Whoa! What a crazy week! Ten days ago, I flew into the NOC with GIPC Girl, Just Jon and a LOAD of other people. We spent the better part of the afternoon drinking by the Nantahala until a rainshower ran us into the restaurant for an early dinner. It was delicious (as the food there always is). I even got to watch some of the UNC game that night! We packed 6 people into our 4-person bunkroom, and the next day I lounged around the NOC watching the US Paddling Open, picking up supplies, looking at new packs (I've about run mine into the ground), and playing cards. That afternoon, I caught a ride to Fontana Dam, putting into play my first yellow-blaze.
It's called yellow-blazing, because instead of following the white blazes of the AT, you hitch a ride and skip over some sections, thus following the "yellow blazes" of the road. I spent a nice night in the Fontana Hilton (a REALLY nice shelter at Fontana Dam) and looked for Enzed all morning the next day. We finally met up, and again I lounged about all day. We had some hot dogs (veggie for me and falling Turtle) that night from White Lightening who graced us with great trail magic (oatmeal creme pies, sodas, and more on top of the dogs!). The next morning Enzed and I started into the Smokies on a very cold, rainy morning.
We spent the next 6 days hiking through cold wet mush, though there was one day of blissful sunny skies. We were even hiking in shorts and t-shirts! The rest of the time was snowy or just plain cold. Still, the Smokies were gorgeous. I definitely want to visit them again some time soon.
Two days ago, we dragged our butts out of the Smokies under beautiful blue skies. After a quick 10.5 miles, we stayed at Standing Bear Farm for the night. That's a really neat, rustic farm-turned-hostel, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't pass many inspection regulations!
Yesterday was a 15 mile day with Max Patch in the afternoon. I spent at least an hour sleeping on top under the sun while Enzed headed on to the shelter. Peregrine and Earl Grey joined me for a bit before we wandered down to the shelter for the night. It was packed! Mammoth, Chris and his dog, Sierra, and Deuce and Ibex were there with us.
Today we did a rapid 18 miles into Hot Springs to beat a huge storm that's been threatening all afternoon. We put in 18 miles in just 7 hours (really 7 hours and one minute!). We were flying today! It was definitely one of three days that stick out in my mind as absolute bests. I've rarely felt as happy as I did today!
Unfortunately, we got into town only to find we had no cell service (thank you, AT&T), but my friend, Daniel, is coming to visit tomorrow so maybe he'll drive us to within coverage...
"Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb" -Greg Child
No comments:
Post a Comment