Free Spirit’s ( Al's )

Appalachian Trail Journal

Amicalola Falls - Springer Mt. GA to

I 40 Davenport Gap, At the TN - NC border (Part 7)

 

Dates ........ Saturday, May 4, 2002
Miles ........ 13.6 miles climb 4032' total
From ........ US19 Nantahala River and Outdoor Center
To ............. Tent camp at Stecoah Gap, NC 143
Weather ... Rain and mist, 50's most of the day.

Saturday, May 4, 2002

Nantahala River NC 1740', Cheoah Bald NC 5062'

After a great all-you-can-eat breakfast and shipping our package home, Brett and I bid farewell to the other hikers and the Nantahala outdoor Center. During our brief stay we had eaten at all three of their restaurants, gotten well rested, updated our gear and met lots of neat people. Brett's feet felt much better in his new, larger boots. We started up the long, sometimes steep climb that would take us from Nantahala's 1740-foot valley to the 5062 foot Cheoah Bald summit, in the rain.

We were climbing up into the clouds where we would trade warm rain for cool mist and fog. We met up with Caribou Frank and hiked with him for a while. Both he and Brett suffered gastro-intestinal disorders. The steak special they had at the NOC restaurant was the one thing they had in common. I had no problem. While hiking up to a sharp turn in the dense fog, Caribou Frank almost went straight - off the edge of a cliff where the trail turned sharply right to follow a knife edge ridge uphill.

Cheoah bald is supposed to be one of the finest panoramic vistas anywhere. Today it was in the clouds, visibility maybe 70 feet. Big whoop! The good news was that Brett's new boots were working out OK - his feet felt much better. He was hiking well coming up the mountain. We met a young couple hiking up to Cheoah bald for the view. They were going to camp overnight. I really don't think he was interested in "the view". At least I wasn't fooled!

Cheoah Bald's downhill was a challenge. In places it was very steep and it had lots of knobs and knolls to climb as the trail made its descent. Combined with this mornings big climb, it was grueling and tiring, the toughest day I have experienced on this hike yet. We had hoped to be able to hike to Brown Fork Gap Shelter, a total of 16 miles but by the time we reached the highway at Stecoah gap, we were both too tired to go any farther. We decided to camp just behind a forest service barricade, out of sight of the road and public picnic area. There was no danger of fire or any official use of the fire road tonight. I walked a long way to the spring to get water, we set up the tent and cooked supper. Brett tried out and liked his new alcohol stove. The hot meal tasted good and was just what we needed to warm and refresh us. I hung a bear bag and we went right to sleep.

Prehistoric Monster? Serpent? Tongue? Tail? Or just a very odd shaped tree growing into/out of a massive rock? You decide.

 

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~ Journal Part 7 ~

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