Date: 2009-04-03
From: Wayah Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

Captain D and I ate a quick breakfast, packed up and began slogging down the muddy trail. Much of the morning was spent walking in a mucky, muddy, mess where the mud was over the top of my shoes many times. There was only one major climb before we would arrive at our destination for the day Wesser Bald Shelter. We were passed by two young men at least four different times during the day. they would take time to rest, eat lunch, etc and then pass again. We never stopped except to grab a quick energy bar or readjust our packs.The last time they passed us during the days only major climb they pointed out that it was just 5.7 more miles into the NOC beyond reached the Wesser Bald Shelter, plus they said it was all down hill going from just above 5000 feet to 1700 feet at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We arrived at the Wsser bald Shelter just after 2:00 having already covered 11+ miles. It was an easy decision and decided to press on the NOC and see if we could get a ride into Bryson City, NCIt was quite the adventure for the next three hours. Captain d and i had envisioned a gradual sloping trail into the NOC with just one minor up hill according to my elevation map.Well much to our surprise at times we had to sit on our butts and slide down a rock face to the next set of very sleep and slippery rock steps, tree roots etc.We finally got most of the way down our descent and then began hiking through many rhododendron covered trails with all kind of roots to fall over. The couple of miles the trail meandered through many steep valleys where the trail was very slippery, narrow, and was slanted down into the valley. If you slipped of the trail you would probably slide down hundreds of feet into the valley and then would have to climb back up to the trail. We arrived at the NOC about 5:00 having covered 17 miles in a little over 8 hours. Needless to say we were both wasted. We check at the NOC trying to find a room but all they had was a cabin that ran &197.00 for the night. I called the hotel in Bryson City and they had a room for us for Friday night. We looked for a ride into Bryson City but did not have much luck. A young man who worked at the NOC said he would give us a ride but he had to work until 6:00. Captain D and i walked out to the highway and decide we would try to hitch a ride. While standing there Sun Seeker came by she had arrived at the NOC and was spending the night. We wished her well and stood on the side of the road for about 20 minutes. A young man from Alabama finally stopped and gave us a ride into Bryson City. As luck had it he had a six pack of beer that he shared with us. He swore he wasn't drinking & driving. the beer surely tasted great. When we arrived at the hotel he gave us another beer for the hotel. We crawled up to the room and enjoyed a hot shower. After cleaning up ourselves and our gear as best we could ( I cannot believe how nasty our equipment and ourselves can get after just 3 days on the trail)we headed out in search of food.I cannot thank my good friend Captain D for keeping me company this week. In five days of actual hiking this past week we covered 67.5 miles with two days of 15.9 and 17 miles, that was an average of 13.5 miles. He was a trooper and was a great help especially all the times i thought the trail went one way and actually it went somewhere else! He also kept me entertained especially with his alternative stove fuel the other night. The good thing is that we did not burn down the shelter!I look forward to many more adventures with him in the future