Man, I thought this day would never end. Who knew I would clock out at over nineteen miles!?? Shock and awe all the way around.
I woke up early (about 6:40) and made it my first priority to peer warily out of the tent to see if my food bag was still intact. There it was, hanging in the tree, undisturbed. I was so proud of myself for having made it through my first night alone. No bears, no wild pigs, and no bobcats. At least none that woke me up.
So I packed up and off I went as the sun was rising. I summitted Wayah Bald about 7:45 a.m., and man, what a view! It was my favorite part of the day. There is this really cool old stone lookout up there, and the added bonus of both a trash bin and a real bathroom (not a privy) nearby! Yeah baby!
The rest of the day is pretty much a dizzy blur of peaks and gaps, peaks and gaps. Oh and did I mention more peaks and gaps? I had decided early this morning to just go as far as I could go today, vaguely planning to stop at either Wesser Bald Shelter or Rufus Morgan Shelter. I gave my feet a good long rest every five miles or so. I discovered that if you take your boots and socks off and let everything dry out for ten or fifteen minutes, you sort of trick your feet into thinking it's a new day when you put your boots back on.
I stopped for a long lunch break at Tellico Gap and met a very polished-looking couple from -- whaddayah know -- Michigan! They drove up, parked their SUV in the gravel near the trailhead, and told me they wanted to do a one- or two-hour hike and was this a good place to do it? I think I was a little over-eager for the human contact (I hadn't seen a soul in nearly 24 hours), and the fact that they were from Michigan, well, it practically meant we were kin -- so I chirpily launched into a very long and detailed explanation of all the balds and mountains they could get to from there. Of course I also pulled out my giant AT map with great flourish and pointed out every nuance. They were quite chagrined to find that, from the place we were standing, every trail led uphill. That's kind of how it is when you're in a gap, people. They thanked me politely and as I went on my way toward Wesser Bald, I heard their SUV start back up and off they went, I guess in search of a flat trail. Bet they looked for a long time.
Wesser Bald was really cool, and my last big peak before beginning the six-mile descent toward US19. There was a rickety old lookout tower at the top that I almost chickened out of climbing, but I thought, silly girl, how can you hike all this way, make it to the top of a mountain, and then bypass the chance to climb just 200 more steps to the top of that tower? So I shakily ascended this flimsy wood-and-metal structure, feeling the thing wobble and lean with each step. At the top, I snapped one hurried picture (which didn't turn out so well because I was shaking from fright and couldn't steady the camera), and then slithered my way back down the steps, praying all the while that the thing wouldn't collapse with me on it.
I could've stopped at Wesser Bald Shelter, which was just downhill from the tower, but instead I took a brief break there and then kept moving. It was only about 2:45, and in the back of my mind I kept thinking that if I could just make it to Rufus Morgan Shelter, it would be my highest mileage day ever. (Thus far my record had been 17.5 miles.) Onward!
I loved the rest of the day. There were some amazing rocky downhill scrambles, some short but intense climbs, and lots of really great views of the Smokies. And I knew all too well that every step I took was bringing me closer to a shower and hot food. As I hiked, I solidified my plan to spend my final night on the trail at Rufus Morgan, and then swagger with bravado into NOC to relish a huge bacon-and-egg breakfast in the morning. A few times I thought I even smelled the bacon leading me down the trail.
It was 5:15 when I reached Rufus Morgan and I collapsed for about half an hour, not caring (at first) that the shelter was probably the worst one I'd seen to date. Then, as I started unpacking and getting my gear situated, I noticed not only the dilapidated condition of the shelter, but also the fact that once again, I had chosen to pass the night in a place where there was no bear cable. Ah well, no matter, I thought; I'll just find a suitable tree -- after all, I'm practically an expert now at bear-bagging my food. But a quick analysis of nearby trees turned up no decent branches that I could possibly use. Had there been other hikers there to share the shelter with me, I would've been okay with just hanging my food on the mouse lines in the shelter overhang (like I had done that first night at Muskrat Creek Shelter). But I was alone. Totally and utterly. And it was unrealistic to think that any other hikers would show up this late. Should I stay? Go? I was only about a mile from NOC, so I could pretty easily finish out the hike in half an hour. But moving on meant finishing the trail a day early, and having nowhere to go once I reached my car! And I sure as heck didn't want to start driving back north in my current state of near exhaustion.
So I prayed that God would show me what to do. As I sat there contemplating my options, my eyes focused on a fire ring near the shelter and to my horror I noticed it was full of
So I finished the trail on a somewhat anticlimactic note. By the time I got to NOC it was 7:30 p.m. and the office, store, and restaurant there were closed. Hardly a soul to be seen. So, no chance of bunking in their hiker hostel or smugly swapping trail stories with other hikers while putting on subtle self-congratulatory airs. There really was no one there to appreciate what I had just accomplished, except me. Just as well. Because that's who I did all this for anyway.
I got in my car and drove about 15 minutes back to Bryson City and found myself at the Ridgeway Motel -- a throwback from the 1950's whose proprietor looked like he had just walked off the set of the Andy Griffith Show. It was perfect. I called my honey, washed my filthy clothes and my filthy self, and slept like a baby.
Oh, and I still managed to score that bacon-and-egg breakfast at a diner the next morning. So far, 134.1 miles of the trail down, 2,035.9 to go.
Hiking time: 9 hours, 10 minutes (12:10 with breaks)
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