wayah bald shelter to nantahala outdoor center

it was our coldest night yet, but the new-to-me wear everything experiment was going pretty well. i wore everything and this time draped my puffy over me inside my sleeping bag. i slept decently, waking only to pee and eat the protein bar i had kept with me. i can’t say the protein nar worked any better than a clif bar, so i guess that’s easier. i was warm all night, but at some point my joints seem to be unhappy about their sleeping bag confinement and i spend some time tossing to try and remedy.

i waited until the sun was up before exiting my sleeping bag. sadly, it wouldn’t actually reach our position until after we had left. i packed up and as there was no sun at the shelter, and we were out of the wind, we opted to have breakfast at our camp.

i did discover a nice little camping hack at breakfast. normally on the day out of town i pack out some bone broth for joint health. i substitute it for some of the water required for the camping meals. usually i get the pacific brand, but the ingles was out. all they had was swanson brand. swanson isn’t generally known for their health, and i wasn’t in love with the fact that the only flavor they have is chicken, ginger, and turmeric. i just want plain broth. anyway, swanson’s packaging is a microwaveable cup, and as i discovered this morning, it’s pretty perfect for making my oatmeal and coffee without dirtying my pot. it’s even got a sippy lid. definitely something i’m going to pack out more often.

we hit the trail and it was still freezing. i had slept with the beers in my tent because i was afraid they would explode, but thankfully no casualties. i usually take off a layer before starting to hike, but opted to keep my puffy on this morning. it was again cold enough that i hiked with it pretty much all day.

the trail in the morning was nice and easy, we had planned a 10+ mile day a few shelters on, and were hoping that dan would catch up. we made such good time we suddenly realized we could pretty easily make it to the NOC (nantahala outdoor center) a day early and stay in the hiker hostel there. we had to go to the NOC no matter what to buy and print our great smokey mountain national park permits, and our plan had been to resupply there as well. nico also wanted to mail some stuff home too, and the NOC has some kind of interface with the post office. he called from the top of rocky bald and made us reservations at the hiker hostel.

rocky bald

we hiked on, the day warming up ever so slowly. we stopped at an electric line for lunch and decided to crack open a beer each. it really made our lunch.

from there we had a 1.4 mile climb up to the wesser bald fire tower. we walked up it like it was nothing. our lunches were pretty normal other than the additional beer, so it seems like the beer powered us up the hill. interesting.

we arrived at wesser bald, dropped our packs and headed up the fire tower for some truly spectacular views.

back on the ground we had some miles to do. i headed off expecting a multi mile downhill, where i tend to be a bit slower than nico. i entered some truly stunning landscape. the trail traversed a number of knife edge ridge tops covered in dead trees, some kind of pine i’m not familiar with (perhaps bristle cone?), and briars and grasses. the long downhill i anticipated was actually a rollercoaster punctuated by some pretty sheer drop offs where i had to tread carefully. as i was on a ridge with good cell service, i called magz, and we chatted as i navigated the landscape.

almost the minute i hung up with magz, nico appeared, and we hiked the rest of the afternoon together. we found a golden bat on the trail which i semi-successfully moved. the bat shrieked at me as i placed it off trail and it rolled most of the way back to the trail, but it was otherwise safe.

shortly we arrived at the NOC, immediately running into some hikers we knew, including fox bait. we bought some snacks at the general store. i got a shitty ice cream cone, like the kind you get from an ice cream truck when you’re a kid, and a rice crispy treat. they hit the proverbial spot.

we crossed the road to the outfitter and got our great smokey mountain national park permits. nico bought me a new fuel canister to replace the one i gave him the night before when he ran out of gas. we headed literally up the trail to the hiker hostel, dropped our crap, grabbed a beer each and went to the showers. shower beers FTW.

after showers we wanted to do some laundry but couldn’t because the general store where we’d buy a tide pod was closed already. #hikerproblems

for dinner we headed back down the trail to the rivers end restaurant. i had some of the best fries i’ve ever had (gorge fries), an okay pizza, a very plain sherpa rice, and a great dessert brownie, and of course another beer.

all in all a pretty fantastic day. i checked the weather for great smokey mountain national park, and aside from some rain, the temperature should be warmer than it’s been. i was waffling about getting a sleeping bag liner for the smokeys because it can get frighteningly cold up there, but with the recent weather report, i don’t think i’ll need one.

some other photos from today:

it’s hard to tell but the sides of the trail are completely covered in flowers. hepatica, i think.

the NOC is a training ground for some olympic athletes. if you’ve never seen the olympics kayak slalom, you should look it up. they’re amazing.