Date: 2022-10-23
From: Wayah Bald Mile 120.7

To: Established site Albert Fire Tower Mile 100.9
Miles today: 19.8

Orchid and I don¢t have to wake up early to catch the sunrise anymore as we¢ve been waking up in the dark for a while. It¢s just typically the woods or mountains are in the way. I packed up and then climbed up to the top of the observation tower to eat breakfast and watch the sunrise which did not disappoint.  Coming down from the top I took my first fall that didn¢t involve something slippery. The trail had a gradual descent with far apart steps. I tripped over something and started falling forward. Tried to recover but the downhill and steps did me in and eventually I went down hard. Tried to roll but the weight of the pack prevented that and I ended up landing on my right side and doing a bit of a face plant. Good scrapes on the right forearm, elbow, shoulder and both knees. Annoyingly I scratched my glasses pretty good although fortunately mainly in the transition reading glasses area. I took a while to run through the injury checklist which freaked out Orchid as she caught up as I wasn¢t really moving as I did that. Left knee is going to be sore but overall it could have been far worse. Orchid and I climbed up Siler Bald and took the blue blaze trail up to the top of the mountain for some fine views of the surrounding mountains fall foliage. Coming down from the bald I could really feel the knee. From here we¢re heading to Winding Stair Gap where we are meeting Coach. As you know, Coach finished his Thru Hike in Hot Springs almost two weeks ago. However he¢s been getting antsy and decided he wanted to join us for our finish. NOBO¢s have the 100 mile wilderness where hikers can join them for the finish. Coach is dubbing the next 110 miles the ¢Thrillderness¢ from Franklin NC to Springer Mt GA. He has brought the band bus for this journey- a Martin backpacker guitar and four harmonicas. It¢s about a six pound addition to his pack. So it¢s back to the COD for the Thrillderness. It seems like the fall weather has returned. We¢re getting highs around 70 and lows in the 30s to 40s. This is more like what I was expecting and it¢s great hiking weather. Comfortable, for the most part, in shorts and short sleeves during the day and great sleeping weather at night. I had a period of time where I wasn¢t eating nearly as much food during the day. I had eliminated a second cookie and a granola bar. Yesterday noticed appetite increasing and today I ran out of snacks in the snack pouch and energy. Had to stop and raid the food bag to make the final climb up to the Albert Fire Tower. This is another planned sunset and sunrise stop. There were two section hikers already there and not a lot of space but we managed to shoehorn our three tents into a relatively small but flat space. Another two section hikers arrived after us. We ate dinner and then caught the spectacular sunset. Afterwards we sat around the fire and coach was playing and singing for quite a while. We continued chatting for a long time after the concert ended. It was a great way to start the Thrillderness adventure as we count down the final hundred miles.Steps 42800Weather Forecast: 70/34 sunny