Day 5 (69.2-85.9)

 After a day of laying around with my legs propped up, I was ready to hit the trail again. A “shorter” day with 16.7 miles on the agenda I decided to take it a little easy, after all today I celebrate walking out of Georgia, hooray! I called for a shuttle from town which arrived at exactly 10:15am and they carted me and 3 other hikers back up to the trailhead.

The weekend was a little busy, several day hikers and a handful of thru’s, the conversations kept me busy and the spirits high. I bumped into a couple who were celebrating their anniversary on trail. Garden State and Baskets. They offered me trail magic, but I declined as I was still toting around food from the beginning of the hike.

2pm rolled around and I was getting anxious about crossing into another state, stopping frequently to make sure I didn’t miss the sign nailed to the tree. Roughly 20 minutes later, I found it! I took a moment to touch the sign, take some pictures and stop for a snack and water. Thoroughly appreciating the moment as most hikers don’t make it out of Georgia. I did, twice. 

Walking out of Georgia was a treat, but North Carolina wanted to make its existence known. Right off the rip, the trail extended upwards, what felt like miles and miles of straight up with no switchbacks, it was brutal, but I persevered.

The hike continued until 7, straight up, all day. I rolled into Standing Indian shelter where I bumped into Baggins and Gazelle, and three other hikers, two of which were “trying out the trail” before fully committing. Too tired to cook, I ate the remainder of a pop tart and set out my sleeping bag for the night.










Popular posts from this blog

Day 8 (120.4-136.9)

Image
Early start at Wayah Bald Shelter. I ate my breakfast in a timely fashion and set off before 8. The next destination was the Nantahala Outdoor Center. A neat adventure park that’s placed directly on the trail. I stepped off slow and steady, a 16 mile day with plenty of time to get there I walked slowly, hopefully slow enough to help everything heal.  The views were excellent, the weather was perfect, I took the blue blaze to the top of Rocky Bald and they DIDNT NOT disappoint. I sat there for a few moments to take it all in, by take it all in I mean a handful of snacks.  Climbing down into Tellico Gap was a breeze, I was feeling better, knees were holding up and my Achilles wasn’t bothering me at this point. I took my time and pressed on to Wesser Bald, a 1000 foot climb to the top but well worth the effort. As I made my way up, I ran into Dozer filtering his water on the side of the trail, we stopped to chat for a moment and discussed evening plans.  The top of Wesser Ba...
Read more

Day 16 & 17 (241.8-274.9)

Image
Woke abruptly at 3 in the morning to the sound of thunder in the bunkhouse at Standing Indian… turns out, this was just the elusive Mike (the dog guy) who wasn’t in the bunk next to me when I went to bed. I woke up early the next morning and gathered food from the hostels pantry for a resupply and took off to climb some mountains. Snowbird being the biggest out of my two day stretch to Hot Springs, it was a good warm up first thing in the morning, 3000 feet up over 4 miles, my legs were on fire.  Mid afternoon and making my way over Snowbird, I stumbled down towards Brown Gap where I had planned on taking a “pack off” break and eating lunch. The downhill was graded rather nicely and it made the walk a little more enjoyable. As I reached the gap I noticed a wooden sign placed off the side of the trail, us hikers usually stop to look at the wooden signs because they tell you where you’re at, what attractions/features are close by, etc. This one happened to read “Trail Magic Ahead”. O...
Read more

Day 10 (150.5-165.9)

Image
I caught a ride out of Robbinsville early in the morning. Craig was nice enough to drive me back up to the trailhead at Stecoah Gap. The weather was looking a bit dismal but the temperatures were supposed to be tolerable. I set off at roughly 9am towards Fontana, a 16ish mile hike for the day, the elevation appeared to be flatter between the two waypoints with the exception of Jacob’s Ladder right off the rip. A thousand foot climb that spans roughly one half mile. Difficult, but doable. After my ascent up Jacob’s Ladder I came across a lovely hiker named Tink. A lady from Ontario who had already completed her trek Southbound 5 years prior who wanted to experience the trail Northbound. We shared a brief conversation about her hiking partner who had just stepped off trail and she seemed happy to be hiking at her own pace now. The day continued on and roughly 10 miles from Fontana you could start to see Fontana lake through the trees, a milestone for sure. The next few days would be spen...
Read more