Date: 2017-03-08
From: Franklin, NC

To: Siler Bald
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

3/8/17 Siler Bald, NCMiles hiked: 114.1, Miles to go: 2075.7I awoke to beautiful blue skies and no rain! I planned to take the 11 am shuttle back to Rock Gap; however, I needed to resupply and figure out why my water filter was leaking. It was too far to walk to the Ingles, so i ended up resupplying at Dollar General. It's actually surprising how much food Dollar General carries. After resupplying, I went to the local outfitter store to see if I could get a new gasket for my Sawyer water filter. I filter or chemically treat all of my water. I've known too many hikers who have ended up with giardiasis to risk drinking untreated water. It turns out that Sawyer changed the design of their filters a couple of years ago because of the leaking issue I was experiencing. In the end, I ended up just replacing the filter. The motel offered free shuttle rides back to the trailhead. The bus was driven by Ron Haven, the owner of the Budget Inn. Ron is one of these larger than life characters that has owned five motels, been a professional wrestler, owned 90 rental units,restores older model pick up trucks and organizes gun shows. He also apparently knows just about everyone associated with the AT. Needless to say, the ride back to the trailhead was entertaining. Of course, when I started hiking out of Rock Gap, I immediately started climbing. A Gap is where two mountains meet and is lower than the summit of either mountain. So, naturally, most roads go through gaps. I consider "Gap" a four letter word. The first few miles after a town stop are always the worst. You are almost always climbing, your pack is heavy because you've just added several day's worth of food, and you are sluggish because you've eaten too much while in town. Before too long, though, you get into a rhythm and you start eating up the miles. After a couple of ups and downs I came to Winding Stair Gap and started the long climb to Siler Bald. On the way up the hill, a met an older couple coming down who had been out for a day hike. After exchanging pleasantries the man said, "Hey, how would you like an orange?" Trail magic. Score! I ate it with dinner. It was yummy. The clim to Siler Bald was almost four miles long and seemed to go on forever. The climb was well worth it though. Balds are grassy summits that occur in the Southern Appalachins. I have never heard a good explanation as to why some mountains have grass on the summit. I reached to summit of 5001 ft Siler Bald in the late afternoon as the shadows were getting long. It is a steep 0.2 mile climb to the actual summit from where the AT crosses Siler Bald. Once again, the climb was well worth it. 360 degree views of beautiful mountains. It was gorgeous. I decided to camp on Siler Bald; but, due to pretty windy conditions on the summit, I chose a campsite a little lower down that was out of the wind. Just as I started to set up my tent, who should show up but Courtney. It's funny how your hikes flow into and out of the hikes of those around you. While I finished setting up camp, Courtney decided to camp on the summit and climbed on up. After dinner, as it was beginning to get dark, I built a small fire. Pretty soon I see Courtney walking down from the summit. She joined me at the fire and we discussed our separate adventures since we'd last crossed paths. As the fire died down, she reluctantly trudged back to the summit, where I can hear the wind blowing pretty strongly. There are a bajillion stars in the sky and I'm ready for bed. Not an epic day like yesterday; but , a very pleasant one nonetheless.