Week Three, 2022
Sunday
March 13
My sister Laura delivered Eli and I to Winding Stair this morning at about 08:30. We immediately set off to get some mileage in the books. Two days sitting in a hotel is a particular drain on me. I was glad to be out and moving, even in the cold. We hiked steadily for about an hour. We passed a few hikers from the hotel and some more we had seen on the trail last week. It seemed that everyone was again ready to get moving north and see what was next. At about five miles on we passed the side trail for Siler Bald. On March 16, 2019 David Scott and I hiked up it for my birthday. Almost three years to the day later Eli and I were passing again. If I am honest, I will probably never pass through here again. It is strange how time works.
About an hour later, we met a dude in a kilt! He was heading southbound and he was proud of his clothing. Not only was there a kilt, but the whole set up. He could have come from central casting for a bagpipe player. As it turns out, he and his buddy had spent the previous night in a shelter in 12 degree weather. Kilts do not appear to me to be that warm, especially given the lack of undergarments that usually go with the outfit. They were not wasting time heading back.
At about 9 miles we stopped at the Wayah Bald Tower. This rock structure is on top oh the mountain and provides amazing views of the surrounding mountains in every direction. I like these kinds of places. I reminds me how small I really am in the overall scheme. When one begins to feel important, one should compare himself to a mountain. He will regain some perspective. We completed eleven miles today and are staying at the Wayah Bald Shelter tonight with a lot of other hikers.
Monday
March 14
This morning was about 15 degrees warmer than Sunday morning. Everyone in the shelter was up early and packing up. Eli and I had decided to push for bigger mileage today and end at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in the bottom of the Nantahala Gorge. This would give us 16.5 miles for the day. Tomorrow is the beginning of the third week of hiking for both of us. We have decided to try to increase our daily total incrementally until we are consistently above 15 miles a day. Realistically this probably will not happen until we are through the Smokies, but we need to start pushing that goal.
So off we went. Everyone who knows anything about the AT as it winds through North Carolina knows about the Nantahala Gorge. It is my opinion that this is one of the hardest sections in North Carolina. The trail descends into the Gorge on a seven mile trail that is far from easy. There are points on the descent that are literally on the knife edge peak of a mountain that is barely three feet wide. The hiker is also about a thousand or so feet up from the base. It makes you consider your relationship with our Maker. As we were making our way along, we came to a road crossing at Burning Town Gap. There were tents set up and people everywhere. Immediately we knew we had hit the motherload of Trail Magic! A 2020 through hiker from Tuscaloosa, Alabama had set up a veritable restaurant with everything you could imagine as a hiker. There was a flat top griddle where a man was making scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. There was coffee, juices, hot chocolate, Gatorade and soft drinks. Pastries, candy and chips were there to take with you or eat there. By the time we were ready to leave, the crew was making hotdogs! Eli got to try another southern delicacy. He ate his first ever chili dog! He said it was very good. The boy has liked every southern thing he has been fed. One more reason to like him. Tomorrow will be a full day as we have to basically do today's hike in reverse. We want to get out of the Gorge before the rain comes tomorrow night.
Tuesday
March 15
After a good night's rest at the bunk rooms at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, Eli and I set our sights first on getting out of the Gorge. We wanted to be sure we were out and away before the predicted rain came later in the day. We ate and started the eight mile climb out. Since the Gorge itself is very narrow, the trails in and out are very steep. We climbed steadily for about two hours and made it to the first "plateau". There were people already lying on the ground from the previous two hours walk. After catching a breath it was on to the next two hours of climbing. At about 12:30, we finally
reached the top of Cheoah Bald. This is the rim of the Gorge. Eli and I ate lunch with a few fellow hikers and set off again to complete eight more miles to reach Brown's Fork Gap shelter. Overall we gained 3,000 feet of elevation and completed 16 more miles today. We wanted to get to the shelter before the rain, and it also sets us up to get to Fontana Villiage tomorrow in time to get to the post office. We plan to leave in the dark in the morning.
Wednesday
March 16
Today was my 55th birthday. Until recently I would not have considered that I would be spending it in the Woods of North Carolina.
Eli and I left at 07:45 in a rainstorm this morning to be able to reach Fontana Villiage in time to get to the post office for his bounce box. The trail is about eleven miles to the road and then another two miles to get to the villiage. I was worried we would have to find a ride once we got to the road, but the viliage now offers a shuttle! One less thing to worry about. As I mentioned earlier, we left in a rain storm. The cloud had settled on the Brown's Fork shelter and everything was wet. Everything was also very slick. There were places that we were almost skiing on the downhill slopes. If you were careful, you could literally slide a few feet at a time and use your hiking poles for balance. On the way down, Eli fell once and the birthday boy fell four. We made a rule that if you did not touch the ground with your butt, it did not count as a fall. We had lots of saves. We had said we needed to be off the trail by 12:30. We reached the shuttle stop at 12:25. We are pretty consistent travelers. We complete about two miles per hour on a regular basis.
We are now washing clothes and when the restaurant opens at five, we are going to eat. All my gear is spread around the room so it will dry overnight. It looks like an REI exploded.
Thursday
March 17
Today started well at the Fontana Villiage. At 07:00 we ate what was called "The Hungry Hiker" breakfast. It consisted of three eggs, fried potatoes, sausage or bacon, three large pancakes and a biscuit. I ate everything but the biscuit. It was delicious. We shuttled back to the pick up spot on the trail and set off. After about 45 minutes we approached the actual Fontana dam. The AT crosses the dam on its way into the Smoky Mountain National Park. As I was walking across, I was reminded of something the smartest man I have ever known said when we were looking at the dam after having been running a car on the Tail of the Dragon. My father, Rupert Walls looked over into the dam spillway and said, "That's a big hole." He was a man of few words, but when he said something it was usually funny.
After we crossed the dam, Eli and I deposited our through hiker permits and set off into the Smoky Mountain National Forest. We basically hiked ten miles uphill to get to the Mollies Ridge shelter. Eli and I have decided that if we are hiking about ten or eleven miles a day, we can reach Newfound Gap by Sunday. We may zero in Gatlinburg ahead of the storm coming next week.
At lunch today, we climbed the Shuckstack mountain fire tower. It was high and old, but the views were great.
Tomorrow we are looking for another ten or so mile day. Today we completed 13 miles.
Friday
March 18
Today's entry is going to be pretty concise. hiking today was terrible. We left at 08:45. There was a high wind advisory in effect with rain called for later in the morning. Eli and I needed 12.1 miles to the Derrick Knob shelter for tonight. We wanted to get as much behind us as possible before the rain came. The wind was howling and the rain started about noon. We did not stop for anything except water once. We reached the shelter at 2:45 p.m. I ate and got in my sleep sack
Saturday
March 19
Today was a better day. The rain had stopped but the wind was still blowing steadily. Eli and I left Derrick Knob shelter at about 08:30 headed for a shelter about 8 miles away. As the morning progressed we decided to push through and go to Carter's Gap shelter. That way we could go up Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the entire AT and also cross the 200 mile mark! It was a perfect day to climb the tower and look back at the many mountains we had crossed.
Tomorrow we have about 4.5 miles to Newfound Gap. My sister Laura is once again picking us up and taking us to town. She is very much like our mother and other sister in that she is always willing to pitch in and help. It is my opinion she is going over and above on this trip tomorrow. Either way I am grateful to Laura and all the others who have helped, prayed, and just generally been there when I needed a hand.
We made 13 miles today. Our total mileage so far is 202.8.
