Date: 2010-04-25
From: Deep Gap

To: NOC
Miles today: 51.7
Weather: broken clouds

Tuesday, 4/20/10We were lucky this was a zero day since there was a light rain. Packed the car leaving Hiawassee and moving to Otto south of Franklin. Stopped at waterfalls along the way. Glen Falls 3 miles south of Highlands on 106 was a 1.5 mi round trip down a long pine needle path. We had several viewing points with different falls along the way. The uphill climb back gave us some exercise for the day.On our drive from Highlands to Franklin, we saw waterfalls we had seen on our gem mining trip with Mom and Mark several years ago on our way to Jasper, Ga, and Florida. We saw Bridal Veils Falls where you can drive under the falls; Dry Falls where you can walk down and under the falls, and Callusuja Falls.We enjoyed lunch at Hidden Gem Caf©, got fudge at the candy shop, and drove to our new cabin up a steep gravel road. The views of the mountains to the East are fantastic here. We had a great vegetarian meatloaf for dinner.Bill and Dave joined us for the night and we made plans for our upcoming hikes.Wednesday, 4/21/10, 13.1 milesAfter a breakfast of pancakes, Dave and Bill took our car to Deep Gap and started hiking north. We took their car to Mooney Gap and started hiking south.We saw many people we had met in the last few days hiking north and enjoyed chatting with them. Full Tilt and Options said they were from Lexington, KY, and that we should visit the Red River Gorge. I shared that I had attended one year at Asbury Methodist College in Wilmore, Ky, and had attended the Salvation Army services in Lexington and Frankfurt. Full Tilt said she taught high school to many of the Asbury faculty children. John from Scotland is hiking the AT for the 2nd time, having completed it before in 2003. He¢s also hiked the PCT and CDT. He and his wife will be hiking in Europe together where she can stay in hostels along the way.We saw Tristan, Robin and Ben again at Carter Gap Shelter. They¢d spent the rainy night in the old shelter and found it kept them dry. Tristan shared that he finally made corn bread with baking powder over the fire so it actually rose and tasted like corn bread. They planned to get to Franklin on schedule to meet Ben¢s girlfriend who would take them to a three day rock concert in NC. We also saw Blaze and Hawk again. Blaze will continue north when Hawk flips 5/31 to go to Maine to attend her sister¢s graduation. Hawk plans to go to college in the fall in psychology, physical therapy or landscape architecture after quitting 11 years in the Air Force. We finally saw Rufus again on Standing Indian Mountain. He had taken a day off to sight see Helen and Hiawassee. We saw Bill and Dave after about 6 iles and exchanged keys. We completed 13.1 miles today.We picked up Fields hitchhiking from Winding Stair Gap and dropped him at Budget Inn. We had dinner at home, tried the hot tub which had a lot of gnats all over it, then got ready for the next day before watching Idol Gives Back.Thursday, 4/22/10Drove past Mooney Gap to see Mooney Falls where I tripped and fell on the way down for the view. Then we came back to the Gap and began our hike for the day. We saw Car 54 and Where Are You, as well as the hikers who signed. We learned their names are Roni/Ram Sam (from NJ) and Roger/Adventurous Cane (from PA?). They gave us a website to check out and I told them they could see our journal on trailjournals.com. We hiked up a steep Albert Mountain but it wasn¢t as bad as I was led to believe. I was able to hike with poles the whole way up without pulling myself up on rocks. We climbed the fire tower which tested my heights issue for a 360 degree view of the mountains and valleys. We met up with Dave and Bill and exchanged keys.When we reached Rock Gap at 7.5 miles, we saw Blaze, Hawk, Why Not and Sky High enjoying a snack break. They planned to hike to the Winding Stair Gap and hitch hike out to Franklin for an overnight. As we were leaving, Dave had his second fall on the trip (pun, ha ha). We started driving out and realized we were going the wrong way and corrected ourselves. We drove by Winding Stair Gap to see if there were hitch hiking through hikers and saw Robin, Tristan and Ben waiting for Ron Haven from Budget Inn to pick them up. There was a group of 6 or 7 people giving out food/snacks to through hikers. They made sure Ron had already left and on his way and we left them.We met Dave and Bill at the Boiler Room for a salad bar lunch before driving them to see the waterfalls we had seen. We also went to the ¢highest falls East of Mississippi¢ ¢ White Falls ¢ outside of Cashiers, NC. We had tofu pups for dinner, popped in the hot tub and watched Bones before retiring.Friday, 4/23/10When we reached Wayah Gap to begin our hike, I called Dave/Bill to see if they wanted to add 4 miles because it would be easy for us to drive a little further and rain was predicted for tomorrow¢s 13.5 mile hike. We decided to wait because it would be all up hill for Dave/Bill. When we met them in the middle, Dave decided we should complete our hike, pick them up, drive up to Wayah Bald, and walk down the 4 miles together. That worked well and allowed us to shave our next day¢s 13.5 mile hike down to 9.4.As we walked our first stretch to Rock Gap, we saw Mike, Cliff, Rest Stop, Bill, Rick, Orbit, Winston, Ku, and Jay Bird. After our shuttle back to Wayah Bald, we then passed several of them again which caused them to wonder how we happened to appear twice on their same day hike. That was fun explaining our shuttle system.After driving Bill/Dave back up to Wayah Bald to pick up their car, we headed back to Franklin. We stopped at Winding Stair Gap to make sure there weren¢t any hikers who needed a ride. We took another way into town to see where it would lead and found a Goodwill store. I stopped and bought a few inexpensive outfits for work. It was like being at a giant yard sale. Lots of fun.We met Dave and Bill for dinner at Cody¢s ¢ salad, quesidea, potato skins and raspberry smoothie. Yum!Enjoyed the hot tub after getting ready for the next day¢s hike ¢ packing pack with snacks, water and lunch and reviewing directions for shuttling.Saturday, 4/24/10Met Dave and Bill who followed us for about an hour to Tellico Gap and then shuttled with Dave/Bill in their car to Wayah Bald. Hiked South to North. Didn¢t run into anyone we knew today. I think they got an early start from the shelters to reach Nantahala Outdoor Center where they could get lodging out of the predicted hail storm for the night. Saw where Bill and Rest Stop had signed the shelter register and put a note in for the upcoming hikers to see our hiking schedule for today and tomorrow.I thought it was mostly a downhill hike but found we had a long, steep 1.5 mile climb up the mountain. Had some cool views ¢ first on top of Wayah Bald where the clouds were drifting between the mountains and valleys, then later along the trail. We made it almost to the end before it started raining lightly and then thundering. It wasn¢t until we were in the car a ways before it started pouring for the rest of the afternoon.We stopped by Boiling Pot for salad, veg burger/fries. Then we went to Dairy Queen for a special Dave had heard about. While we were eating our ¢Blizzards¢, Dave and Bill popped in to get theirs. They had just done laundry nearby and were waiting for the dryer to finish. We had another ice cream while we were waiting for them to finish theirs! Whoa! That was a lot!Then home again to our last night at our Otto, NC, cabin. We packed up and got organized for the next day¢s departure. I sat on the screened in porch to type on my M Word journal entries. I listened to the rain on the roof and looked at the beautiful mountains surrounding the cabin. We¢ll be in the hot tub soon and getting cooled down by the rain falling on us.Another perfect day.Sunday, 4/25/10Wow! What a rain storm last night¢thunder, lightening, wind, and lots of pouring down rain. Yet this morning it is now quiet and peaceful with no rain predicted for the day.Packed up the car to move to Robbinsville cabin after our hike, met Dave/Bill who followed us to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to leave a car, then drove to Tellico Gap.It was windy and sunny as we began our hike up the mountain. It was supposed to be mostly downhill, but we sure had a lot of little steep uphill climbs which were wearing me out. However, the views were worth every step! The area of rocks on the edge of a cliff called ¢Jump Off¢ offered the best view of the day ¢ wide, expansive 360 degree views of mountains upon mountains looking on the Nantahala Gorge area. We had lunch at Riverside Inn at the NOC. Ran into Nick who was getting off the trail due to a family problem. He said Orbit, Bill and Rest Stop had made it through and got off to an early start this morning.Bill and Dave came over to see our place after the owner¢s sister cleaned the hot tub and explained how to operate everything. Bill and Dave said they provided rides to Stecoah Gap for Orbit, Rest Stop and another hiker who had just gotten food supplies in Robbinsville.We got situated in our new cabin with beautifully decorated rooms. Our king size master bedroom with bath had a bed that was almost as high as the mountains we climbed today! We enjoyed sitting on the porch listening to the creek rush by right under our deck, spring peepers peep, and chimes chiming on the porch.Tomorrow brings a tougher hike ¢ 13.6 miles with a lot of long ups and downs.Love and Peace