? Oh yes..in the bed. I've gotten really good at building my hotel bed nest: 4 pillows and an excellent wool blanket....it took a night or two to figure out how too be"just right" in the bed...here I've gotten it figured out and will have to leave tomorrow.....how did I get comfy in my bag?
All the shelters in the smokies have fireplaces I'm told. Sleeping with a fire going sounds great....
Tonight I'm having what is my last beer until gatlinburg or hot springs... Zag and I went down to the general store for what I'm calling "rape and pillage at the village" for 2 more days' worth of food in case we can't get down to gatlinburg (where our next food resupply box is)..the road is currently closed due to icy conditions and the roads will not be actively cleared..if it doesn't melt before we get there..tough ninnies. We'll have to keep going...so we got a little extra food.
We're watching basketball (go bama)
About to go have a hot bath then to bed I go.
Same plan tomorrow morning...meet at 730 with bag packed...keep your fingers crossed..don't get me wrong, I want to be safe...I'm just chomping at the bit...
Pics: snow at the lodge. Outside the  lobby this morning while trying to get a trail report, this afternoon from the restaurant...notice the mountain view on the left and the big snow cloud obstructing the mountain view on the right..we watched the storm roll by...then another came in 10 min later...