Date: 2015-05-05
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: elk Banner NC
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up this morning and was excited to see the view first thing in the morning. The sun was rising and it was amazing! I used that privy with a view and it wasn't as weird as I thought it would be, what with no door. Only the creatures saw me and hopefully they won't be scarred for life. We started out and we were all in good moods. Ready for a day of hiking! I had looked at the AWOL guide and knew I had a few hills to climb. One of them, Hump Mountain, had a notation in the book- NOBOs have several false summits. Meh, I thought. I'm used to that. A false summit is when you climb and you THINK you have gone to the top of a mountain, but then you turn the corner and discover that there is a large climb you didn't see. It happens a lot, so I wasn't worried. The first couple of climbs leading up to Hump Mountain were fairly intense. I was already tired when I saw the trail snaking up a HUGE bald. I thought- well , maybe that is a different trail. No such luck. I trudged up. I could see C.Shell ahead by 1/4 mile. She is a strong hiker- she just plugs the miles away. I put my head down and hiked. I was dying! It was such an intense climb and it was long. I finally got to the top- thank you sweet baby Jesus- but, it was not the top. Turned a corner and saw another huge climb. No. No. Yes. Up I went. The views were amazing, but I was exhausted. Finally got to the top. Nope. Turned another corner and saw another steep climb. Holy hell. This happened another time or two and I have an editing suggestion for AWOL. Instead of several false summits, a HEINOUS number of false summits. I wanted to lay down on the trail. I soon got my chance when my hiking pole got tangled up in my legs and I took a very unglamorous tumble down into the grass on my cheek, rear end in the air. It wasn't as impressive as my flying face plant of a few days ago and I looked around to make sure nobody saw me. The hike was gorgeous today. It was challenging though. We were at the end of our travels through North Carolina and the trail threw everything it had at us. Balds didn't take you down? How about twisty gigantic exposed roots to walk on for miles. How about treacherous downs with hundreds of feet drop offs. How about a trail that takes you up and over giant boulders. Trail crews were working on this day to cover the exposed roots and were hauling huge logs up the trail. I finally reached a sign that said LEAVING NORTH CAROLINA. I thought about the first day in this state, how hard it was and how I felt like the trail was repelling me back to Georgia. It ushered me out in the same manner, on my butt. Challenging, beautiful, incomparable Balds, North Carolina- you whipped me good!We made our way to the road crossing at Elk Park NC and were picked up by a friend of D.Ni and CShell. His name is Dave, and he built a house in top of a mountain in Banner Elk. When I walked in that house, it literally took my breath away. Huge windows to capture views on all sides of the house. Absolutely heaven. Dave shared a couple of very nice reds with us after we showered. We did some laundry then went to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Boone. It was a lovely stay, very rejuvenating. Back on the trail tomorrow!