Date: 2004-02-12
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Start time: 0930End time: 1400Morning weather: cold and foggyAfternoon weather: rainy and foggyEvening weather: cloudy and coldBreakfast: CIB and fudge roundsLunch: Poptarts and MRE snacksDinner: bacon pizza, cheese sticks, Wild Cherry Pepsi from Pizza HutTrail description: Not nearly as easy as it looks on a profile map . A really cool area as far asterrain goes, but we had very dense fog. The long downhill is broken up by very steep, short climbsPeople: STANIMAL, the Solemates, folks at the NOCAnimals: a dogMoney spent: $15 for a night at NOC and 21 for pizzaComplaints: bad weather, ankle really hurt, left shoulderThoughts: Stay tuned, Pocketmail crashed, updates coming soonNarrative added 2/27/04I woke up and wasn¢t even sore from my long day. The storm that was predicted turned out to be rain, which we were all thankful for. The Solemates left a few minutes ahead of Stanimal and I. We ended up catching them on the climb up Copper Ridge Bald. They ran into a couple dayhikers. One actually left for a northbound thru attempt early this January and made it to the Smokies but has since turned around and is ¢killing time¢. Okay.The hike down into the NOC was a lot harder than I thought. The profile map shows some short blips up but for the most part it¢s a solid downhill after the bald. Well those little blips are short but very steep. Plus my right Achilles was beginning to ache, a different ache. I guessed it to be a casualty from the long day yesterday. The terrain around the Nantahala is very steep and lush vegetation, even in the winter. It would have been cool if it had not been so foggy. After what seemed like hours, because it was, we made it down to the NOC where we dropped packs at the mess hall. Stanimal and I got a room and headed back to the outfitter and as we were there the Solemates strode in. Good to have them. They had stopped for lunch. We hung out in the outfitters for a while and then went back to the mess hall. I did my laundry and showered. It was getting on 1700 and Stanimal and I were in the mood for some pizza so we decided to head into Bryson City, a potentionally very bad move. We were blessed enough to get a ride with Mr. Jackson, Jim I think, who runs the outfitters as they were closing up. Its 17 miles to Bryson and as he dropped us off at the pizza hut he warned us that the ride back may be tough. We were hungry which made us not rational. After dinner we got some supplies that Stanimal needed and made our way back to the 4 lane. After about a good mile of walking a nice (crazy?) lady pulled over her Aerostar and told us to hop in. She was just out for a ¢drive¢. Hmmmm. On the ride back to the NOC I gathered enough PC for a search warrant of not only her home, but I think I had enough to get every home she had ever lived in. Its not nice to judge I know but¢¦Back at the ranch Stanimal did his laundry and I called home and talked for a while to friends. The Solemates shared a room with us that I am very glad they did. They planned on pushing on and tenting. No thanks. It was at least 70 in that room though and I did not fall asleep until 0200. I was miserable hot. Probably the worst night of sleep I have had so far. But I am alive to tell about it and I got to share it with friends, so all is well.