Days 17-23

On day 17 Gavin and I got a late shuttle back to Rock Gap from Franklin. We had all hoped to make the 11:00 ride, but since there were no hikers staying at Baltimore Jack’s hostel, they didn’t run that one. Instead, we took the Macon Co. Transit shuttle for $3/each. Our destination was 7.9 miles away at the Siler Bald shelter. We were very surprised to find not only Fresh Ground of Fresh Ground’s Leapfrog Cafe at the trailhead but also the complete Crawford family, who hiked the trail as a family of 8 last season. They are the first YouTube “celebrities” we’ve met on the trail- check them out. They were cooking homemade corn dogs, fried cheese sticks, and french fries. Even though we had a long day ahead of us, starting so late, we paused for a little while to enjoy the free food.

I am pleased to report that this day was far and away our best hiking day of the trip. Even though it was after 1:00 when we left for the trail head, with Gavin in his new shoes, we did almost 8 miles in just at four hours. The hiking this day was mostly uphill, with one stretch being a 1,000 foot climb almost to the top of Siler Bald. The shelter was one of the nicest tenting areas we’ve come across. There were only three folks staying inside the shelter, but quite a number of folks were tenting down the hill. Gavin had his first go at hanging the bear bag line and he did a great job. This was also our first run-in with groups of section hikers. There were two groups of three, one from UNC-Wilmington, and another from Auburn, that were out for a spring break trip. They were quite interested in hearing the stories that we thru-hikers had to share. At this shelter we met Coco, from the UK, and Snowbird and her new puppy who were from Oklahoma. We actually happened to meet her on her 52nd birthday.

On Wednesday we had a slightly shorter hike to the Wayah Bald shelter. This was our first day of multiple gorgeous views along the trail. Our first peak was the top of Siler Bald at just over 5,000′. Even though we had to walk a few tenths of a mile (without packs) uphill through a meadow to reach the top, the summit afforded us 360° views of the surrounding mountains. I pulled out the PeakFinder app on my phone to put names to the mountains we had crossed or are going to cross. The top of Siler Bald was our first place where we had completely unobstructed views of our surroundings. I was disappointed that we couldn’t see Wayah Bald, which was our next summit, but it turns out, it was tucked in a few peaks away.

At the top of Wayah Bald there is a covered, stone observation tower. I don’t believe it was ever intended to be a fire tower like the one on Albert Mtn., but we did have phenomenal views from the top. Along this part of our trip, we kept crossing back and forth with Wednesday, a lady around my age from Kansas City. Gavin was struggling a bit this day, and she was kind to stop and offer suggestions and encouragement. I hope we run into her farther up the trail. One of the most difficult parts of this day was thinking we were climbing up Wayah for quite a distance before we actually were. At one point, we saw a sign that indicated the distance to the top was “smudge.6.” The sign had been carved on and I read the “smudge” as a zero when in fact, it should have been a one. It was quite disappointing to go a ways down the trail and realize we still had over a mile to go. Thankfully, we powered through to the top. I only wish I had worn my puffy jacket up on the tower so I could have stayed longer.

We arrived at Wayah Bald shelter quite late in the day and there was no room for Gavin to camp inside. We pitched our tents in the best places we could find, but there were way more folks tenting at this shelter than we had encountered before. As a consequence, we had to settle for a couple of spots that weren’t as level as we would have liked. The way my tent was pitched, I had to be very conscious to not roll off my mat. Actually, I had about as good a night’s sleep as I’ve had, even though I remember several times waking up to make sure I still had an appendage hanging over the top of my sleeping pad to hold me in place.

We got a really late start out of the shelter the next morning. By the time we were up and around, the shelter itself had cleared out except for one gentleman who was a two-time thru-hiker. He was nursing a sore knee and said he was going to take a zero at the shelter. We wound up moving our stuff under the shelter and packing there. It was also nice to have use of the shelves/benches to cook and eat our breakfast. Just before we were ready to head out for the day, Travis hiked in. He took an extra day in Franklin because of a family emergency and it only took him a day and a half to catch up with us. It was great to rejoin a good friend. We hiked together for much of the day.

When we reached Burningtown Gap we were once again met with trail magic from the Crawfords and Fresh Ground. The fare was similar to that of two days before, but this time we hung around long enough to enjoy some blueberry fritters. Gavin also enjoyed playing with Rainer and Filia. It was really heartwarming to see Gavin pull out his stuffed dog to entertain Rainer. We were also treated to some great guitar songs by Kami. As I said earlier, it was an unexpected treat to run into “internet legends” along the trail.

The final part of this day was another slog. We had a 3.3-mile trek over the Copper Ridge Bald to the Big Branch Campsite and we thought we’d never get there. Thankfully, we found tent spots that were much more level than the previous day. As a bonus, there was a spring right in our campsite so we didn’t have to go anywhere to hydrate. We ate and went to bed pretty early after a long day of hiking. Unfortunately, we had some pretty loud thunderstorms through the night. On the bright side, we slept late enough that the rain had stopped so we didn’t have to pack our things in a shower. That is the down side to tent camping: it is absolutely no fun trying to get your gear stuffed into your pack inside the tent. Even though the rain had stopped, we still had to pack our tents wet. Thankfully, this was our final day of hiking, so we knew we’d be able to spread the tents out and let them dry when we got into Bryson City.

Our last day of hiking this week was our longest, at 9.6 miles. It was in many ways the most difficult because we lost nearly 3,000 feet in altitude with few uphills to “rest” our legs. Hiking down is often more challenging on the feet and legs because of all the pounding they take and because of the need to “hold back” from going downhill too quickly as to be reckless. Fortunately, we were able to make our destination, the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, NC. Gavin and I got there around 5:00, a little after Travis. We ate a light supper, and Beth and Griffin picked us up a short time later for our weekend in the Hummingbird Cabin.

On Saturday afternoon, Beth, Griffin, and I did a little reconnaissance on Fontana Dam, Fontana Village and the resupply options therein. The dam was truly an amazing sight. We were able to look down into the spillways that lead to the turbines. I cannot even describe how large they were. After walking part of the way across the dam (which is on the AT), we drove down to the bottom and took some pictures and videos from that angle. The amount of water coming out of the spillway and gushing into the air was incredible. It amazes me that such a structure could have been completed in 1945.

It was a thrill for Beth and Griff to meet Travis, having heard us talk so much about him. He has been such a positive influence on Gavin and a great hiking partner for me. It was our pleasure to share the cabin with him this weekend. We had a good time just relaxing around the cabin, eating, and going into the local Ingles to resupply. Travis also got to meet Joy, whom he has heard much about from Gavin.

Tomorrow morning we’ll head back to the NOC to start hiking again, and Beth and Griffin will head back home. It has been really great seeing them, and we also appreciate Aunt Sallie for making our cabin arrangements for the weekend. She is truly the queen of the VRBO! Our plan is to get to Fontana Dam by Wednesday and spend one night at the Fontana Lodge. From there, we’ll be hiking into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the next 70 miles. We hope to be able to get off for at least one night in the middle at Newfound Gap. From there, we can introduce Travis to the joys of Gatlinburg, TN!