Date: 2013-03-15
From: Wayah Bald Shelter

To: A. Rufus Morgan Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: few clouds

Thismorning moved slow, as usual I was one of the last thru-hikers out of camp. Ben and I who were up later than the rest enjoying the fire were THE LAST out. I started off confused when I hit the trail solo. For the first 20 minutes I was wondering if I was going North or South on the trail, I normally pass atleast a few people in the beginning but I had left so much later that it didn't happen. At that 20 minute mark I remember that the sun rises in the east, and with steady footing I confidently progressed North. I thought alot about who I've hiked with, the seemingly countless number of mountains I've climbed and when/where/if Chickadee, Molly, or A-Dog and I would ever meet up on the trail again. Today I hiked quite a bit with Shepard, people tell me i'm a good pacer. Which is good, cause I hike harder when I am pacing. When I'm being paced I rarely care enough to keep up so I either pass or fall behind. I caught up with Chris, Cass, Tall-Boy, Chinstrap and friends atop Wesser Bald which was a hard and fairly long climb. Most of them probably stopped at the Wesser Bald shelter to Water-Up, where I didn't. Wesser Bald provided some of the most beautiful scenary to date. The top of this fire tower wasn't locked so I took a few pictures (while being blown around like a rag doll) and tried out the video on my GoPro camera, i'm curious to see how that turns out.I was glad to have caught up with Chris and Cass, we haven't ACTUALLY hiked together for days. Whenever we do, the conversation and rate of movement is always satisfying. We do alot of talking about what will come next on the trail as well as after the trail, it's thought provoking times with what I would consider best friends. During whatever point it was that Chris had learned that my trailjournal is trailjournal.com/theroosterwalks he finds it hilarious(as do I) to narrate the things I do such as:The Rooster WalksThe Rooster DrinksThe Rooster PoopsThe Rooster TypesThe Rooster GroansThe Rooster Cranks(When I'm Cranky)The list goes ooooon and on, which there are far more hilarious examples where timing is a neccesity to the full hilarity of the situations.We finally made it the shelter and I made my way straight for the water source, I will not skip a chance to fill my water bottles again. I was uncomfortable. We were .5 miles away from the Nantahala Outdoor Center so our excitement for the next day was evident. Followed by our visit to the NOC will be an opportunity to fulfill all our hiking desires with a 8 miles climb of 3000 vertical feet.The last highlight of my day was having some cell service as I lay in my hammock(that I pitched in the middle of the literal trail). A-Dog IS on the trail a few days back, Molly is 12 miles back aaaaand feeling fine. Also, Chickadee and her dad will be at the NOC tommorow by noon, which is great. I was hoping we'd get back on track to hike through the smokies. I'm not opposed by any means of hiking alone. I don't want Chris and Cass to feel that I'm relying on them to hike with me. The fact is simply I don't want to hike alone, through the smokies. The talk makes them out to be this big bad beast, of which I know I'm ready for. I've promised my mother that I would be safe and make smart decisions, one of them is simply to hike with a buddy through the unknown. The 100 mile wilderness in maine will be no different I suspect.