Today will be our last day on the trail this year! It is a happy day and a sad one all at the same time. We are glad to be done with the southern portion of the trail, but sad to be leaving the trail and the friends we have made this year. Both of us will go through "Trail Withdrawls" for a couple of weeks. The body will wake up and wonder where the pack is and why we aren't walking by 9AM. We will be going somewhere and see mountains out the window and yearn to be walking [View Full Entry]

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Well no walking today. We hung out here at NOC watching whitewater boaters and going over our gear. We have a simple room on a hill near all the facilities. Washed our laundry and did some repair work on our gear. It was a beautiful day in the mid 70s with a light breeze coming down the river valley. Our box did not arrive today so we will wait until 10-11AM tomorrow to see if it makes it in then. If not we will have to wait to go North on Thursday. If the box comes we will head out [View Full Entry]

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Well our re-supply box came in today’s mail. After a two and a half day break we were back to the trail. Just before we headed out "Phexen", the young man we met our first night out, caught up to us. He did a quick re-supply in the store and we headed up the mountain toward Fontana Dam, NC. NOC sits at 1,750' so there is a large climb up to the ridges, up to 4,330' at the first shelter. One of the bad things about sitting is the weather has been beautiful for the past few days. Now they [View Full Entry]

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Early morning brought an end to the rain and fog wrapped around the mountain. Light zephyrs of air came down the mountain toward the shelter causing us to be chilled. Hot oatmeal and a cup of Joe from one of the other shelter sleepers before we started packing up the tent. We were out of the shelter by 8:15AM huffing up Cheoah Bald from 4,330' to 5,062' a bit over 700' in a mile. The fog was thick and water fell from the tree branches and leaves as we topped the bald. Reaching the Bald top we found the trail [View Full Entry]

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Spared again. About two hours before we rolled out of the tent the rain stopped. It was a cold breakfast day as it was imperative we reach the Post Office before noon. We had a two hour window to pickup our box or we would have to wait until Monday to get the next seven days food. Up at 6:30AM and on the trail by 7:17AM. 800' up hill in 1.4 miles, what a way to start your day. At least the fog was thick so we didn't have to see the task before us. Phexen also needed to pick [View Full Entry]

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Carter Gap Shelter, NC to Rock Gap Shelter, NC. about 12 miles South of Franklin, NC near US64 No rain overnight! We were wakened about 6AM by water drops hitting the tent fly. Looking outside showed they were from the fog that had enveloped our mountain. I stayed in the bag until about 6:30AM when CC poked her head out of the nylon cocoon. No one was up in the shelter so we decided to pack all our stuff then go make breakfast. It was right at 7AM when I lit the stove to boil our water. The older man and [View Full Entry]

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The day broke slightly overcast without a breeze. A lone grouse thumped his wings looking for a mate and a young doe slowly walked past the shelter. We had a nice night of sleeping. Oatmeal for breakfast again with hot chocolate to wash it down. The terrain today was more hiker friendly than yesterday, the elevation gains were 500'-1,100' and only gradual grades not near vertical. The down hills were also foot friendly. We blazed down the trail at about 2 mph most of the day. The high point of the day was Standing Indian Mountain @ 5,480'. We stopped [View Full Entry]

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Wine Spring/Bartram Trail to Wesser Bald Shelter. Then on to Nantahala Outdoor Center. My math was a bit off last night. We did 13.4 miles today not 14. It got cold last night as our tent sat @ 5,290', temp went down into the high 30s. I got up once in the night to answer nature’s call, the night was crystal clear and moonless, no breeze, and quite damp near the spring. We were up by 6:30AM and working on getting out of the tent. Oatmeal again for breakfast and coffee for me with hot apple cider for CC. All was [View Full Entry]

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Twelve miles on the money today, bringing our total to 114.8 miles for this hike. The night went well with only the boldest of mice venturing out about the shelter. We heard it only a few times and were surprised by the lack of mouse activity. This was explained about 10PM when there was quite the ruckus in the trees near the shelter. Seems a Hoot Owl family has its nest within about 100' of the front bench. Every time one of the parents would bring the young ones some night time snack, such a noise could wake the dead. [View Full Entry]

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Dicks Creek Gap, GA. to Muskrat Creek Shelter, NC Made 11.6 miles today and walked north out of GA into NC at 2:20PM. We had a great night staying at "Cloud 9". I was up early and working on our blog. I did all the walking day entries on the hostel computer to save Matt time. Working, going after his MBA, raising his son, taking care of his wife who is expecting in Aug. I thought if I had the time why not. Now it is back to the pocketmail. CC was up by 7AM and we had our fresh fruit [View Full Entry]

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