The Smoky Mountains loom. Three days ago, from the top of Wayah Bald, their blue silhouette could just be distinguished from the lighter blue of the sky and the darker blue of the foreground ridge. Two days ago, the clouds hung low on them across the Nantahala. Yesterday, the storm billowed the over the Smokies to bear down upon me. One of the most prominent ranges east of the Mississippi. Home to the most visited National Park in the nation. Today, I stand on their threshold. Tomorrow, I will stand on that ridge. The evolution of a mountain range in the eyes of a hiker.
Hydrology and TVA
When I crossed the Nantahala River, I expected It to flow east, toward Tennessee. The Eastern Divide separating Atlantic-bound rivers from the Mississippi basin lies farther east than the trail, I thought. Yet the Nantahala tumbled eastward in a musical set of rapids.
Curiously, the river cuts through the high Smoky Mountain ridge eastward only to join the Little Tennessee River shortly thereafter, which zags back across the Smokies following westward. In this land of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), these rivers mostly stagnate behind a series of dams, their potential energy helping to power the inland Southeast (the TVA gets 13% of its electricity from hydropower – nuclear is largest at 41%.
Sure enough, just below the Nantahala Outdoor Center, the Nantahala’s rapids become buried in silt, the waves rippling to a standstill in Fontana Lake – the lake at the threshold of the Smokies, from whose shores I now write. Tomorrow, I will hike across Fontana Dam and climb back into the mountains. The Little Tennessee will churn through the turbines below, continuing its course through 4 more reservoirs before joining the Tennessee River. It will go through 9 more reservoirs along that river – a grand total of 14 dams after Fontana Lake! – then join the Ohio River and finally, the Mississippi.
Appalachian Trail Clubs
Another trail crew was hard at work on this bright Saturday. Following a storm, there was much to do today. Fallen trees to clear, erosion to patch up, branches strewn about. I tried to remove the branches that I could move myself to help the trail crews out. They will still have plenty to do. It’s a small bit vigorous way to give back to a trail that has already given much to me. Lots of branches, most small to fling into the forest with my trekking poles.
The Appalachian Trail clubs serve the trail and their constituents in a variety of ways. They organize hikes and social gatherings, they clear logs, and maintain shelters, including the privies. They build stairs or water bars, as I have come across crews doing. And kindly, when they’re out, they have had snacks for the thru-hiking population. They are an expression of the generosity and reciprocity of this particular trail.
Each trail club has jurisdiction over a specific section. So far I’ve hiked through the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, Nantahala Hiking Club, and Smoky Mountain Hiking Club sections. I am deeply grateful to all of these volunteers. Shout out to the Georgia club for an immaculate trail, the Nantahala Club for just completing the most recently rebuilt shelter on the AT the week I came through, and the Smoky Mountain club for turning out today in big numbers for trail maintenance.
Absorbing water and sticks
A healthy, deciduous forest is truly a magnificent operation. The spongy layer of leaves absorbs even the torrential downpours, like yesterday’s, giving the soil time to soak up the moisture rather than allowing the water to tear down the hillside. The ground, then, is a battery of water, a tremendous reservoir that slowly seeps out in the multitudes of springs. A gradual discharge of cumulative abrupt rain events.
Similar to how the forest absorbs excess water, it will also absorb this new input of branches and sticks. Amongst the leaves, an army of detritavores converts cellulose to humus, cycling nutrients from leaf and fallen branch back up into the tall branches of these trees.
Concluding food notes
The resupply location for today, the Fontana marina, which scenically floated on Fontana lake, must have read my food rant yesterday because two of my requested items, peanut butter and jelly tortilla and dried potato, were available. Still no actual fresh fruits or vegetables. Not even any dried fruit here. Though they did offer me a free lime green, giant ice pop. Who doesn’t like a big plastic stick of frozen, weirdly flavored, vibrant colored, sugar water?
Your descriptions of the landscape, topology and hydrology is instructive. Feels like I’m hiking it with you. So great!
In answering the question posed at the end… me.