I'll let Dicky Betts answer your last question
Well, I'm Southbound ... Lord I'm comin' home to you
Lord, I'm Southbound, baby ... Lord I'm comin' home to you
I got that old lonesome feelin' that's sometimes called the blues
3 nights, it's all I could finagle
Original plan was Newfound to Davenport then Clingmons to Fontana one night each side, but shuttle was too hard, or too expensive to work out. Then my wife decided she would take the kids to her mothers house in Black Mountain so it was just easier for her to drop me off. Plus I figured most of the thru-hikers are Northbound.