Date: 2009-03-25
From: Winding Stair Gap

To: Wayah Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

Cell None OG notes:We're back in the woods again. It rained all last night and today. It looks like we'll be rained on for the next three days, with a possible thunder shower tomorrow. We were lucky to get to the shelter while there was still space, so we don't have to sleep in the tent. We have 7 people sleeping shoulder to shoulder and one person sleeping on the edge below our feet. This shelter has an eating area under the roof and one guy has his tent set up there. Besides all of that there are two tents outside as well. Hikers stick to shelters in the rain for the security and a dry place to be when eating.The local Baptist church had a pancake breakfast for the hikers in town. They picked us up in their van and transported us to the church. It was great to talk with everyone and they were gracious hosts. Thank you First Baptist Church of Fontana, NC.We left Franklin at about 9 am and hit the trail at about 9:45 am at the same spot where we were picked up to resume our hike. We climbed out of Winding Stair Gap up to Siler Bald, a bald is a grassy hilltop. There seems to be a lot of balds down here, I've heard that some are kept that way by mowing and some with controlled burning. After Siler Bald we hiked down to Wayah Gap, if you have been following these journals you know what comes next. If you said "Big climb follows" give yourself a star. We then proceeded to climb 1300 feet up Weyah Bald. This bald has a stone tower up here, I can't vouch for the view as there wasn't any today. Right after we reached the tower we started down the other side. We're in a new shelter, it was built in 2007 a year after my last hike. I knew about this shelter and thought I knew where it was built, when we got to the spot I figured it would be there was a sign saying it was .25 miles further. The water for this shelter is from a stream that's located on the other side of the trail. I went for water and C6 stayed at the shelter. I discovered that the stream was farther than expected it was a 3 minute walk. The stream was clear and clean and, as most spring fed water, very cold.It's 7:40 pm and everyone is in their sleeping bag, the warmest and dryest thing they have. I'm sitting up in mine and I'm ready to crawl in, so goodnight. C6 notesToday started with a wonderful breakfast at the First Baptist Church in Franklin. The church is serving an all you can eat free pancake breakfast for hikers for the next 21 days. Today was the first day. They came around with a large van at 7:30am and brought us to the church. They took us back in time to catch Ron's 8:30am shuttle to the Trailhead where he picked us up on Monday. We enjoyed listening to Miss Janet's stories. (I videotaped Miss Janet and Floater explaining how Floater got his trail name.)I mentioned the church will be doing this for 21 days. They have 40 people lined up to do this, so no one person has to do it every day. They wouldn't accept a donation. What a kind, and generous, thing to do. We keep coming across angels!It was a hard hiking day today. Mostly uphill, which is hard for us still. We don't hurt any more, but we're quite slow on the uphill. Not much flat or downhill today. OG tells me it's mostly uphill for the next few days.Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. Today started a period of about 4 days of rain. We hiked in clouds for most of today. It was raining when we started, then just very foggy (from being in a cloud), and it's been raining quite hard since we arrived at the shelter. I was so surprised at myself this morning. After a whole bunch of beautiful sunny days (and pefect for hiking), and 2 nights in a motel room, I was extremely anxious to start out this morning. I think I was nervous because the weather is cold and wet. A couple nights of surviving this weather again, and I'll be okay (I think). When it's raining, you have to be careful of slipping - on moss covered rocks, wet roots, mud, etc. Since it's been dry for quite a few days, the mud wasn't too bad today except in some places. As it continues to rain, the mud will get worse.We were thrilled to see "Braid" here tonight. We met him at The Hiker Hostel our first night. He had hiked a couple days and then got a ride back to The Hiker Hostel for the night. The next day they took him back to the AT crossing where he was picked up.Yesteday I wrote about buying smaller pants, and this morning I realized that might worry some people (the weight loss when I didn't have much weight to lose to begin with). We are eating well. I don't expect to lose much more weight. (I started with 20 extra pounds that I looked forward to losing.) I can see my body getting toned, not getting skinny. This is quite an exercise program. Hiking up and down mountains with about 30 extra pounds (the backpack) on my back for 4 to 10 hours each day. (The length of time we hike depends on where we plan to stop each night.) I encourage others to try it. I'm loving this hike, and the people we meet! (I'm not loving the cold and rain, but you can't have this adventure without some crappy weather, so I accept it.)Old Goat & Check Six