When I started hiking again after Hot Springs, I was 4 1/2 days behind Radar and friends. I wanted to catch up! It was the reasoning behind yesterday and today's milage. Milage, I might add, that was done entirely in Bite sandals. I love my sandals! So anyway, back to the story... Nobody told me that this section didn't believe in switchbacks! |
Appalachian Trail North Carolina |
April 9th Miles: 20.2 Stayed: Standing Indian Campground |
Schlepped through the drizzle and thought about what I'd like to be when I grow up. Current choices are an EMT, leader for NOLS, travel writer and photographer, professional world traveler and food critic, high end carpenter, mechanic, or boat builder. I'm already the Supreme Goddess Of The Universe, but I need something creative to do that also pays well. I ran into Radar off and on all day. We hiked together for a few miles and ended up at the parking area where my mom was waiting at the same time. We gave Radar and another hiker a ride to the Rainbow Springs campground, then went back to Standing Indian campground for the evening. It SNOWED that night. Ewwwww! |
April 10th 2003 Miles: Zero Since it was snowing, sleeting, and generally yucky out, mom and I decided to drive to Hot Springs, North Carolina. We stopped by the Rainbow Springs campground to get hikers, and dropped Radar and two other guys off at the Microtel before leaving. Not knowing any better, we took a road marked "scenic". Was it ever! Route 209 undulated upwards into the mountains via a narrow, barely plowed road. The snow was more than a foot deep at the top of the mountains. |
We made it to Hot Springs in one piece. That night we camped next to the raging French Broad River. It was so engorged from all of the rain and snow that it was spilling several feet over its banks. |
April 11th Miles: Zero With the Hot Springs Trailfest still a day away, we amused ourselves by wandering around town and talking to people. We drove every single town road, did our laundry, and hung out at the outfitters. We were the first hikers to register that afternoon. Went to the All-You-Can-Eat (AYCE) spaghetti dinner and pigged out. Wild Bill took us to the Silvermine Campground, where we had to ford two creeks to get in. Couldn't beat the price - free! |
April 12th Miles: Zero We slept in. By the time we got to town, a lot of the booths had already been set up. Mom and I bought three ducks apiece for the duck race. There were booths from different trail organizations, musical performers onstage, and lots of food vendors. We supported some local church groups by buying a few baked goodies. As the activities were winding down for the day, we drove two guys up to Max Patch mountain to get their car. We got back just as the winners of the duck race were announced. I won a pair of hiking socks, two Snickers bars, a Platypus water bottle, and $50! |
April 13th Miles: Zero Woke up and didn't get going until 10am. Had an AYCE buffet at Shoney's, where we enjoyed such southern specialties as "Country Side Meat" and fried okra. I had about a gallon of sweet ice tea. I become so addicted to tea while down south! I have a theory that southern waitresses walk at least 3 miles more per day than their northern counterparts do, because they have to refill everybody's ice tea glasses. EVERYBODY in the south drinks copious amounts of ice tea. Drove to the Smoky Mountains National Park and stayed at Elkmont Campground. |
April 14th Miles: 8 I never pack beforehand. My technique is to arrive where I stopped hiking earlier, and have a gear explosion in the parking area. I was in the middle of packing to hit the trail again, when I noticed a couple getting into their truck. The lady was carrying only one hiking pole, which I thought kind of odd. The couple were acting very furtive and suspicious. Not 5 minutes after they drove off, a guy came running out of the woods. He asked us if we'd seen his pack. He was also only carrying one hiking pole. He had hidden his pack in the woods and taken his camera in one hand, one of his two hiking poles in the other to go photograph a nearby giant Poplar. When he came back, his pack and pole were missing. |
My mother and him hopped in the van and set off in hot pursuit of the couple in the truck. I hiked 2 hours from Rock Gap to Winding Stair Gap, where I bumped into mom again. She and the hiker had found the truck parked at Standing Indian Campground. The people weren't there, but Tom, the hiker, could see his pack sitting in their camper. He went in and got it, just as the couple came walking back. The couple swore they didn't steal it .. they were going to take it back to a ranger. Hah! The guy said he was a minister, and wouldn't steal anything. Mom looked him in the eye and said, "That doesn't prove anything - my step-father is a minister, and he's a total asshole" |
The couples excuse was they thought a hiker had forgotten their pack. They were going to take it to the rangers in Franklin. Franklin is a heck of a long way away for a hiker .. and just happens to have an outdoor shop that buys used camping gear. I continued hiking to Siler Bald Shelter. I set up my hammock, and enjoyed some popcorn a fellow hiker popped for us all. Around 9pm, we saw a light coming towards us. It was another hiker! He was heading further up the trail to Siler Bald. I had wanted to camp on top of the bald, but had wanted company. |
He didn't mind company, so I quickly shoved everything into my pack and hiked to the top of Siler Bald with him. We didn't need flashlights...the moon was almost full, and very bright. The stars were gorgeous! We even saw a few shooting stars. |
April 15th Miles: 23.6 Stayed: NOC campground I woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. The moon was shining brightly, illuminating the surrounding mountain ranges. I watched the stars slowly rotate past the branches of a lone tree. Eventually fell back asleep. When I awoke again, the sun was washing the landscape in energizing oranges, reds, and pinks. |
Breakfast was cherry cous cous porridge, cooked while still curled in my sleeping bag. eventually got up and hit the trail around 7:45. I left 9 candy filled easter eggs at the top of the Wayah Bald lookout tower. Mmm, candy! Nothing much interesting happened all day until I got to the lookout tower on Wesser Bald. There were two backpacks on the ground, but no hikers in sight. I made lots of noise as I climbed up the tower stairs. I heard a muffled voice that sounded like "Do you hear someone coming?". When I got to the top, there was a dressed man laying on his back, and a lady standing up, wearing only a t-shirt and VERY mussed up hair. The guy wore a big grin, while the lady looked somewhat embarassed. When I turned around to leave, they asked how far back the people behind me were. :-) Arrived at the NOC parking lot at 6:05 and had a grape soda. Mom and I drove to a nearby campground with SHOWERS! I had my first shower in 5 days. I think I lost 5 pounds of grime down the shower drain. Eww. |
April 16th Miles: 31.5 Stayed: Fontana Dam parking lot |
When I started hiking again after Hot Springs, I was 4 1/2 days behind Radar and friends. I wanted to catch up! It was the reasoning behind yesterday and today's milage. Milage, I might add, that was done entirely in Bite sandals. I love my sandals! So anyway, back to the story... Nobody told me that this section didn't believe in switchbacks! |
Woke up early and walked from our campsite, 1 1/2 miles to NOC. Got there at 8am. The first 6 miles were straight uphill, no switchbacks. Followed Radar's progress through the shelter logs...around noon I switched to another day, then at 5pm I jumped ahead another. Arrived in the parking lot near the Fontana Dam shelter around 8pm. Radar had been there earlier, but was staying at a motel in town. At last, there on the same day! Fell asleep with mom and Zeke in the van, and didn't wake up until well past sunrise. |
