Date: 2004-04-28
From: Wesser Bald shelter

To: NOC, Franklin, Hendersonville
Miles today: 5.7

The morning started out very cold. It wasn't a sub 40 degree night but it came close. But, again, my Nunatak BackCountry Blanket and two blue pads kept me nice and cozy on the shelter floor. I left the shelter about 8 o'clock, an average start. Did a few ups and downs until I decided I was too hot and stopped to take off my legs (the zip-off lower parts of my pants), long sleeve poly top and fleece long johns. Yeah, that's right. Right on the trail. If only ya coulda' been there. It was a great show.Great views south from several peaks along the trail, which seemed to run from peak to peak along a narrow ridge. Reached a steep turn in the trail after about an hour. Spectacular views to the north from there. All the way past the Smokies, including Clingman's Dome. About that time I could start to hear the Nantahala River running through the gorge. Once I got down to a certain altitude everything just seemed to turn a bright, vibrant green. I passed through one hollow which at first smelled sweet and fragrant then, all of a sudden, turned spicy and fragrant. As I walked one portion, I concentrated on looking at some small, yellow wildflowers on the right side of the trail. I bent over memorize what one looked like so I could look it up later. As I straightened up I caught a flash of orange chest high and on the left of the trail. I almost missed it because I was looking the other way. It turned out to be a wild flame azalea.The descent was long and my feet moaned and groaned and whined every step of the way. they're turning into real weenies. I gotta admit they have their reasons, though. I finally reached the NOC and Knuckles and JP were there to meet me. Got a big hug from Knuckles. They were waiting for Moxie and (The Evil Dr.) Whoa so they could all start for Fontana. Moxie and (The Evil Dr.) Whoa headed into Bryson City yesterday and have not been seen since. Most of the other hikers at the shelter beat me down the trail. They were hanging around too: Alexa, Regular Brian, Chuggs. Olivia and Nitro from yesterday were also there. Everyone was trying not to sucked into the zero day black hole so soon after Franklin. Samurai bruised his hip on the mudslide two days ago and was taking a zero, but he is planning to head for Fontana tomorrow anyway.I arranged a shuttle to CMTF to pick up my car and was pleasantly surprised by the route the driver chose. It seems you don't have to take 28 south from 19 to get to Franklin. There is a short cut that runs along the Little Tennessee River and it completely eliminates all those crazy curves that are the Bryson City Highway. Anyway, I picked up my car, returned a library book I found in a shelter, made sure I still had insurance, gassed up, checked my mail and set out for my storage locker in Hendersonville. Holiday Inn Express and MickeyD's for dinner.One last thing. This is really obvious from the Blue Ridge Parkway, but not so obvious from the trail and I didn't at first believe that it was a big deal at the altitudes down here in North Carolina. There really is a large difference in the plants which have bloomed, budded and leaved down low and those which have not yet bloomed up high. The temperature difference can be large too. I wrote before about how as I hiked down to the NOC at 1750' from the Wesser Bald shelter at 4115', everything just seemed to be green all of a sudden. Everything seemed to warm up too, as shown by the fact that I completely changed my clothes for comfort as I got lower down. I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway between Waynesville at 1800'(?) up to 6200' on the parkway and back down to Asheville and the change was very obvious because I went from down to up and back down all in the space of an hour. It started out lush and green, but as I climbed there were fewer and fewer green trees. There were all the usual green plants at higher altitudes, like rhododendron and spruce, but any plant which sheds leaves in the fall and buds in the spring was not yet out. It was probably 20 to 25 degrees cooler at those higher altitudes, too. As I descended again to exit at Asheville, I seemed to be driving through a long, green tunnel, much as hikers walk through a long green AT tunnel later in the season. There were even trees growing from the cliff faces and hanging over the road. Some of the trees hanging over the road were flowering and had already dropped some of their petals on the road. The grass growing right up to the roadside was already high and a deep, lush green. The lateness of the hour and the shady side of the mountains made it seem even more lush. But, higher up, the area of the Graveyard (something?) was the complete opposite. For several days I have been seeing small trees which have either not lost their dead leaves from last fall or are budding in some way I have never seen before. When the sun catches the leaves they glow and the result is a bright sunny spot floating in an otherwise drab landscape. Sometimes the trees are grouped together, but sometimes they are spotted among other trees and with their foliage and the light each tree stands out from its neighbors. In the area of the Graveyard (something?) I looked down on a valley not far below. It was all browns and scrub. I could see a creek with a fly fisherman. A trail ran along the creek. There were a number of those trees, widely spread, catching the setting sun and reflecting the light in an otherwise sere landscape. The feeling there was still one of winter.