Date: 2015-04-07
From: Wayah Gap

To: small campsite just south of Wesser Bald
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

Today started with a delicious breakfast cooked by the wonderful Maggie, chef and all around can do lady of the Aquone Hostel. I was really bummed because I had lost my earbuds the day before, which are not difficult to replace, but the adaptor for my life proof case is really hard to replace so the option of listening to music was out. Wiggy brought all of us- Me, Katwalk, Loon, and Harley, to the drop off point where we finished hiking yesterday. They all encouraged me to go look by the tree I had sat next to the day before while waiting for the shuttle to see if the earbuds were there. I was 10 feet away when I saw the yellow ear buds. I was so happy- I did a happy dance! Thank you to everyone who decided to just leave them- that was real trail magic! The first part of the hike was a very long up. It was steep in parts, but mostly it was just relentless. About 3 miles up with a 1000 foot elevation gain. Katwalk was slack packing, so the girl donned her wings and flew up the mountain. I did my usual trudge. The hike is getting so pretty and it is really special to witness the growth of the plants, the green emerging. Trees are starting to flower, I hear more animals (still haven't seen any) and it is so gradual and yet it feels sudden too. My trail legs are starting to emerge as well. They are nowhere near in, but my baby steps rest often routine has turned to bigger steps and rest less often. It is exciting to be growing in strength as the woods around me wakes up from winter. The trail has been lined with a velvety moss for some time, and today, as we get in to the North Carolina Balds, the moss is giving way to grass. Not the tough and pointy St. Augustine grass that I'm used to in Florida, but the soft luxurious kind, the kind of grass that makes you want to kick your boots off and walk barefoot in it. The highlight of the day was the stone tower on Wayah Bald. Brilliant 360 degree views and a guy named 6 string, from Germany, playing his little trail guitar and singing. It was definitely a moment. Kat and I split up after the the tower, she rocketed ahead. I started looking for a place to camp around mile 10. Cold Spring Shelter (see pics) was full. I hiked on. I got to a site where a couple had a fire going. I asked if I could crash the party and camp there. Welllllll.....I guess so... Was the response. I didn't want to horn in on a cool little romantic camping adventure so I hiked on. I got to Tellico Gap by 7:00. The sun was going down and there was nowhere to camp. I had no choice but to climb Wesser Mountain. I had 1.4 miles of steep up and only a small bit of light left. I put my headlamp around my head and my mace in a convenient pocket and headed up. The good new is that the higher I went, the more sunshine I had! I found a cute little campsite just south of the bald and the tower and set up. I almost knocked myself out with the bag of rocks trying to hang my bear bag as it came plummeting down towards my upturned forehead after a bad throw. It missed my by inches. Exhausted, I just had cold cereal for dinner. It made me think of when my kids were babies and I would feed them in the middle of the night. I always ate a bowl of cereal while I fed them. Talked with my husband and my daughter Zoe, now I am ready to sleep.