Training Log Archive: dlevine

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Wesser Bald Shelter to Nantahala Outdoor Center

It's our shortest day with beer, pizza, and showers waiting for us at the end of the trip. It was supposed to be a hot day, but we figured that we would be done early and didn't take any extra water. The first part of the descent was trickier than we expected and then we got to the "endlessly long" section - as many other hikers had described it to us. Unusually for us, we were able to appreciate the beauty on the last day (perhaps because we were getting out a day early thanks to two long days in the last 48 hours). The only problem was that we ran low on water and actually finished with about two ounces left. Still, NOC was a very welcome site and we were even able to visit with our shuttle driver before getting in the car and heading north.

Summary: The south was beautiful and we really enjoyed the terrain and the beauty. It was odd to be among the faster and more fit hikers on the trail - not a common occurrence for us. We had a great time for most of the trip and will happily go back next spring to tackle the Smokies.

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Campsite just north of Winding Stair Gap to Wesser Bald Shelter

The day was going to be hot so we wanted to get at least one climb in before the sun got high. As we were camped at the bottom of a hill, this was easy to arrange. We headed out and up the trail towards Siler Bald Shelter. We went past the turnoff and a good bit further up the hill when we saw the turnoff to the shelter. Hunh? Two different accesses quite a distance apart? And there was a trail up the (meadow and) hill that seemed to be the right direction, but had no blazes. We were very confused, but found that if we crossed the meadow and headed down, we had a trail with the correct blazes. It was getting hot and we were glad that we had put that climb behind us. On the way down to Wayah Gap we passed a woman heading the other way who claimed to be heading north from Siler Bald. We told her that we were doing so, but she told us that we were confused. She had left the shelter this morning and had made good time and stopped for water at the spring "just ahead" and so she couldn't be wrong. This is one of those situations where you can't win so we headed off, finding her spring right where we expected it. (We never did see her again.) The climb up to Wine Spring Road was the longest, hottest, and most depressing of our trip. We were making good time, but were feeling the sun and it seemed to take forever. Knowing that we still had another down and up (minimum) before the lookout tower on Wayah Bald played with our minds as well. We trudged down to the valley before the climb to Wayah bald feeling out of it. The last small climb to the Bald wasn't so bad and was even paved (ADA access) for the last 150 yards. When we got there, there was a very friendly group of hikers having lunch and we decided that that was a great idea. We now realized that Wayah Bald Shelter was a silly destination - being only 0.9 miles away. Like the group that had started only 2.5 miles back, we would head to Cold Spring Shelter, another 5.7 miles away. So, down we went ahead of them, but planning to enjoy their company that evening. It's a 700 foot climb (over 1.2 miles) into the shelter and we felt it. When we got there, we found that this shelter was closer to the trail (within arm reach) than any we'd ever seen. It was also dark with holes in the floor. The water source was 15 feet in front of the shelter and very nice (piped spring). Theresa read various recent entries from the log: "The bear got our food"; "The bear got everybody's food last night"; "It's nice to have water nearby, but that brings bugs - which really annoyed me until I woke to find the mice making a nest in my hair (and the bear got my food)"; "Wasn't worried about the bear getting my food as I am headed out tomorrow, but I came face-to-face with him while using the latrine". Okay, we're out of here. A small climb and then a long descent to Tellico Gap. No good camping anywhere! At Tellico Gap, we debated pitching a tent in the parking lot, but decided on a "cold dinner" of more bars and gels before heading up for what we thought would be our last climb of the day - up Wesser Bald. One and a half miles up, we came to a view and saw the tower (mentioned as on the trail 60 m to the right). We went up to the tower and saw that a couple of "good old boys" were camping at the base. They were up on the tower - and obviously drunk - so we decided to press on the last 0.8 miles to the shelter. They did say that they didn't know anything about the shelter down our way, but they didn't seem reliable so we pressed on. We saw two more groups of young, with-it-looking folks climbing the mountain for a sunset view. None of them knew about the shelter either. After we had gone almost half a mile, I noticed that we hadn't seen a white blaze in a long time - like since the tower. OH SH*T! Back UP the hill, past the tower, to the view where the blazes clearly headed down the other side of the hill. Surprisingly, we felt okay - tired, but okay - as we headed down to the shelter. Thankfully, it was a very nice shelter with one friendly hiker already there. Since we didn't have to cook dinner and weren't worried about water, we were able to make camp quickly after our longest day on the trail.

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Carter Gap Shelter to Campsite just north of Winding Stair Gap

Left on time, but near the back of the pack. Bunny was ahead of us and we never did see her again. Tripper was thankfully behind us and there was no danger of seeing her again either. Vegas Bob had left very early. We passed everybody else somewhere climbing Albert Mountain. Albert Mountain is not particularly high, but the last quarter mile is the steepest ascent thus far on the trail. We met Vegas Bob at the summit; he was talking about changing his mind and possibly heading to town. In any event, he was "off to the shelter" that he said he would be at by noon. We enjoyed the views and headed down after him. He must have made the shelter by noon because we were there by 12:05 and he was settled in. The shelter was dark and uninviting so we decided to have lunch and then head to a random campsite further up. Since the next day was supposed to be 14.8 miles with climb, it seemed like a great idea. M&M passed us while we ate, but we headed out to Wallace Gap and then over the hill. As we descended to Winding Stair Gap, we passed M&M talking to two southbound section hikers. At the gap, we stopped for water and hung out with him as he waited for a shuttle to town. While he waited, two of the through hikers from the night before came by and joined the shuttle crew. We bade them farewell and then headed 0.3 miles further to a beautiful campsite by a stream - our first "stealth" site of the trip. It felt great to have knocked three miles off the next day's trip AND to have made camp before 4 at a beautiful site.

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Muskrat Creek Shelter to Carter Gap Shelter(s)

This should have been a relatively easy day with a single mountain near the middle. We passed on woman on the way up Standing Indian Mountain; she had apparently done almost six miles when we saw her (at the eleven mile mark) but she seemed lost. She was headed in the right direction, but she still seemed lost. We went the last 1.5 miles to the shelter to discover three guys already there. One moved on, but the shelter was very crowded. Tripper (the lost woman) came in late, a bit wet from a late afternoon shower - and begged everyone for food and drink. John (now called M&M) and Gabby (recently christened "Bunny" by Yogi Bear) were there as were a larger group of people that we either didn't meet (tenters who arrived late) or didn't care for. Some folks were going on to Big Spring Shelter (6.8 miles) the next day; some, including us, were headed to Rock Gap Shelter (12 miles); others, including M&M and Bunny were heading for Winding Stair Gap and a shuttle in to Franklin, NC. It was crazy and everyone seemed to try to beat everyone else out of camp the next morning.

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Dicks Creek Gap to Muskrat Creek Shelter (NC!)

Took the shuttle with John and Gabby up the the Gap. We headed out first, confident that both of them would pass us soon. After a real bed to sleep in and some food that we didn't have to prepare (including breakfast at Subway!) we motored up the hills. The trail was beautiful - one section was coated in mountain laurel blossoms; it looked as if some flower girl had gone nuts for about 1/4 mile! We made the climb to Bly Gap, taking pictures at the state line (WOW! We did an entire state this year!) and having lunch by the most photographed tree on the trail. John came by at that point, but was confident that we would pass him soon. Actually, we did as he stopped for water by a beautiful brook. We had a great night at the shelter.

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Tray Mountain Shelter to Dicks Creek Gap

Dicks Creek Gap meant a hotel, showers, restaurant food and reprovisioning so we just set out "with a mission". Okay, we were a bit preoccupied, but it seemed like a forever downhill on a very hot day. When we got to the gap, we rested a bit and prepared for the hitch to town. We chatted a bit with Yogi Bear (though we didn't know that was his name) and tried to hitch to town. Walking some - just in case we never did get a ride - we made it about a mile (and twenty minutes) before we got an offer to ride in the back of a pickup, We accepted and were able to recover well, get a DQ Blizzard, receive and send a mail drop and have a Chinese dinner out of the rain. Met two other section hikers, John and Gabby at the Inn. It was all great, but at 4:30 in the morning some lost kid went through the motel banging on doors and looking for directions to some place I'd never heard of. Oh well.

Note to self: it does seem that no matter what the distance, any day we are heading "to town" becomes a "get there" mission rather than a day where we enjoy the hike for the hike's sake.

Appalachian Trail Section Hike

Low Gap Shelter to Tray Mountain Shelter

Three climbs today, each about the same elevation change, but the first is very gradual. We head out and enjoy any number of times where the trail contours around reentrants. Everything is a gorgeous green except for the ribbon of brown for the trail path. As usual, Theresa is ahead of me and I sometimes see her across the valley walking in the opposite direction from me. Very cool. Made a quick stop for a snack at Blue Mountain Shelter (where J2 had been the night before; we're almost keeping up with him!) and then down to Unicol Gap. Here we had our most dangerous encounter of the hike - not from animal life, but from the danger of crossing GA 75. You see, there was a big car rally in Helen, GA and the various drivers love to speed up to and through Unicol Gap. Unfortunately, the road curves at the top of the hill, so the drivers are "blind" to pedestrians - and don't seem to care about this. We meet a day hiker who is going up and over Rocky Mountain and back as his hike. He sets out at warp speed up the hill. We struggle to the summit and sit down for lunch. Then a southbounder tells us that we aren't at the summit so we move on. Alas, he was basically lying and we end up eating on a random log. As we are about to descend, the day hiker returns and tells us that he saw a bear, just this side of the construction crew working near the next gap. We saw the construction crew, but not the bear! And so we began to head up Tray Mountain. We took water from the piped spring and met two guys who were surprised that we weren't the two women they were sort of hiking with. (It turns out that we passed the women when they took a break at a picnic table in the previous gap.) The guys took off and the women came through, too. We passed the women and hiked on to Tray Gap where we met a friendly couple with the best trail magic we could have gotten at that moment - bottled water! The guys passed us without saying hello and continued up the mountain. The couple showed us pictures of a snake they had seen near the summit and told us that it was harmless, but on our way up, a guy coming down told us that he had just seen a rattlesnake and to take care. Harmless or poisonous, the snakes were gone when we summit-ed, again through rhododendra tunnels. It doesn't get much better than this. Down a half-mile to the shelter and relaxation! The guys and girls came through, but were going to push on so that they would be able to make it to Hiawassee the next day. (We were planning the same, but obviously we cover more ground.) Theresa gave one of the women a vitamin I cocktail and boy was that appreciated. We were joined by a couple that we had passed near Blue Mountain shelter and then a group of four going the other way. The latter group made a great campfire - to which we contributed foraging efforts - and we had a very pleasant, but somewhat late (for the trail) night.