Date: 2017-11-03
From: Locust Grove gap

To: Tellico Gap
Miles today: 18.6

Just one day after vowing to retire night hiking from my repertoire of thru-hiking skills, we're rushing down a hill trying to take advantage of the last tiny bit of twilight before it turns into fully fledged darkness.Failure? Short memory? My slowness, even by the standards of the officially slowest member of Team KRT?Instead I'm more than happy with this course of events, because it reflects the tramily's willingness to change the plan when events on the trail justify it -- and the truly gobsmacking sunset views from Wesser Bald Fire Tower were more than justification. In truth, the only reason we were heading down rather than camping on the tower itself was because we were being bribed with Bojangles cajun chicken biscuits, brought by some university friends of Sriracha and Sweetblood from North Carolina.We'd known about the Bojangles -- er, sorry, the reunion with Sriracha and Sweetblood's friends -- for a while, and that was part of the reason for hiking as far as we did the day before, because it put us in a position where we'd definitely reach Tellico Gap tonight. It was easy for us to get going this morning for that reason and also because at lunchtime, we were due to cross the Nantahala River, which was the site of the Nantahala Outdoor Center and its corresponding restaurant.(Did I mention that the second half of any thru hike revolves around landmarks of food rather than geography?)The immediate goal as I set off ahead of the others was the bald within a few miles of our campsite but the bad weather that had caused the rain overnight was hanging around, with cloud teasingly close to burning off denying me a view.I dropped into Cold Spring shelter to fill up with water but was amused to find a large empty bottle of Trader Joe's water in the shelter itself. "Pure New Zealand artesian spring water" was the claim on the label, which was enough to raise a smile for those like me from Christchurch, with its aquifer-sourced water system, because that's what we call tap water.Then there was a long descent down to Nantahala Outdoor Center, which was sited overlooking a white water kayaking course. The others were there and about half of us headed to the restaurant for an appropriate carbo-loading meal.The food was helpful because immediately afterwards, we faced a 4000ft ascent that felt -- and was! -- the biggest hill since The Priest, way back in northern Virginia. But unlike on that hill, the grade of the trail here was steady rather than steep and we had the added benefit of fall colours in the forest that were truly mesmerising. Near the top of the climb, there was a burned area which provided views off to the west, revealing the best autumn colours yet. Could it get better than this? (Spoiler alert, since I'm writing this months afterwards: no)After that, there was a gentle rollercoaster route along a ridgeline, with a gushing spring just before the final ascent to Wesser Bald Fire Tower at which I filled up for the night. These towers have been a mixed bag. Some have been awesome, while others were open but dilapidated, some have been too dangerous to climb and some have been locked. It turned out that this fire tower had burnt down or fallen over years ago but had been replaced relatively recently with a viewing platform.The others' packs showed they'd made the ascent and I followed suit, finding the tower had a grandstand view of one of the most spectacular sunsets of the entire hike. We had it to ourselves, with the exception of one local guy who'd walked up and gave us the beta that there was a fire trail that went straight to Tellico Gap, unlike the meandering AT route. The sunset kept getting better and better, which in turn made our departure later and later. And it really was only the obligation to meet Sriracha and Sweetbloods' friends that prompted us to leave, after which we hustled down the trail.It was still barely light enough when we reached the pass and found that the only apparent place to camp was a car parking zone. We set up a little reluctantly but with the understanding that when our Bojangles deliverers, Thomas, Katie and Alyssa, arrived, they'd park their car to stop others driving into our tents. We had a series of calls saying they were running late but since hunger is the best condiment, that meant we were even more vocal when they arrived around 9pm bearing Bojangles and beer.It was fun to meet them and to see Sriracha and Sweetblood tell them about the last five months on the trail.Life is good.AT fact of the day: I'm more hoping than certain, but I'd like to think that this is the last 4000ft climb we have to do before we finish the trail...