Date: 2016-04-01
From: Wayah Road

To: Tellico Gap
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

The weather last night was wild. The rain started in the late afternoon and was intermittent until after dark. Then it really started pouring. Our cabin has a tin roof and it was loud, complete with thunder and lightning. Around 7 pm I got a notification on my iPhone that the Weather Service had issued a tornado watch for the county where we¢re staying, but I don¢t think the threat materialized. The rain & wind didn¢t abate and I had a hard time getting to sleep. When we woke at 5 am, it was still raining hard so we slept in a little longer and a half hour later it quit. We expected that the trails would be very wet and the streams would be difficult to cross.Princess started hiking SoBo at Tellico Gap. We drove up in the dark and the last mile or two was a winding gravel road. The trailhead at the gap was shrouded in mist with just enough light seeping through to hike. Princess set out and I drove back down the access road and on to the other end of our day¢s hike. When I parked the car at Wayah Rd and started NoBo back toward Princess, dawn revealed an overcast sky with light drizzle and fog. I pulled on my Z-pack poncho to keep my slack pack dry. The drizzle slowed over several hours and finally stopped. But the steady drip from the fog condensing on the overhead trees lasted much longer (tree rain). The good news was that the temp was very mild, great for hiking.For the most part, the trail handled the downpour well and was still firm enough for good footing. However, there were spots where the water just didn¢t drain fast enough and I had to do some side-stepping and rock dancing. I did manage to avoid slipping or tripping, mud is hard to brush off your clothes. Probably the worst part was several sections where the water was flowing down the trail, the trail was the drainage ditch.I didn¢t see very many hikers today. A few were waking up and breaking camp in the first couple of hours, I met Princess midway and then passed a few more in the last couple of miles. The Cold Spring Shelter is right on the trail and three hikers were still there as I went by. It was late morning and they had their gear spread out - probably trying to dry it. I took a picture of the stone tower on Wayah Bald. I shoot it every year, its an impressive stone structure. The initial tower was made of wood and used as a fire lookout. In the 1930¢s the CCC rebuilt the tower from quarry stone and it had a public viewing platform as well as accommodations for 2 fire watchmen on the top floor. Apparently it was a popular spot, the kiosk indicates that 9,000 people signed the visitor book in 1937. The AT crosses a number of fire towers (Albert Mtn just a few days ago). Essentially all of them have been deactivated. In some cases, all that remains are the concrete footers for the structure. Perhaps satellite systems do the watching today, and forest management techniques like controlled burns have reduced the hazard? Today was not a good viewing day, all I could see was a cloud, so I took another pic of the tower and pushed on. The climb to Wayah was a long tough uphill grind and later I faced the same challenge in climbing up to Cooper Ridge Bald and Rocky Bald. All of these are in the vicinity of 5,000 ft. At least the sun had broken out for the latter climb and I had some good views from the ridge.For me, the end of the hike was a very steep descent. It would have been tough on a dry day, not to mention adding mud and wet rocks. I felt sorry for Princess all the way down, she had to hike up the same slope at the beginning of her hike.We¢re packing up tonight, it¢s time to say farewell to the cabin and move on to Bryson City.