Appalachian Trail, Days 6-10
This week, I reached a few of my first AT trail milestones: I passed my first state line from Georgia to North Carolina, I finished 1 full week on trail, and I passed the 100 mile mark (both on the AT and in total miles hiked). It started with some truly foul weather that drifted north after a few days and left some of the nicest days since I started at Amicalola. Using the bad weather as an excuse, I’ve been feeling guilty about spending so many nights in hostels. But I guess I’m still easing into things, and I’m planning to work my way up to spending more nights on trail.
Day 6:
Start: Hiawassee, Unicoi Gap (52.7)
Stop: Around the Bend Hostel, Dicks Creek Gap ( 69.4)
Miles: 17.12
Elevation Gain: 4972 Feet
Total Miles Hiked: 81.4
Sadly, this was the day that Alex departed back to Philadelphia. We made arrangements to have a shuttle driver pick him up at Dick’s Creep Gap at 5pm. So we had a hard deadline of hiking 17 miles to be on time for the ride. We scheduled a Lyft to pick us up from our hotel at 8:00 am and take us back to Unicoi Gap where we left off the other day. With the rain the night before, it was a misty morning, but there were moments where the sun tried to burn away the fog. The two big climbs were at the beginning, and after that the day was more mellow. We were making decent time, and we passed some of the familiar faces we met earlier in the week. Even with all the time anxiety of making the shuttle, we were about an hour early to the trailhead. As we waited, I texted to hostel down the road to see if they had room for the night. They did, so I booked a bunk rather than pulling my first 20 of the trip and trying to hike to the next shelter. Unfortunately, my shuttle driver arrived before Alex’s, so it was a more hasty goodbye than I would have liked. I’m sad he had to leave, and I already miss having him as a hiking partner. There were a few other people at the hostel, and I spent most of the night trying to strategize what to do about the massive storm building over the next 24 hours.
Day 7:
Start: Around the Bend Hostel, Blue Ridge Gap (75.2)
Stop: Around the Bend Hostel, Dicks Creek Gap (69.4)
Miles: 6.75
Elevation Gain: 1727 feet
Total Miles Hiked: 88.15
As promised, it was nonstop torrential rain all night and into the morning. It looked absolutely dreadful. As I was drinking my coffee, a trio staying in the hostel with me was trying to figure out what to do about their section hiking plans, and they ended up just quitting. I was planning to head back out, but the thought hiking with a drenched body and drenched gear all day was massively unappealing. And I really didn’t want to take a zero day, after our short day in town on Saturday. I conceded by slack-packing 6 miles from Blue Ridge Gap, back down to Unicoi Gap and spending another night at the hostel. The hostel host drove me in a huge 4x4 up an unpaved forest road to the trailhead. The six miles was unremarkable, and I wasn’t really able to concentrate on anything other than hiking. Somehow the rain even intensified as the day went on and everything not concealed under my raincoat was soaked. I was back at the hostel by 1 pm, with the rest of the day to kill. I talked with Betty, a woman in her 70s/80s trying to finished her AT thru hike that was interrupted by Hurricane Helene last year. As the rain cleared in the late afternoon, I felt especially guilty about my decision making and restless to get back on trail in the morning.
Day 8:
Start: Around the Bend Hostel, Blue Ridge Gap (75.2)
Stop: Carter Gap Shelter (93.7)
Miles: 19.6
Elevation Gain: 5367 feet
Total Miles Hiked: 107.71
After a generous amount of coffee at the hostel, Spotter drove me back to Blue Ridge Gap. After all the rain of the past few days, things had finally cleared up and there were blue skies. I felt good getting started. After a few miles, I reached the little wood sign on a tree that proclaimed NC/GA, marking the crossing of my first state line into North Carolina. I sat there for a few minutes on the rock across from the sign and ate a snack. I had two steep climbs, then it was fairly mellow for a few miles after that. There was a big downpour in the middle of the day that had me quickly throwing on my raincoat, but it only lasted about an hour. I ducked into a shelter for lunch and saw Emma, Mariel, and Fire Marshal, and I spread the word about the karaoke night happening in Franklin on Wednesday. It was cold idling in wet clothes at the shelter, so I continued on to climb to the highest elevation point on the trail so far. Today would be my highest mileage day so far. It started to rain again as I approached my stopping point of Carter Gap Shelter. Surprisingly, there were a ton of people there, mostly section hikers, but also two thru-hikers Anna and Jacob. I made dinner under the shelter, and when the rain slowed to a drizzle, went to set up my tent and find a tree branch to hang my food bag. The weather seemed mostly clear for the night, so I just opted to tent camp, instead of staying under the shelter.
Day 9:
Start: Carter Gap Shelter (93.7)
Stop: Franklin, NC, Winding Stair Gap (109.6)
Miles: 16.3
Elevation Gain: 2613 feet
Total Miles Hiked: 124.05
I woke up to the sound of rain on my tent in the morning, but it wasn’t too hard and it eased quickly. Today, I would head into the town of Franklin to resupply and do karaoke, so I would be aiming to get to either Rock Gap or Winding Stair Gap by 3:30 to make the shuttle. The most notable part of the morning was a steep and rocky climb up to the Albert Mountain fire tower. That point also marks the AT 100 mile mark. I stopped to have a snack and climb the fire tower, and then Anna arrived and we took turns taking pictures of each other at the 100 mile sign. After the fire tower, it was mostly a downhill day. The afternoon turned into a little race to make sure that I made the shuttle, and I was hiking as quickly as possible, and making decent time! I got to Rock Gap and had to weigh the decision to either have a shorter day and wait an hour for the shuttle, or push ahead and risk missing the shuttle. I decided to push ahead, and I made it down to Winding Stair Gap with 10 minutes to spare!
The driver dropped me right near the hostel, and Bluebs showed me around The Grove. Jacob, the thru-hiker I met last night at the shelter was already there. We did a resupply trip to the Ingles, then I took a shower back at the hostel. Jacob was on board for going out for karaoke, so we had a drink and some food at the local brewery, then headed over to the karaoke spot. The Rathskeller is a coffee shop turned bar in the evenings, and there were couples hanging around at the tables, more of a cafe vibe vs. a dive bar vibe. It was a weird scene, but it was a good time, and we each sang a couple of songs.
Day 10:
Start: Franklin, NC, Winding Stair Gap (109.6)
Stop: Wayah Shelter (120.6)
Miles: 11.23
Elevation Gain: 2990 feet
Total Miles Hiked: 135.28
I had a little time to kill at the hostel in the morning, since I didn’t want an early shuttle. So I walked into town to get a coffee and I spent some time organizing my groceries from resupply. Around 10:30, Bluebs gave me a ride back to Winding Stair Gap. The climb out of the gap wasn’t too bad, and I stopped for lunch near the junction for the trail down to the shelter. There was another firetower today, this time an old two-story stone structure. It was a clear day and there were beautiful views of the surrounding landscape. I climbed the stairs up to see the view, and met Snakebite and Cash hanging out at the top. We talked for awhile, then I headed back down to keep moving. I only had a mile until my planned shelter stop, and I considered if I should keep moving. But I ultimately decided to stop a little earlier in the day and set up camp. It was a lovely afternoon in the woods with the sun shining and a warm breeze, but the wind started to pick up as the sun began to set and I started to get lonely. I had my dinner over at the shelter and talked to Whistler, a sustainable farmer from Texas, as I ate my Chana Masala. Afterwards, I got cozy in my tent out of the wind for the night.
