So, guess what? My alarm went off at 6:00 am and I actually got up! I knew I had a near 12 mile day to the Nantahala Outdoor Center and I needed to arrive there in mid-afternoon at the latest, to secure a room. I made it out of camp at 9:00am – my earliest morning yet. After beginning my hike, it was awesome to be passing other hikers who were still packing up – rather than being passed by other hikers while I was still packing up. Woohoo!
Rain was in the forecast for the morning, but I got lucky while packing up camp. Mother nature granted me a reprieve from the rain – until I got hiking. Like other rains I’ve hiked in, this one was not disagreeable. It was not a downpour, more like a steady light rain or drizzle. Rain like this is actually refreshing, especially during climbing. The temperature was also a pleasant 51F – perfect hiking weather.
I made really good time to Tellico Gap, the first 3.6 miles of the day, arriving there at 10:30am. Woodstock and Giggles, who’d passed me a few minutes earlier, were already at Tellico Gap taking a break. I joined them for a few minutes before we began the next big climb up to Wesser Bald.
That was the biggest climb of the day, ascending 800 feet over 1.4 miles. Certainly it was not the steepest climb ever, but any climb is just that – a climb. Climbs are simply exhausting, although I am getting better at them. When I started this hike, most climbs would cause me to pause every 100 or so feet. Now, I am closer to powering up them – especially in the morning when I’m still fresh.
At the top of this climb was Wesser Bald. There’s a fire tower on top which can be climbed to fully take in the view, which was awesome. As usual, you’ll have to wait for photos and videos! I ran into Woodstock and Giggles again at the tower and even got a photo of them. The photo was taken from the tower, looking down at them which gave an unusual perspective.
The rest of the day was a sharp descent from about 4600 feet down to 1700 feet. That’s nearly 3000 feet of drop, over about 7 miles. When you’re mentally prepared for a descending hike, any climbing really pisses you off. It could be a simple 10 foot climb, but it’s still annoying like a splinter in your finger.
The reason I point this out is because this 3000 foot drop had more climbs in it than I could possibly count. A handful of the climbs were actually apparent in the A.T. guidebook, but some were not.Ā Some hikers were accusing the guide of being inaccurate, even cursing the author, “AWOL!” But I think it’s just an issue of scale. In the guide, an entire horizontal mile is compressed down to about half an inch, with the vertical scale being about half an inch for each 1000 feet. At that scale, small climbs over short distances simply don’t show up. I was reminded of my experiences back on Day 2 of Shakedown Trip #4 last year. (Go give it a read – it’s under September of 2014)
Somewhere along climbing down, there was a feature called “The Jumpoff.” I didn’t know that at the time, all I knew is that I arrived at a spot where I had no idea how I would get down. I seemed there were two options: sit on your romp and slide down the thing, or, take your pack off and crab-walk down. I chose the crab-walk method and made it down just fine. I took pictures of it, but I doubt it will show well without using 3-D.
Following the jumpoff, there was still 4 miles of downhill. I’ve hiked a lot of downhill on this hike and have never had trouble with my knees – courtesy of my trekking poles. This was a different story, however. Towards the end, every step was hurting. I was so ready to be at the NOC. Finally, the sound of the river in the valley became louder, and I could see signs of a highway down below. After one final switchback, I was able to see all the buildings at the Nantahala Outdoor Center!
As I got close to crossing the road, Woodstock and Giggles walked towards me calling out, “Mojo!!!” When I met up with them, Woodstock said there was bad news: no rooms were available at the NOC except for a 6 person cabin that ran $300 per night. We’d talked earlier in the day about possibly partnering up for a room, but this was way out of price range. While thinking about options, they invited me to join them at River’s End – a restaurant where they’d just ordered a burger and a beer. So there was only one thing for me to say and that was, “Hell, yeah!!!” Mad props to Woodstock and Giggles for finding me, otherwise I’d have been wandering around the NOC complex like an idiot.
The restaurant was awesome, having these huge windows looking right at the raging river below. There was a group of people out on the river bank taking some sort of training class for kayaking. Before being allowed in a Kayak, they had to demonstrate an ability to swim in the river and recover themselves at a certain spot.
Having placed my order, also of a burger and a beer, I announced my plan was to get a shuttle into Bryson City, a nearby town, for a hotel stay. At first, Woodstock and Giggles weren’t sure what their plan was. They talked about maybe hiking on a couple miles and stealth camping.
After lunch and beer, I went over to the NOC Outfitters where I had both a mail drop and my bounce box which I sent from Hiawassee back in Georgia. After the clerk retrieved them, I also asked for any local shuttles that would take me to Bryson City. He handed me a few business cards and a gave a personal recommendation to “Steve.” I picked up my two boxes and was shocked at the weight!!! These things together weighed more than my entire backpack and it’s contents!
I carried the goods over to where I left my pack and set them down. I called up Steve the shuttle-man and was surprised to receive a prompt answer. Asking about transport to Bryson City, Steve said he’d be there to pick me up in about 30 minutes. Score!!!
In the meantime, Woodstock and Giggles had gone to the general store. Right after talking to Steve, they came back over my way. I told them I’d already secured a shuttle and invited them to join me. After a short 10 second lag, they replied in the affirmative, “ok, yeah, sure!”
Steve finally arrived about 20 minutes late and drove us over to Bryson City. He was really nice and even gave us a short tour around the town so we’d know where restaurants and stores were. Steve dropped us off at the Relax Inn, one of the budget hotels in town. He’d even called ahead to make sure they had rooms available for us. Awesome guy, this Steve was.
Checked into our rooms, Giggles laid down shortly after saying she wasn’t feeling well. Woodstock and I decided to go sit outside to give her a quiet resting place. In front of our room, we listened to music, talked, drank some beer, ate McDonalds, and sat up until about 5:00am the next morning. And yes, that’s why you all didn’t get Day 25’s post until now. š
Woodstock and Giggles have been awesome to hangout with for a few days on trail and in town. Oh, and I collectively call them “The Downhill Express” – because they hike downhill fast. We actually have the same downhill technique and we almost keep pace, but they do it a bit faster.
Next post will have my pictures and videos from the past 6 days.
wandering on…
Mojo
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