Date: 2006-10-09
From: Fontana Village, North Carolina

To: Hiawassee, Georgia
Miles today: 96.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, we just left Great Smoky Mountain National park behind us and are down to the last section in North Carolina. Fontana Village is a small resort community with very limited services, but it does have the bare necessities. We got a shuttle into town and back to the trail for 2 dollars apiece which was convenient. The general store was expensive and poorly stocked, but we got by. Ramen Noodles were 45 cents per package. Outrageous!!!! Got food and fuel and quickly vacated that place.    Back on the trail we immediately climbed up a very steep hill which was very much unlike the well graded terrain through the Smokies. We only had 5 miles to go till our shelter however, and there was plenty of time. That evening we tented beside the Cable Gap Shelter. Also at the shelter was a friendly backpacking homeless gentleman who was 61 years of age. His trailname was "gums" since he lacked the pleasure of owning any teeth. He had built a fine fire, and we sat around talking with him until we were to tired to converse.   The next day was alot of steep ups and downs. We passed through eleven separate gaps during the course of the day. Most were tolerable in their depth, but some were at the bottom of long ascents and descents. Both Jon and I felt sluggish that day and we ate lunch after only 7.5 miles. Leaving the lunching area at two o'clock we still had 15.5 miles to go and both of us had resigned ourselves to walking in the dark. I moved along swiftly however and made it to the Nantahala Outdoor Center before the sun had set. This was only .8 miles from camp so I took a nice long break and ate a fresh apple while waiting for Jon. He didn't show up so I moved on to the shelter, finding it full. He got to camp minutes before it started to rain. Luckily, we got the tent up and rode out the storm in comfort.   Our second morning out of Fontana greeted us with a very rigorous climb the eventually dropped me at 5,080 feet where I ate lunch. The weather had cleared and around mid-day the sun broke through the clouds. It had been warmer for a number of days, but during lunch I noticed a significant lowering of the temperature. Again I didn't see jon during the day and pressed on through the afternoon ahead of him. Sometime during that afternoon I climbed up to the top of Wayah Bald(5,342feet). There was a nice stone tower on the summit and it afforded a spectacular 360 degree view of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The top was furnished with great interperative signs that showed us the name and profile of nearly every mountain within our eyesight. In the evening hours we enjoyed a nice long descent and a shorter ascent to Silar's Bald which had a nice shelter. That evening was cold and a stiff wind was blowing.    After two 23 mile days we were pleased to only have 19.6 miles to go on each of our last two days into Hiawassee. From Silar's Bald shelter I left "The General" still asleep in his bag. The mornings hike was a spectacular descent into winding stair gap. In the gap I had a nice conversation with 3 local farmers who were up early for a little weekend bout of horse trading. They had a great time talking with me and we joke around for 15-20 minutes. After 2 days of steep ups and downs both of us noticed a really pleasing change in terrain the last two days of that section. The trail maintainers had done such a nice job it was difficult to tell when you were going up or down a hill. The weather was cool, clear, and beautiful. Miles absolutly flew by. I ate lunch at a campsite 10 miles into the day and was lucky enough to receive cookies and conversation from a group of Baptist Youth Groupers. The afternoon provided another specacular view from a tower atop of Albert Mountain.    Our last day in North Carolina was also a pleasant one. morning was punctuated with a climb up Standing Indian Mountain. That is to be our last peak over 5,000 feet in elevation. The summit was covered in trees however, and clouds rolled in while we were up there. On the descent jon stopped off at a shelter to escape the rain and eat lunch. I choose to don my raingear and hike a few more miles before eating. The poor weather didn't last long and by 12:45 I was able to sit down without getting wet. That afternoon I ended up hiking 9.2 miles without any water due in part to my laziness and in part to two dry springs. In bly gap we passed a grizzly old oak tree that signified our official enterance into Georgia. We are now in the last state of 14. Throughout the afternoon the temperatures warmed up as we got lower and lower. By evening it was pleasant and we shared the Plumorchard Gap Shelter with a friendly group of weekend hikers.    Today is the morning of October the ninth and we headed into Hiawassee for the day. We now only have 66.6 miles of trail left to Springer and 4 1/2 days of time. On Saturday October the 14th of the present year we will finish the trail and meet Jon's Mother(Dorothy) and brother(Nick) on the Summit of Springer Mountain. We will have walked 2,175 miles in 4 1/2 months(136 days). It has been a great trip, but by now we are both anticipating the end.