Late Starts and Epic Sunsets on the AT

This morning we had the opportunity to sleep in at the room as late as we wanted! Originally we had thought about doing the 27 miles to the NOC today. But because Punisher is waiting on a box there, that won’t work. We would arrive after the outfitter closed and wouldn’t be able to get his box or our permits for the smokies.

Which means we have to do a shorter day today so that we arrive at the NOC tomorrow morning instead. So I slept in until around 8am which was delightful. Then we had some breakfast at the motel before heading back to the room. I slowly got packed up, did some writing and video work, and got stuff sorted. Then I had to figure out how we were getting back to trail. A friend of mine who I met on the AT and then later the CDT has family in the area. So I reached out to them. They pointed me in the direction of the local outfitter, which apparently does shuttles. But their shuttle driver just broke a leg in a ski accident!

Getting dropped off back at Winding Stair Gap.

The outfitter gave me some more names and number and I wound up texting a guy named Bobby the Greek. I didn’t know them but recognized the name. He responded quickly and said he could bring us back to trail around 11:30am.

It was nice lounging around at the room all morning. Especially knowing that we would otherwise hike way too far and get to the NOC a day early if we didn’t. Starting later means that we will still leave ourselves some miles to do tomorrow to get to the NOC. Which closes relatively early and doesn’t open until 10am each day. That’s a tricky time window.

Heading up toward the first bald of the day.

Bobby the Greek picked us up and wound up being a such cool guy. He had a great outlook on life and a deep love for the thru hiking community. On a whim he began shuttling hikers 8 years ago. It all started with picking up one hitch hiker! From there it basically grew into a business.

A snow covered segment of the trail.

We were back at Winding Stair Gap before noon and set out once more. Our afternoon began with a 3 or so mile climb. But the grade was fantastic. I was surprised how easy the climb felt and how good my body felt. Once we got up top of it the trail dropped back down. Then proceeded yet another climb up to the top of Wayah Bald. This climb was much steeper than the prior. But I was feeling up to the task. We passed by a handful of hikers over the morning. One was Kim, who we met at the road into town yesterday. She enjoyed Jive Turkey’s company with us. This time though she was going south! She didn’t feel good and was going back to town. Which is always a bummer! But also a good move.

For the most part the trail was clear, and the weather today was perfect.

After seeing her we just continued along. There was still another couple of miles before we reached the top. This climb was a bit longer than I remembered. At times the grade was very steep and slowed me down. But for the majority of it the grade was manageable and I persisted.

Along the way we passed by a few more hikers. Probably 5 or so in total. At one point we passed by a lady and she asked if I was Peg Leg. But the funny thing was that I recognized her! Just last night I was watching a YouTube video that got suggested to me. It was of a mother and daughter who are thru hiking the AT together. Less than 24 hours later now our paths are crossing.

Wayah Bald!

Around the same time we saw a couple other hikers. Then eventually got up to the top of the bald. The sun was out and it felt fantastic. When we got there we decided to stop for lunch. We haven’t been great lately about stopping to take breaks. So we’re trying to be better and actually eat more when we can. I made some tortilla wraps with pepperoni and cheese. Then we sat there for a little bit before continuing on.

My lunch for the day. It feels good to get more protein in for lunches.

After that, there was a lot of downhill to come. The weather was amazing and I decided to finish up my book. Over the last day or so I’ve been listening to Never Finished by David Goggins. It was another really great book and definitely something I would recommend to people who are interested in pushing their limits and endurance sports.

Rhododendrons surrounding the trail.

We didn’t have far to go after that. The further we go today the more waiting around we have to do tomorrow. We wound up doing another climb to get up to a shelter. I actually stayed at the shelter in 2023 with the people I was hiking with. This time around though we decided to go a bit further. Apparently there were some cool tent sites at the top of the next climb. And it was just before sunset so it seemed like an awesome place to stop. But when we got up there, we didn’t see any options for camping. There was one marked tent site, but the sites were all super slanted. So instead, we just continued down to the next road. There was absolutely nothing around there, but we did find a patch of lumpy grass and decided to make it work.

The sun starting to set as we climbing further.

That left us only a mile and a half from the top of the next climb. Which has a really cool overlook and tower there. It was tempting to continue on, but that would just make our day for tomorrow even shorter before getting to the NOC. It’s already only going to be about 7 to 8 miles tomorrow morning to get to the NOC. So we’ll wind up having to wait around a little bit until they open for the day. But that’s not a big deal and we have to get permits for the Smokies anyway.

The views from our tent site by the road.

Once we got our tents set up at the site, I had some dinner. Then I just did some writing and video work before calling it a night.

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