Day 20 (Apr. 10th) – 5.9 miles Wesser Bald Shelter to The NOC (Natahala Outdoor Center). After yesterday, hard morning with steep downhills and decided to stay at the NOC before attempting 6 miles straight uphill (trail passes through the NOC so we were having lunch here anyway). Found an awesome stealth campsite thanks to our pals Tiffany and Trace, right by the river. Gorgeous!
Day 21 (Apr. 11th) – 10.4 miles from the NOC to Locust Gap Campsite. What a day! We were rested and ready, but out of the 10.4 miles, 7.7 miles of it was uphill, baby! Very difficult day, but we did it and were in good spirits for most of it (Greg had some slight heat exhaustion-going uphill in the sun, but we breaked and he cooled down and we breaked more often after that). Doing camp duties video tonight, so stay tuned!!
Day 22 (Apr. 12th) – 8.3 miles Locust Gap to Cody Gap Campsite. We had trail magic in Stecoah Gap! And then we climbed Jacobs’s Ladder – which is basically a mile of steep uphill climbing. It was hard, but we’ve done harder! It was a hard day despite the low mileage. Tomorrow is 10 miles into Fontana Village where we will do laundry and take showers and spend the night before hitting the Smokies!!
Day 23 (Apr. 13th) – 8.7 miles Cody Gap to Fontana Village and Lodge. Even the easy days are hard, but it was still a good day. We had two trail magics and now a shower! Doing laundry next, eating, and then sleeping in a real bed! Tomorrow we start the Smokies – wish us luck, they are hard and we are required to stay in shelters.
Awesome!
Thanks Charles!
sending lotsa love
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Chica, how do you handle a gross, dirty privy while camping by the shelters? I’m trying to figure the weight of paper seat covers! Lol ?
Well, I just sit on it. Really – you can’t be overly concerned about things out here or you’ll drive yourself crazy. Important is to use hand sanitizer (or soap in stream down 200 yards from water source), and that’s it!
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