Date: 2016-04-02
From: Tellico Gap

To: NOC
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: few clouds

Today Princess & I hiked together for a change. Instead of the key-swap, we hired a shuttle driver. We left our car at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) where the shuttle driver picked us up, and then he drove us to the Tellico Gap trailhead (where we left off yesterday afternoon). So the two of us hiked NoBo from Tellico to the NOC where we picked up our car and drove to our new home base in Bryson City. Leaving the cabin was a little tough. After 3 days we had become accustomed to the cabin, we knew where things were, we had our routine set and we knew the roads in the area. But Princess had us well prepared. Everything was packed up and ready to load in the car. The weather cooperated, no rain, so it was easy to pack the car. The drive to the NOC was easy and we were 15 minutes early. Our shuttle driver, Wiggy, was a previous thru-hiker who now runs the Nantahala Mountain Lodge, and we had a great conversation with him on the ride to Tellico. He knows the area and he knows what hikers need. If we actually do this hike again, I¢m sure we will arrange to stay in his facility and he provides slack packing transportation from Franklin to Fontana. Despite weather forecasts to the contrary, today was another perfect hiking day. Chilly at the outset and then very comfortable after the first climb. We had an initial climb up to Wesser Bald (we bypassed the observation tower which was off-trail), and then a long descent, It¢s a good thing it was long since the elevation dropped 2,500 ft. Portions of the descent were a little tricky and there were opportunities to make a bad mistake. There was a point where the trail made a turn that I didn¢t recognize and after about a half dozen steps I realized that except for a few small bushes, there was no was to go any further except straight down. So I took a few photos of the incredible long-range view and then retreated back to the trail. Later I realized that I had discovered what is know as the ¢Jumpoff¢. For the most part, the trail today was well-maintained, relatively easy and we made pretty good time for us, just a little over 20 minute miles.Just a little before the Jumpoff, we passed a hiker that Princess has met several times named Scooter, and I¢ve included her photo. She¢s from New Hampshire, so she¢s very familiar with the rocky climbs and descents, and she¢s basically hiking home. Later in the hike, as we navigated around a sweeping turn in a section of open woods, Princess saw a hiker some distance ahead of us approach an orange object on the trail. He stopped and picked it up and as we came up to him, Princess recognized the orange object as a ground cover that belonged to ¢The Spaniard¢, another hiker she has seen several times. The hiker who picked it up had a really huge pack, so Princess volunteered to tote the ground cover on to NOC in hopes of connecting with The Spaniard. She saw him yesterday and knew that he couldn¢t be too far ahead. So we rolled it up and stuck it in her pack.We finished the rest of the trail without notable incident and as we crossed the road to the NOC, Princess saw The Spaniard and hailed him. Sure enough he recognized his ground cover immediately. He realized that he had dropped it, but didn¢t know where and wasn¢t willing to go back looking for it. He was very appreciative and offered her a coffee in gratitude, and she suggested that a beer would be preferable. So it came to be that we were in the bar at the NOC while she was slugging down a draft at 11:00 in the morning. I was driving, so I abstained. We had a fun conversation with The Spaniard. He is from Malaga, Spain and has hiked for a very long time in many places. Last year (I believe) he did the Pacific Crest Trail, quite a feat - longer than the AT, more remote and more scenic. Its one of the ¢triple crown¢ hikes in the US. He gave us a lot of good pointers regarding the El Camino hike in Spain, something that we would like to do in the future. When Princess finished her beer, he was ready to get back on the trail, so we said our goodbyes and he headed on up the trail. We¢re hoping that he will stay in touch.Following that excitement, we hopped in our car, made a quick excursion to our starting point for tomorrow¢s hike (to be sure we know exactly how to get there) and headed on into Bryson City to check into our new accommodations at the Fryemont Inn. We stayed at the Fryemont last year when Ranger and Gay were with us so it was somewhat familiar, although this time we¢re in a different building. After settling in and cleaning up, we headed out for a few supplies and then we got a text from Grasshopper, a 2014 thru-hiker who hiked with us for over a month. We¢ve communicated intermittently since then and he has been following this journal. He realized that we are not far from his home and he decided to came out for a hike in the same area and see if we could hook up. A couple of hours later, he joined us at the Nantahala Brewing Company and we downed some pints with him and his hiking partner, Kelly. We had a great time sharing old and new stories and later we segued into an Italian dinner. He hopes to do the PCT this year and we wish him luck. We may have an opportunity to hike with him in the next couple of weeks. It was really good to see him and we all had a great evening.