Over the Mountians and through the woods!

As usual I was up with the sun.  The night is sure dark in the woods.  One of the SB hikers decided to stay in the shelter while the other, the owner of the dog, set up his tent.  I didn't do much for breakfast but I did make a cup of coffee and enjoyed it even if it was instant.  The dog owner was up and we talked just a little and I mention that I had planned to hike to the next shelter and back today but changed my mind.  Not sure I could do it  (12 miles) in one day and did not want to stay for two more days.

Sage was up and talking about trying to find a shuttle from the dam to Cherokee for a mail drop.  If she did not make it to New Found Gap, in the Smoky, on time she would have to wait until Monday.  I volunteered to give her a ride if she could not get a shuttle.  She took off a little ahead of me but I'm sure she made it to the dam hours before I did. (I forgot to ask).

I thought I would make better time going back but I was mistaking.  It was just as tough going down hill as it is going up.  I only cut about thirty minutes off my time.  I didn't have to rest as often or as long but it was still rough.

Arriving at the dam, I saw a day hiker that came by the shelter a while before I left this morning and he told me a young lady was asking about Two Stix.  We walked to the VC parking lot together where our vehicles were parked.  Driving around toward the VC I spotted Sage and gave here the ride to Cherokee.  On the way I learned that she was only seventeen!  The day before she just said "between junior and senior year,"  and I just assumed college. She did not talk or act like a high school girl and she diffidently has it all together. Her plan is to do 1,600 miles before school starts.  Good luck, Sage!

I enjoyed the drive to Cherokee and helping Sage with a little trail magic in advance of my hike next year.  After dropping her off at the Post Office I headed over the mountain toward Knoxville to get in as many miles on my homeward drive as possible.  It was a neat drive through the park, but, the views were limited because of the trees.  I made it to Kingston, TN for the night and after checking into the motel I went out and got a Papa Johns pizza and brought it back to my room.  1,800 miles from here to home and three days are my plans.

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."    - Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Lots of PUDS!

I got up early enough but messed around and didn't get away until after 0930.  One of the family group gave me one of their maps which showed the elevation profile and POIs for the section from the dam to NOC, (Nantahala Outdoor Center).  It really came in handy since I had no local maps of the trail.  The bad news is it showed the steep climb I would have to make right out of tent.

It took me just over six hours to do the 6.5 miles to the Cable Gap shelter with about 1.800 feet in elevation gain, not counting all the extra ups and downs.  The lake elevation is ~1,800 feet, the peak at 3,600 feet, and the shelter is at 2,880 feet.  The steep 1,800 feet gain was in the 2 - 5 mile section of the day's hike.  I found a great water source at about three miles in and change out all of my water in order to get rid of the chlorinated water I was carrying.  The only wildlife of note was a Pileated Woodpecker, the largest one I have ever seen.  (Reading up on them later and learned that they can get rather large.)


I got to the shelter around 1600 and had a good long rest before making dinner.  Soon after dinner and cleanup and reorganizing, Sage, a NBF (north bound female)  hiker joined me.  She had planned a thirty mile day but settled for twenty two.  I talked about going to the next shelter and back  the next day, doing twelve miles.  We chatted off and on about our hikes and was joined later by two SBM hikers with a dog. 

Near dark I was rested enough to pack it in for the night.

PUDS = Pointless Ups and Downs!

Finding the right spot on the trail to do an overnight.

After finishing up a two week whirl wind trip visiting my kids, grand kids, and my siblings in KY, I left Mary's and headed south to Knoxville and points beyond.  My plan was to find a point on the Appalachian Trail to do an overnight hike.  I stopped at the TN visitor center and got a little info and maps.  Decided to go to Fontana Dam, NC and do my hike from there.  Stopped at a  Walmart somewhere south of Knoxville to stock up. On  Hwy 129 going into the mountains there was a section called THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON.  Lots of quick and sharp curves and a magnet for motor cycle riders.  I asked a group of bikers if there was a special event going on and they said, "No, this is just a normal day!"  It was a great drive.  I lost my coffee mug at a pull out after leaving it on the pickup "step", but back tracked and was able to find it.

Got to the Dam visitor center and checked it out.  Decided to hike south, away form the GSMNP.  After a false start the wrong way, (It just didn't look right) I went back to the VC and talked to the "information" person. which  was pretty useless, I decided the trail followed the road at least a little ways. I met a hiker, with no gear, who pointed me to the blue blase trail to the shelter and soon I was setting up for the night.

At the shelter a family group of hikers (six adult men and four of five kids) that started the NOC (Nantahala (River) Outdoor Center).  There was also a single male hiker, a Jamaica from Atlanta, that had hiked form Springer Mt.  His plan was a flip flop thru hike, hiking from both ends to the middle, due to the late start.  Two other young guys hiking from Springer joined us later.  Their plan was to hike to a couple of more weeks and the parents would pick them up.

Dinner time I used my new propane micro stove w/piezo electric lighter.  Sure faster than the CatCan stove.  I had the spegetti which I had dehydrated before.  It was great!  The Asian Stir Fry is still in my backpack for later.

I was going to leave the fly cover off of the tent but felt at least three drops of rain just as it was getting dark so I put the fly cover on, using a flash light.  There was no more rain.

How much can I carry

Some new gear before starting my trip east. I decided to buy and try a Micro gas stove with piezo lighter.  At the same time I ordered a set of dry sacks.  These were both form Amazon.

I saw the same set of dry sacks at Walmart, so I picked up another set.  Also found a ground cloth (sealed nylon) and pack cover while I was there.  Will be looking to try them out.

Made it to Moab in good time so I stopped at Gear Heads Outfitter, a place we bought some stuff from when in the Canyon Lands/Arches area this spring.  While there I bought a Lexan cup w/cozy, for coffee mostly, and an aluminum wind screen for the stove, then continued to drive on for two hundred more miles!