Legs and Borders

Muscles behind my right knee did not get better over night and I was really struggling to get going in the morning. I was even considering putting my tent back up and getting a day off to let it heal up. After another hour I worked out that it only hurts when I go uphill and in this slightly limping fashion I made it to Fontana Village Marina. I got a pit stop here in a Marina shop, I've microwaved a pizza pocket, had pepsi and sat on the pier in the sun. I've decided at this point that I will enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park but I will stay at the first campsite available. The park had a special permit which costed $40 and you had to drop half of the printed out version into a box on entry, so entering the park kind of sealed the deal for the next 70 miles of it. My idea was to have a short day, arrive at the campsite relatively early, relax and try to heal up the hurting muscle. First part of the trail was relatively easy as it went along the Montana lake...