Journal Entries

Lost and found.

The reason we took a zero day yesterday was to avoid hiking in sub-zero temps. Mostly we were concerned about freezing rain. A few skiffs of snow and icicles in shadowed portions of the trail was all that was left of the "bad" weather. Today is clear and lovely.

Hiking out of NOC, refreshed after our zero day.

Day 16 - NOC

0 miles (a zero)

I slept in this morning and listened to the rain, probably the most delicious feeling ever. To hear rain outside the tent and not have to get up and hike.

Did some internet work while cozy in my sleeping bag.

At 10 am we packed up to go hang-out for the day at the open air bar/pavillion area. I imagine in summer this is a busy place but it was fairly quiet on this early spring day, midweek.

Used the outlets to charge our devices and did more online work: paying bills, email and attempting to upload photos to Facebook, while the kids did their own thing.

We applied, paid for and printed our Smokies Permits, and spent part of the day chatting with friends, eating chips, drinking coffee and hot chocolate.

A good day but still a busy day for Damien and I, though not as hectic as a resupply stop.

At 4pm we checked into the room we reserved at the motel lodge. We are sharing a double room, with a loft, with Red Hawk & Bloodroot. They get one bed, @toesalad and I get the other. The kids are on mattresses on the floor.

Feels like luxury to have laundry facilities, TV, large common room and small kitchen area. We ate leftovers we found in the fridge, and it didn't even seem like a weird thing to do.

We ate a trail supper (can't afford supper out two nights in a row) and spent time chatting with other hikers, as well as blogging and doing email.

I'm going to bed late after wrestling with a writing app on my iPad.

The weather here in the valley wasn't the icy rain predicted by the weather forecast but it was chilly and it was a nice rest to not be hiking today.

Playing games and keeping warm and dry in the pavillion in our puffy layers and rain gear.

Otter whittling while we hang out under the tarp shelter of our Bear Paw Wilderness Design tent after we've packed up the rest of camp. We switched to this tent at our last resupply.

Day 15 - Cold Spring Shelter to Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC)

11.7 miles

The day started overcast in weather and in my mood.

As we were leaving Cold Spring Shelter, a family was hiking through who are section hiking the trail over the course of 4 years. They do 20 mile days. Their kids are similar ages to ours, and younger. I was discouraged by this, to say the least. 20 miles a day.

So I started the day in tears about my inadequacies. A big change from one week ago when I felt I could conquer the world. In fact, I had a few confident and overly optimistic days there where I thought I might actually be able to rid myself of my perennial insecurities on this hike. Ha!

My mood improved through the day as the weather deteriorated.

When we were leaving camp we found, what we thought was abandoned or forgotten food bag. As far as we could tell we were the very last people out this morning, and there were a lot of people here last night. We didn't see anyone around and figured the bag must have been misplaced, though it is hard to believe a thru-hiker would misplace this. But because no one was around, or at the toilets, we thought the best thing to do was to carry the bag out to the NOC and find its owner there.

Damien carried that bag, an extra few pounds, for 9 miles, almost the whole day's hike till the Danish owner caught up with us and took it back. Turns out he hadn't forgotten it.

Last night he had hung his food bag with another hiker's bag. That hiker had left camp early this morning and taken his food bag but left the Danish man's bag leaning against a tree in the open area for him to pick up on his way out. The Dane slept-in a bit and pitched his tent well hidden and away from the general camp area. When he got up his food bag was gone! He thought maybe someone had played a practical joke on him.

That bag had not just food but also his stove. And we took it.

Our intentions were good but the gesture and effort were not particularly appreciated, though he was a good sport.

We hiked through a real downpour today, while carrying that bag, but the temperature was ok so we didn't get cold.

Arrived at the NOC around 3:30. @toesalad secured us a tent spot across the river and above the train tracks while the kids and I snacked on fries in the riverside cafe.

We ate supper in the restaurant with Bloodroot, Red Hawk, Lumberjack, and Mailman. Those were the best burgers! Had a great night after supper, catching up with SOG and other hikers, such a fun camaraderie.

I'm with the girls again tonight and they are being delightfully silly with each other, something they don't do often. I think we're all excited about tomorrow's zero. It will be our first day of no hiking since we started the trail 2 weeks ago. I don't have to get up early (oh, what a wonderful feeling) but I'm going to sleep pretty soon regardless. Looking forward to tomorrow.

We arrive at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

Stone water cistern just south of Wesser Bald Shelter.

Day 14 - Siler Bald Shelter to Cold Spring Shelter

11.6 miles

It was a gorgeous day.

Trail magic on Wayah Bald today, a barbeque lunch in the parking lot hosted by former thru-hikers. Seeing that hand lettered sign on the trail - Trail Magic in parking lot - was a high point of the day. We arrived just as the supplies were dwindling but we managed to share a couple burgers and there was still tons of candy, which the kids enjoyed.

Hung out with the hikers, many of whom we now know.

Climbed the stone tower on Wayah Bald for some nice views.

Arrived at Cold Spring Shelter at 5pm.

We're aiming to increase our mileage to 12 mile days and I'm just so tired that last mile of the day.

Camp tonight is a tent city on a hill above the shelter and main campsite. All our friends are here and a whole bunch of other people also. But we managed to get a nice spot with a bit of privacy.

Each campsite along the trail has been so unique.

Planning to hike to the NOC tomorrow and then take our first zero due to cold, wet weather in the forecast.