A chance of rain showers between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Up at 7:00. Drizzle. Packed up camp, then went to shelter to eat and finalize organizing my backpack by just after 8:00.
I carry an ultralight umbrella and have had good luck with it for the past few years. Ever since I got my backpack properly fitted back at Mountain Crossings, my old setup is not working. The umbrella is attached to my left pack strap at two points so that it is hands-free AND rides at an angle that keeps it well above my line of sight when climbing a mountain. Unfortunately, my old setup no longer works. I saw a ridge runner with an umbrella earlier this week, and they had a carabiner attached to their left load lifter as their second point of attachment, and that seemed to work well. Since I have a week of rain in my future and I hate traditional rain gear in warm weather , I took the time to re-rig my umbrella. Used the traditional umbrella attachment strap high on my left pack strap, then added a carabiner on my left load lifter. I can thread the umbrella shaft through those two and then use a small shock cord to fix the umbrella handle to my sternum strap on the far left side. Works perfectly. I’ll try to get a picture.
Left camp at 8:30. No rain gear as trees are blocking drizzle. Put up umbrella after an hour when rain got heavier. New setup worked extremely well!
Made a call to the Fontana resort once I got some cell service. They just had a cancellation for tonight, so I grabbed it. Otherwise, they were all booked. Yes!
Got to Fontana marina and bathroom at 11:45. Shuttle took me to the store and checking at 12:30.
Turns out the Minis are here this weekend. I thought that was last weekend. Need to text Laura some pictures.
Minis at Fontana
Grabbed some snacks and a six-pack from the store and lugged all my gear up to my room…about 1/3 of a mile and it was UP. Unpacked, put out the tent to dry, sorted the remaining food, called Dana, and took a nap for 2 hours.
Woke up at 4:00. Showered, worked on blogs, and got my laundry sorted. Walked back down to the store at 5:00 and got change for the laundry. $3.00 for wash and another $3.00 to dry! Got laundry going then bought my resupplies for the next 3 nights on the trail.
Worked on blogs some more then joined Jon Lunning’s virtual Friday happy hour Zoom at 6:00. Ed Byrd was on the call. That was an awesome surprise. Great to talk to everybody for an hour.
Walked up to the restaurant and had a burger for dinner, then trekked back to my room. Finished the blogs…Will post them later tonight.
I have a call with Dana at 9:00 to plan out some resupply that she will ship to Hot Springs, NC for me this weekend. I have the basic supply box ready at home, but need to tweak it a bit.
I need to get all my gear packed before I go to sleep later. Need to be able to move quickly in the morning so I can get breakfast and catch the 9:00 shuttle back to the trail. Got about 14 miles to hike in the rain tomorrow as my introduction to the Smoky Mountains. Fun, right?
Almost forgot, I’ve been hiking alone for the past 3 days. Mike is moving on and making big miles. I may see him partway through the Smoky Mountains, but not counting on it. I’m solo now. That is making some things more mentally challenging. I’m honestly not looking forward to the Smokies in the rain. Need to dig deep and muscle through to Hot Springs, NC which is 7 or 8 days away.
No pain, no rain, no Maine.
Day 20 Map – Day 20 – Cable Gap Shelter to Fontana
Sunny, with a high near 82. Southeast wind 1 to 6 mph.
Up at 6:50. Nice morning, but it’s going to be hot today. One nasty climb right out of camp, then another in 8 miles…call it noon. Overall, I’d like to do 15.4 miles today in order to be close enough to Fontana tonight to get in by noon tomorrow. And tomorrow starts 5/6 days of rain. Lovely.
A note on heat. Being from the mid-Atlantic, I don’t mind the heat very much. It’s the humidity that I hate. But I’m used to working and hiking in the low 90s with 75-85% humidity. It’s amazing how many people that I have met who are complaining about the heat when it’s only 82 and low humidity. And a lot of them are from the south. I’m confused.
Finally killed off my first fuel can, making tea this morning. I need to calculate how many boils I got out of it. Ate breakfast, topped off the charge on my watch, packed up, used the privy, and headed out at 8:15.
As I was leaving camp, I noticed my left knee was swollen. As my soccer friends know, my knees are not in the best shape. It doesn’t hurt right now, but it has a habit of popping out of joint. If that happens enough times, it will hurt and keep popping out more frequently. I need to be very careful with my foot placement for the next few days.
I summited Cheoah Bald at 9:10. Got a great picture. Insects are really bad, but I’m holding off on applying Deet for now.
View from Cheoah Bald
I’ll stop at Stecoah Gap in 5.7 miles. There are picnic tables, a parking lot, and water there. Good lunch spot.
Stopped at Stecoah Gap at 12:30. About 12 hikers were here in the shade using the picnic tables. Including the loud group from last night. Walked about .1 miles to get water, then had lunch, threw away trash, and rested until 1:30. Let the other folks get well ahead of me before I left. The only downside was that there is road construction going on right next to us.
Stecoah Gap construction signStecoah Gap construction
Immediately after lunch, I had to climb this nasty thing. It took almost 2 hours to go 2.3 miles and 1100 feet up. I felt like an old man on those near-vertical parts. I stopped every 100 yards or so. That may have been the worst climb so far. At least the next 6 miles are mostly downhill to camp for tonight. MOSTLY!
Very hard climb out of Stecoah Gap
I nursed my water on the way up that thing. Fortunately, there was a spring just after the summit. I hiked down to the spring and filtered water, then hiked back up to the trail. It was warm and sunny but breezy.
Speaking of warm and sunny, this guy was sunning himself on the trail just past the summit and scared the crap out of me. I hate rattlesnakes!
My first rattlesnake – Stecoah Gap
I have had a few questions about what the actual trail looks like in terms of width and drop-off and such. It varies a lot, but lately it has been narrow (2 feet or less) with steep drops. A few examples.
Steep drop off
I made it to Cable Gap Shelter at 7:05. No cell. And the loud youngsters were here again. I got camp set up quickly and walked to the shelter to make dinner at 7:50. I tried stovetop stuffing with dehydrated chicken. It was good, but a LOT of food. I only ate about half of it. Lesson learned.
All in all, it was a hard 16-mile day. I’m beat and have rain to look forward to for at least the next week. I crawled into bed and fell asleep by 9:00.
Day 19 Map – Sassafras Gap Shelter to Cable Gap Shelter
Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. North wind 2 to 7 mph.
Played with YouTube since my videos are too big for Trailjournals. Added YouTube videos to the last three days’ blogs.
Showered, ate, packed, and headed out a bit before 10:00. Mike left early, and we will meet up at camp. Got 7.1 nasty uphill miles to climb out of the NOC to Sassafras Gap. Hope to be there by 5:00.
11:00 granola break. Beautiful day. Mid-60s and breezy. Not another person out here.
View from the NOC climbout
Stopped at 1:00 to refill water. This is the only water between here and camp. Had a Snickers bar and rested in the cool of the spring for 15 minutes.
The final 2 miles to camp are going to suck….very steep.
Nasty climb out of the NOC
Made Sassafras Gap Shelter at 3:30. One flat tent spot 100 yards below the shelter. Got camp and bear hang setup by 4:45. Taking my time today and not rushing to get set up as I rarely get to camp this early.
Texted with Mike. He will camp about 9 miles ahead of me at Brown Fork Gap. We should hook back up at Fontana before the Smoky Mountains.
Which reminds me, we start into the Smoky Mountains on Saturday, and it looks like lots of rain from Saturday through at least Monday. That’s going to suck big time.
No pain, no rain, no Maine.
I am happy with the short day today. My body still isn’t ready for longer days. It hasn’t even been 3 weeks on the trail yet. I’ll try bigger miles after Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP). It’s nice to NOT be in pain at camp, and I am in camp early enough to relax and enjoy myself before sunset.
Had dinner at 6:00. Early for me. Nice to not feel exhausted in camp for a change. Settled into my tent and played some games till late (10:00…woohoo) in the evening.
I don’t normally speak ill of my fellow hikers, but I’m glad I picked the tent spot way away from the shelter. There is a very annoying group of 4 young guys hanging out at the shelter. I ran into them earlier today at a water refill. Loud, slightly obnoxious, crude, and not doing a great job of respecting other hikers’ sense of space and noise. Very unusual for thru-hikers, and they are thru-hiking.
Rain showers likely before 11 a.m., then showers and thunderstorms likely between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Woke to rain at 7:00. Rain just started as I woke up, then picked up. At least it’s warm 🙂 Got packed quickly and moved to shelter to eat and finalize backpack setup and get into full rain gear. Mike and I headed out about 8:45. I’m probably carrying at least one, if not two, pounds of extra water due to my waterlogged tent and other gear.
No pain, no rain, no Maine.
We have 5.7 wet miles to go to reach the NOC. The Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) is a major eco-tourism destination with the AT literally running right through the place. Restaurants, outfitter, general store, and all kinds of outdoor activity centers. It was only 5.7 miles, almost all VERY downhill, but it was a hard hike. Big steps/terraces, slippery rocks and mud, and awesome views. Due to the steep downhill terrain and mud, we spent a lot of time doing this almost shuffle with our feet to keep from slipping. Sounds easy, but it was very tiring on the calves. Rain stopped about 10:00, and we got rid of our rain gear.
View descending into the NOC
I ran into a group of 4-day hikers about 1 mile from the bottom. I could tell that they were day hikers because they were clean, and I could smell the soap and deodorant on them as they went past. About that time, I realized that the rain had washed some of the stink off of me and my clothes. I could really smell myself this morning. TMI?
Got into the NOC at 11:45. Mike got here about 30 minutes before. He had French fries waiting for me at the restaurant. Checking in isn’t until 3:00, so we hung out at the restaurant and had lunch and beverages until about 2:00. We walked over to the outfitter so Mike could replace his torn rain pants with a rain kilt. We got online and purchased our hiking permits for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP). The outfitter printed them for us. We will need those in 3 days…..foreshadowing!
NOC general store
Walked to the store, picked up our Resupply boxes, and checked into our rooms at 3:00. And of course, the rooms were about 3/4 of a mile away and uphill. Nice little rooms with a shared common area and laundry. I got all my gear unpacked so it could dry out.
Gear explosion at the NOCGear explosion at the NOC
Called Dana and hung out in the room. I unpacked my Resupply box and realized I have WAY too much food. I’ll deal with that in the morning…too tired now. I ate some of my trail food for dinner since I have so much. Mike and I did laundry and I started packing up for tomorrow. I will finish that chore in the morning. I got 3 days of blogs written. It’s 9:30 now. I will crash once I get these blog entries uploaded.
And now for some hiking hygiene information that you probably don’t want to know about, but is very important. Let’s talk about chaffing!
Seriously, chaffing is a major issue with hiking in general and even more so with long-distance hiking. There are all kinds of videos and websites devoted to this topic. I learned about it the hard way 2 years ago when I started hiking long distances in the lovely mid-Atlantic heat and humidity.
For men and women, the chaffing issues occur in the privates and especially in the butt cheeks. For endowed women, they also have issues with the boobs. Sorry, but those are the facts.
Chaffing is not just uncomfortable, it is debilitating. It is not uncommon for chaffing to cause a person to have to get off trail for several days. I know of men and women who have been in so much pain they had to quit their thru-hike.
Why do I bring this up now? Because I was in a rush today and forgot to preemptively deal with this. I learned the hard way two years ago to apply preventive lotion “down there”. I have been good about that so far, but with scrambling out of camp today with the rain, I forgot. Factor in the rain, humidity, etc., and I was starting to chaff big time in the cheeks today. Keep in mind it was less than 6 miles and it still messed me up.
Fortunately, I carry Body Glide as a preventative as well as good old-fashioned medicated diaper rash cream in case of problems!
In all seriousness, this could have cost me a day or two off trail to heal up. I WILL NOT screw up like this again.
Rain showers likely before 11 a.m., then showers and thunderstorms likely between 11 a.m. and noon, then showers and thunderstorms likely between noon and 2 p.m., then showers and thunderstorms between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., then showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. South southwest wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible.
Up at 7:00, breakfasted, packed up, and out of camp at 8:10. Mike and I are hiking together today. Stopped to get a little water about 100 yards from camp. No sense carrying a lot of water up the next mountain. Plenty of water after that. Kind of spooky as there is a bunch of abandoned camping gear strewn around the area. Based on comments on FarOut, it’s been this way for a few weeks. Most likely belonged to a homeless person. Sad but not uncommon to see this on the trail near populated areas.
Summited Wayah Bald at 9:30. Mixed sun and clouds. We are literally in and out of clouds at this altitude. There is a pit toilet and trash cans at the parking lot up here. Used both 🙂 Always a bonus. Good cell service up here. Called Dana and had a second breakfast then checked out the tower.
Wayah Bald observation towerChuck on Wayah Bald
We took a break at 11:15 for a snack. Took a long break at 12:40. Dropped my pack and got out of my shoes and massaged my feet. My feet and ankles hurt a lot. That’s 7.3 miles down, and 7 miles to go. Gonna be a long day.
I took a side trail up to the summit of Rocky Bald at 3:00. Tough climb up but amazing views.
Chuck on Rocky BaldView from Rocky Bald
Got to Tellico Gap at 4:15. There are 2.5 steep miles to climb then .7 down to camp. My feet hurt a lot right now. This next climb is going to be long, hard, and painful. Took a break for 30 minutes, stretched my feet, and got ready for this next climb. If there were a place here to set up my tent, I would call it a day.
Did I mention there hasn’t been a cloud in the sky all day, and the leaves are not covering the trail yet? I’ve got a great tan going on! Sun shirts and sun tan lotion are for pussies!
We stopped to refill water partway up this nasty climb. I hate to carry the weight, but with this climb, sun, and heat, I’m going through a LOT of water. I’ve seen way too many idiots who try to tough it out and not carry enough water and pay dearly for it later.
We finally summited Wesser Bald and climbed the fire tower. Amazing views.
Ugly climb up Wesser Bald View from Wesser Bald Wesser Bald fire towerChuck on Wesser Bald fire tower
We only had a .7-mile hike downhill to camp. Stopped for water just before camp. Made camp at 6:45 at Wesser Bald shelter. There are terrible tent sites here. Tree roots and nothing level. It’s supposed to rain around dawn. Mike decided to sleep in the shelter. I was tempted but went with my tent instead.
Mike at Wesser Bald shelter
Made dinner and crawled into my tent at 8:45. Gave Dana a call. The last two days have been a LOT of elevation gain and miles. Looking forward to a short day tomorrow. I dozed off by 9:30.
Day 16 Map – Wine Spring Camp to Wesser Bald Shelter
Up at 7:00, breakfasted, and packed. Left The Grove hostel in Franklin just after 8:00. Got on trail at 8:30. Mike will join me at camp tonight. He plans to get dropped off at trail by his girlfriend around 10:00.
Interesting note…there have been reports for the past few days of a weird guy camping at Rock Gap brandishing a halberd and a long sword. We saw his camp but not him. Other people who came through Rock Gap later today (talked to them on trail) told me they ran into him.
I have 11.8 miles to get to Wine Spring Camp today. Goal is to get into the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) early Tuesday to avoid as much of the thunderstorms as possible. Got a small room there for Tuesday night. Then pushing on to Fontana Dam by noon Friday to ride out more rain and get ready to tackle the Smoky Mountains for a week.
It is different hiking alone even if only for a day. Mike should meet me at camp later today. I heard from Matt Canada, an old work comrade, this morning. It’s always uplifting to hear from people out here on trail. Keeps the spirits up.
I took a break at 10:00. Got out of my pack and shoes for a bit. Lots of uphill today with a very nasty climb at the end. On the trail again at 10:30.
Paused for water and a snack at noon. Feel good and making decent time so far today.
Embracing that “it’s the journey, not the destination” mantra, I hiked .2 miles UP a side trail to Siler Bald. What a climb! What a view! Took an awesome 360-degree video. And there is a cell tower right across the valley, which let me talk to Dana this afternoon. Yey! On the downside, why didn’t I think to leave my pack at the bottom of the hill instead of lugging it all the way to the top? Doh!
Chuck on Siler BaldSiler Bald signHiking up Siler Bald
I ran into some nice trail magic at Wayah Gap. Got a couple of orange juices and cookies.
Trail Magic at Wayah Gap
I made it to Wine Spring Camp at 5:15. That last 2.5 miles UPHILL was really nasty. My feet hurt, and my calves are threatening to cramp up.
Steep climb to Wine Spring Camp
Initially, I had the campsite all to myself. I found a nice flat spot and set up my tent and my bear hang. Zero cell service. About the time I got that done, a young lady on a two-week section hike came into camp. She is from Baltimore, and her dad is picking her up at the NOC day after tomorrow. I ate a big dinner at 6:45. Mike arrived about 6:40. The three of us chatted for a bit while the others ate dinner. I was really tired and crawled into my tent very sore at 8:00. And of course, it took me until after 10:00 to actually doze off 🙁
I am taking two full days off trail, which is called a double zero day, or double zero for short. My body needs a day, and Mike is meeting his girlfriend for two days. I don’t want to get too far ahead of Mike on trail, so I’ll take a double too.
Up at 7:30. Wonderful sleep in a private room at The Grove hostel. Newfound and Unfiltered are great hosts.
Since I was up early, I got to say goodbye to English Phil and get his contact info. I may see him over the next two weeks, but he will be two days ahead of me.
I sorted my remaining food in order to determine what resupplies I need before I leave town. Just need one dinner, one breakfast, and a few snacks.
Newfound ran me to the post office so I could mail a few things home to Dana and then dropped me off at the Kountry Kitchen for a big breakfast.
I walked to Outdoor 76 and just chilled and blogged for several hours in their bar. They have Bold Rock cider on draft. Had some great conversations and drinks with several hikers and passersby. Eric joined us mid-afternoon. We hiked together on and off last week. Eric and I had a nice dinner at 5:00…cool 50s-style diner with awesome burgers. Went back to the hostel and did online Friday happy hour with Jon Lunning and company at 6:00. Called my mom and chatted. Did a few chores at the hostel, including filter back flushing, packed my backpack, had a hilarious FaceTime with Dana, Patty, and Jeanine. Watched some TV and fell asleep at 11:00.
Now for something completely different. I have had a lot of questions from my readers about some of the terminology I am using as well as some general hiking questions. Here are the answers to all those questions.
Water and Filtering
I filter all my water unless it comes from a guaranteed potable source like a household faucet or similar. I use a three-liter water bag from CNOC Outdoors to collect and hold the raw water from whatever the source is. This raw, unfiltered /untreated water is known as “dirty water,” and the container holding it is my “dirty water bag” or simply my CNOC. It is very rugged. See the transparent bag labeled CNOC in the picture below.
The fitting on the bottom of the bag screws into the INPUT end of my Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter. That’s the blue thingy with two black ends in the picture below. I store my clean/filtered water in a pair of Smart Water bottles with sports caps. The clean water bottle screws into the OUTPUT end of the Sawyer filter. See the picture below.
The dirty water flows through the Sawyer filter, which makes it potable, and the clean water fills the Smart Water bottle. I like Smart Water bottles as they are VERY rugged. I use a one-liter bottle and a 700 ml bottle. It’s called a Sawyer Squeeze because you need to manually squeeze your dirty water bag to force the water through the filter. It takes just 2 or 3 minutes maximum to filter a liter of water. You can let gravity do the work, but it tends to be slow.
Filtering water at Low Gap shelter
I carry a backup water treatment solution as well. I use Aquatabs, which are a chemical water treatment solution. You put one tablet in a liter of water and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to treat the water and make it potable. I carry these for two reasons. First, if I lose or break my Sawyer. A Sawyer will be ruined if it freezes…so I sleep with it next to my body when it gets near freezing. Second, if I have VERY nasty water, I filter it AND THEN treat it. Two examples of this are stagnant, non-flowing water with gunk in it or any water (flowing or not) that I suspect has fecal contamination from livestock.
Cooking
Any hot meals that I make involve 1) bringing water to a boil in a 650ml titanium pot, 2) using my MSR Pocket Rocket stove, 3) attached to a 100-gram isobutane fuel canister, 4) which I light with a mini-Bic lighter. As soon as the water starts to boil, I turn off the stove to conserve fuel. No need for a roiling boil. It only takes 2-4 minutes to boil water, depending on how much water and how cold/windy it is.
If it’s windy, I will improvise a wind block. There is minimal waste heat generated. If it is raining, I set up the stove under the cover of my tent’s vestibule so that I can cook from inside my tent safely. That’s what is happening in the second picture below.
Making dinner on trail at Low Gap shelterImprovised wind break while cooking dinner in the tent
Once the water is boiling, I pour it directly into the bag containing the food to be cooked. That will be either a Ziploc freezer bag or the bag that a store-bought dehydrated meal comes in. Those latter are specifically designed to cook in. More on those topics later.
Both types of bags get extremely hot and dangerous to handle once you pour a couple of cups of boiling water into them. Also, many foods call for boiling for many minutes (think about a Knorr rice dish that probably says to boil for 10 minutes), but I don’t have that ability since I am NOT cooking in my little pot and I am NOT wasting 10 plus minutes’ worth of fuel per meal. That’s where my insulated cooking cozy comes into play. That is the aluminum bag with the Velcro seal in the first picture above. The bag containing the food to be cooked, Ziploc or other, sits inside the cozy, and I pour the hot water into the food bag, stir it up, and seal the cozy for about 10 to 15 minutes. The aluminum-sealed cozy holds in the heat and cooks the food faster….and keeps me from burning my hands. I just eat the food directly out of the bag/cozy with a long-handled (18-inch) titanium spork. When done, the inner food bag, Ziploc or other, seals up and goes in my trash bag to be carried off the trail and disposed of in town.
Minimal fuel used, no dishes to wash, minimal trash, lightweight!
Eating
Hot meals came in two general types for me. The most common are things you can find at a Dollar General or similar (lowest common denominator), are lightweight, only need hot water, and have a lot of calories (more calories per weight the better). My go-tos are ramen, Knorr side dishes, stovetop stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, etc. I buy them, empty them into a Ziploc FREEZER bag, and toss the original packaging before getting on trial to save weight. I always add some kind of protein to the meal. I prefer Mountain House dehydrated meats (chicken, pork, beef, hamburger) as they are extremely lightweight with an excellent calorie density. Just add water! I send this to myself in all my resupply boxes. Otherwise, I use whatever I can find at wherever I am resupplying on trail such as tuna packets, chicken packets, beef jerky, hard salami, pepperoni, etc. Things that are as light as possible and have long shelf lives.
The other form of hot meal is the expensive dehydrated store-bought meals like below. These come in single-serving pouches that you can cook in. Just add hot water.
Trail Meal Trail Meal
Depending on the brand, these range from okay to really good and healthy. But they are expensive and tend to be heavy due to their packaging. I use these to break the monotony of the other meals. Ramen gets old after 4 straight days 🙂
For cold meals including dinners, I typically have pepperoni or hard salami and cheese. The cheese needs to be shelf-stable or a hard cheese.
Breakfasts vary quite a bit. I rarely do. Hot breakfast on trail. Usually, breakfast is a honey stinger waffle and Justin’s nut butter (Google them), or a pair of Pop-Tarts, or something else sweet and high-calorie. I do boil up a cup of tea with breakfast about half the time.
Most meals, sometimes including breakfast, have Fritos as a chaser. I love those things, they pack decently, have fiber and carbs and fat that I need, and they are easy to find. I love the chili-flavored Fritos.
Snacks tend to be trail mix, Snickers bars when not hot out, and Payday bars when it is hot. Zero Sugar Mini-sausages (Zero Sugar is the brand) when I can find them. These all have salt, calories, and. And be easily eaten while moving.
I track my food and calories at the bottom of each daily blog page. I try to get 2500 to 3500 calories a day.
I also add electrolytes to my water. The hotter out, the more electrolytes. I am not picky on the brand. Whatever I can find.
Sleeping and Shelter
I sleep on an inflatable sleeping pad that has a metal foil material inside it to help insulate me from the cold ground.
I have a small green inflatable pillow.
I use a specially designed outdoor quilt instead of a sleeping bag. It’s good to 10 degrees outside temperature.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Sleep setup in tentSleep setup in tent
I almost always sleep in my tent on the trail. My tent is a two-person double-walled tent. It retains heat decently when I use the rainfly (the waterproof optional outer layer) and is very cool and airy when I don’t need to use the rainfly (no chance of rain and warm). Picture one is my tent with the rainfly, and picture two is my tent without.
Camp at Plum Orchard Gap shelter Camp at Low Gap shelter
Trail Magic and Trail Angels
To put it simply, trail magic can be defined as an act of generosity toward a hiker when they are not expecting it; whether that be providing food to eat, a drink on a hot day, a ride into town, or even a bed to sleep in. These are just a few examples, but trail magic really has no boundaries.
Trail angels—people who provide aid and comfort to thru-hikers out of the kindness of their hearts—are critical to hikers’ successes. Angels help hikers in a variety of ways: giving rides, feeding them, giving them a place to stay, even doing their laundry.
“I’m on the top of the world lookin’ down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I’ve found, ever since you’ve been around
Your love’s put me at the top of the world” – The Carpenters
Mostly sunny, high of 59.
Up at 6:50. Chilly this morning and very damp. The campsite is in a deep hollow with a small stream nearby. It was a letdown last night, but everything is very wet this morning. Almost like it rained last night. Only got down to about 43 degrees, but feels a LOT colder with the damp. Tent is very wet. Need to dry it out at some point today.
We want to get to Franklin, NC by early afternoon, so we got moving a little faster today. Ate, packed, and headed out at 8:00.
We will hit a major milestone on the trail after our first 2 miles today. We get to climb up Albert Mountain to the firetower at the 100-mile mark NOBO on the trail. We have a very clear day for it.
Lovely climb up Albert Mountain
That thing was a bitch…last .3 miles was practically straight up. But we made it!
Mike ascending Albert Mountain
We climbed to the top of the Albert Mountain fire tower and took in some of the most amazing views so far on the trail. Reaching this point has been one of my two big physical and mental goals for the start of the trail. The second is completing the hike through the Smoky Mountains in about 2 more weeks. I have seen tons of videos and pictures of other hikers reaching this point, many of them in rain or clouds. I am so lucky to reach it on a crystal-clear day.
View from Albert MountainAlbert Mountain fire towerChuck at there AT 100 mile markChuck at the top of Albert Mountain fire towerLookin g up into Albert Mountain fire towerView from Albert Mountain fire tower
Just a little bit down the trail is the actual 100 mile mark made out of stones.
The AT 100 mile mark
It is now 10:30 and we have about 6.2 miles until Rock Gap and there is a town shuttle bus at 12:45 that we want to catch. Time to speed hike!
We just made the 12:45 shuttle bus from Rock Gap to Franklin. Had to haul ass the last 6.2 miles, but made it by 4 minutes!!! That’s 3 miles an hour..that wore my calves out for today! Everyone from camp last night was already there. Looking forward to a beer and pizza soon!
Shuttle into Frankin NC
The bus dropped us at The Grove Hostel about 1:30. Our English friend Phil is also here for the night. Great to catch up with him again. More on the hostel,in a later blog.
We will be here for three nights. Mike’s girlfriend is meeting him tomorrow (Friday) afternoon for the weekend. I need a zero and would rather not do a double zero, but I also would rather not start hiking alone yet. Oh well, hues I just have to endure a bed, real bathroom, electricity, and good food for two whole days. I will be head in back to trail at 8:00 Sunday morning.
We got settled into the hostel. I have a private room Thursday and Friday night then a bunk in the communal space Saturday night. Hung up my tent to dry out, got a much needed shower, got my laundry started, and got a ride into town from Unfiltered, one of the two owners. It’s only a 10 minute walk to downtown but my body appreciated the ride.
First stop was Outdoor 76, a very good outfitter in downtown Franklin. I will resupply on Saturday. Mike spent an hour with their shoe experts and bought a pair of Topa hiking shoes that are similar to my Hoka Speedgoats. They should help,a lot with his Achilles issues. We also got advised by multiple people to keep the miles per day low until we get out of the Smoky Mountains. Let the body acclimate.
Walked two blocks to Lazy Hiker Brewing and each got a pizza from the food truck and a few adult beverages. Pepperoni with HOT honey, nice!
Pizza in Franklin NC
We headed back to the hostel and made a quick stop at Dollar General. Got back at 7:45 and chatted with Phil again and made our goodbyes. He will be headed out early tomorrow and I likely will not see him again. He has 2 more weeks on the trail before he heads home. We may catch him again, but it is doubtful.
I started recharging all my electronics, including both power banks. Everything is dead or darn near dead. Caught up on a week’s worth of crappy news (why did I bother?), talked to Dana, did some planning for the next 6 days of hiking, read, and slept at 11:00.
“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.
Bear got a bear hang on Standing Indian
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!
View from Standing IndianChuck on Standing Indian
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.
Damn roots!
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.
Carter Gap Shelter Carter Gap Shelter Privy
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.
View near Betty Creek Gap View near Betty Creek Gap
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.
