Day 11 – Deep Gap to Betty Creek Gap

“Always respect Mother Nature. Especially when she weighs 400 pounds and is guarding her baby.” – James Rollins

A chance of rain showers between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. West northwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Up at 7:30, breakfasted, filtered water, packed up, brushed teeth, took meds, checked in via Garmin, and ready to go. Left camp at 9:30…late start.

I feel really good physically and mentally. Still carrying too much food, but plan to resolve that in Franklin, NC, on Friday. Had a slight “do I really want to do this for 23 more weeks” thought while lying in my tent this morning, but it passed quickly.

Mike feels better today. He is going to try to hike. We will see how this goes. We have 2 nasty 1000-foot climbs today plus assorted other PUDS. We have a minimum of 12.2 miles to go to reach Betty Creek Gap for the night. First off is Standing Indian Mountain. Nothing like a steep 1000-foot climb to start the day. 

I am really surprised and pleased that Mike can hike. I had mentally planned for him to get off trail today and for me to proceed solo. 

The initial ascent up Standing Indian Mountain was surprisingly easy. I don’t mean to trivialize it, but it turns out NC actually uses switchbacks, god bless them. 

We made Standing Indian shelter at 10:05, 1 mile in for the day. Made a privy stop at the shelter and back on trail at 10:25. This is where the bad bear problems have been reported. We saw what was left of a trashed bear hang. It is about 10 feet up, which is a bit too short but otherwise a good hang. And a bear treated it like a piñata! That red thing at the top of Mike’s trekking pole is what’s left of the bear bag, and Mike is almost 6 feet tall.

We summited Standing Indian about 11:15. It was cold, windy, and spitting rain. I left Mike, who was wearing much heavier clothing, at the top and told him I would meet him down the trail. Also, switchbacks are awesome! Screw you, Georgia!

Hustled down the mountain to avoid the cold. Mike will catch up with me later. First time I’ve been hiking alone in a week. Made great time down the mountain to Beech Gap campsite at 12:40. Took off my pack and shoes for 15 minutes and had a snack.

Saw my first deer of the trip. Big sucker. Interesting that there is very little wildlife near the trail so far. Back in the mid-Atlantic, I see deer on the trail all the time. Barely seen any squirrels or chipmunks so far either. 

Hiked through a mile of roots and more roots. Ick.

Made Carter Gap Shelter at 2:30. Nice small shelter and there is nobody here. It has a very nice clean privy, which is why I have been pushing to get here all day! Never underestimate a hiker’s drive to get to a “real” toilet as opposed to digging a hole in the ground behind a tree to do their business!! I have met plenty of people that are avoiding privies due to fear of the norovirus, but I think they are silly. Just use good hygiene precautions.

Those things hanging from the shelter ceiling are to hold your backpack suspended in the air and the cups on the rope above the sticks keep mice from getting up and down…..in theory.

Decent cell service for the first time in over a day, so I called Dana and chatted for quite a while.  I hiked downhill, topped off water, and hiked back uphill to the trail. I heard somebody yelling my name while at the bottom of the hill. Mike caught up with me. We left at 3:15 and pushed on to Betty Creek Gap campsite.

We stopped at an awesome scenic view 2 miles from camp. 

YouTube video of the views from Day 11.

We got to camp at 5:30. Zero cell service. I chatted with folks till 6:15, then set up camp. I made dinner: Peak Refuel chicken teriyaki rice. I put smelly items in the bear box and climbed into my tent at 7:30. I read and caught up on trail notes and blog entries.

Technical Notes:

• Big Sur bar: 300
• Sausages: 280
• Snickers: 250
• Trail mix: 270
• Peak Refuel chicken teriyaki rice: 580
• Fritos: 300
• Water: 3 liters 
• Miles: 12.8
• Time: 8:00
• Elevation gain: 2200
• Calories consumed: 2000
• Calories burned: 5000