We are writing this quite a bit after we finished hiking the AT section through North Carolina, the Great Trails State, and our home state, to the Smokies. There is an advantage in letting all this time pass, not that we did it on purpose, it’s harder to be on this hike and write timely, harder than we thought, but it’s a nice justification. We also decided not to have a detailed journal. In our minds, thru-hiking is immersive, and constantly writing, or thinking about writing, can shift our attention away from simply being present, so many things to do at the end of the day at the campsite anyway. So we let the hike sink first and allowed our brains to naturally curate our memories of those days, consolidating what was meaningful, the emotional peaks and challenges, and letting go of the memories of small discomforts and forgettable logistics.
First Night in North Carolina
Despite not remembering exact details, we both have a good mix of episodic, emotional and procedural memory snippets, definitely remembering quite vividly that NC started with a serious climb that ended at the Muskrat Creek Shelter with what would end up being the coldest night on trail (28 F, -2C). We got to camp pretty late, with Sonic, Slim Jim and Incognito. By then, Steve had gotten his trail name too, Groovy, on account of him looking the part, saying “stay groovy” and listening to his “groovy” playlist.
It wasn’t just the cold that made us remember that evening and night. Many NC shelters do not have cables or bear boxes, so after pitching our tent we had to find a branch for our PCT hang (the Pacific Crest Trail bear hang is a way of securing the food over night, away from tent, up a branch, far enough from tree trunk, branch itself, and ground, and then secure it with a knot and a small twig away from ground). With two bags that have to be hung, and also depending on how much food we have at a certain point in time, the bags can be quite heavy and it’s not trivial to find branches that meet all criteria and are alive enough to support the load.
One of our first PCT hangs, in Georgia, after Neal’s Gap, turned into a blooper when the branch we selected almost hit me in the head as it snapped under the load. It’s worth mentioning for a second that we are also abiding by the rules of leave no trace principles, which among other precepts, asks of thru-hikers to disturb the wild environment as little as possible, camp in already established camp sites, and minimize disturbing the ecology of the area. Paradoxically though, we have to hang our food (even a bear can or sack has to be taken away from camp) and in doing so, trampling over vegetation that would otherwise be untouched.
Anyway, back to Muskrat Creek Shelter night. We were looking around for a decent branch to hang, far enough from tent, but close enough so we don’t disrupt more woods. When it finally seemed that we found one, we noticed that we were in the middle of human waste that percolated everywhere when the Privy (outhouse) content was washed away by a storm.
So literally, our first NC experience was a cold, shitty night, memorable enough to make it into both of our episodic memory banks.
Our tent in the sunset at Muskrat Creek Shelter. Sonic’s hammock in there too. We were actually happy to see him come out alive the next morning . I believe now that hammocks can be a viable alternative , on cold , DRY nights.
Successful, albeit not perfect, they seldom are, bear hangs.
The Sunny and Sonic Bits
Helped a bit by photographic crutches (we were taking pictures, lots of them, especially me, remembering at times that this practice also takes away from being present, and cutting down a bit) , we realized that being in NC also means weather can be quite bipolar, going fast from 28 to 75F, and super sunny, sunny enough that Steve ended up using his umbrella quite a lot. We both say now, with full conviction, that having brought an umbrella along was one of the best decisions. Ours are the silver shadows from six moon designs, super light and durable.
Steve hiking with umbrella attached to his backpack to have use of both poles.
Somewhere before Albert Mountain with fuzzy multiple horizons behind.
We hiked the Albert mountain with Sonic. We had been hiking with him on and off for a few days now. Sonic is hard to miss as a hiker, or personality, for that matter. In the world of thru-hiking where every ounce counts, he is carrying two gym rings for a dare to hike them all the way to Kathadin, a vintage Polaroid camera, and a recording device in the hope he can have a few debates recorded. He can talk to anybody about anything, but it seems that his strengths are economic and political topics. We talked a lot when we hiked with him, but for some reason, we remember that, on the quite hard hike up Albert Mountain, right before lunch, when everybody was super hungry, we each have to talk about the one dish that we would eat on a loop if stranded on an island. I cannot remember my answer, let alone everybody else’s, but there was an eclectic array of foods that we each brought up, from fancy pasta dishes to snitzels and pizzas.
Groovy on a rest up Albert Mountain
Groovy and Sonic trying to open the hatch allowing us access to the Albert Mountain Fire Tower top.
Celebrating with a kiss the 100 mile mark.
The Run for the Standing Indian
Following Albert Mountain and Standing Indian Mountain, the typical resupply point is Franklin, NC. We decided when planning at home, that we would skip the town, and send out resupply box at Standing Indian Campground. There is a US Forest Service there that holds packages sent by FedEx, a small store, hot showers, and it is just 1-1.5 miles away from trail. In a MO that would start characterizing almost every descent into a resupply spot, we ended up running down the mountain to make it to campground before 5 so we can pick our package. We had our first successful “departure by thumb” , as Kerouac put it, to the campsite, store still open, and met one of the sweetest people we will meet on trail, Judith, who had worked there for over 20 years. We had ice cream and coke (two items that for no apparent reason, we craved a lot), but also hot dogs, buns and chili gifted to us by Judith. All in all, it was a very nice experience.
Groovy and Kind Judith at USFS office at Standing Indian Campground
Chilling with a fire, no need for bear hang, and a picnic table, after a hot shower, just around the corner . Glamping AT style
The “W” Balds and Yellow Blazing with a French Twist
The hike after a resupply is almost always up, but we were heading for the two Balds and Fire towers, Wayah and Wesser, on our own, as everybody went Franklin. Before reaching the Wayah Bald we camped at Wine Spring Camp, a beautiful spot, pretty close to the top but, “with a disappointing wine selection”, as one far-out comment put it. I remember that night because there might have been some military exercises close by, as we could hear gun shots, timed apart in a way that my mind, instead of quieting for the night, imagined this nut with a gun that does who knows what to hikers (you may tell I’ve watched one too many Cabin in the Woods type movies). We hiked early into Wayah bald, on a cold and beautiful morning, having the whole area to ourselves.
We remember it took us forever to setup the phone to take this picture .
I’m so glad we are doers and not watchers , Gummy. Those are Albert and Standing Indian Mountains and we have been hiking all the way here.
As we passed the Wasser Bald fire tower, and headed for a camp site nearby, I noticed Yellow’s tent, and couldn’t stop myself Caw-Caw-ING very loudly. Two needed tangents here. Groovy and I, if we happen to hike out of site off each other, we would call Caw-Caw, as in the movie Evolution. It got to a point that even people close to us on the hike would know it’s us when we would call Caw-Caw. We are still doing this to this day (talking from the future here), but added the reply Tuki-Tuki, as we rewatched the movie and reminded ourselves (BTW, movie somehow didn’t seem that funny, just ok). The other need tangent is introducing Yellow in a bit more detail. Yellow and us started hike same day. First night, without knowing or talking to each other, we camped at same shelter. We only knew because we recognized her signature blouse hanging to dry from a bear cable. The next few days we have been hiking on and off alongside, getting to Justin’s Creek same evening. We camped on one side of the creek, she on the other. We only briefly talked that evening. We woke up next day in a terrible rain, not rushing to get out the tent, when noticing across the creek that she was not only up, but packed and ready to hike, all dressed in yellow rain gear. I just said: Yellow is packed and ready to go, and we are barely up. This would be the start of our “Yellow Blazing”. She would always wake up and leave camp way ahead of us, with us hiking to catch up. Yellow blazing in AT jargon means following a paved road, rather than the white blaze. Our Yellow Blazing was very much sanctioned. We learned later that she is a French hiker who has two months on the AT before having to go back to France. She will end up being our closest friend on trail, a witty, wonderful person, having hiked all over the world, with stories to match those experiences.
That evening at Wasser campsite Groovy made a fire, and we had invited other hikers, the ones that weren’t already asleep. We met Eyor, a young hiker that badly needed our duck tape to put his shoes together, and with whom we would end up having future encounters. And of course we lost Yellow again, as we were heading into NOC starting the day after her. The hike down into NOC was really beautiful, with quite a technical section.
Down Wasser Bald towards NOC .
NOC, NOC, Finding Yellow and Gorgeous Stays
At NOC, we found Yellow and Sonic, and other hikers we knew. We knew NOC for years, having been there several times in the past, including last year when we met Hurricane (AT’23) there and hiked with him a bit. We had a huge lunch with Yellow (the feature image was of our backpacks hanging with other friends outside NOC restaurant), hung out with Sonic, talked to family and were getting ready to head out on trail, when we ran into Tagless and Tracker who were zeroing at Gorgeous Stays, a hostel nearby. It literally took us less than a minute to decide to spend the night there too. Sonic joined, but Yellow had left already. The stay was gorgeous . The hostel was comprised of small themed cottages, our was NOLA. The owner was a chiropractor and he was offering a stretching session each afternoon, session that included very useful advice for the trail.
Lunch at NOC with Yellow. We ate a lot, but couldn’t finish quite everything
Steve and Hurricane chilling by Nantahala April 2024.
Groovy and Sonic chilling by the Nantahala River one year almost to the day from being there with Hurricane
Inside NOLA cabin in props we Found around . What a fun night !
At Gorgeous Stays, morning before heading out with Tracker, Tagless, Sonic, Grave Digger and the owners.
NOC to Fontana, our First Zero
We knew well the hike out of NOC. We had done it just last year with Hurricane, at least to the point where he stopped for lunch, where we said our goodbyes, and turned around as he continued on. On our hike, we were literally looking for clues to find the same spot and we did. Two new hikers we had just met on that hike up, Tree and Behind the Scenes were having lunch. Groovy sat on same log and we moved on, going to have lunch up on the Cheoah bald. We pushed the hike towards Fontana, starting to do a bit more miles as we promised ourselves our first zero day in Fontana Village. To explain, a zero is a day with no hiking. One can zero on trail, in a hostel, hotel, or wherever. The idea is to rest. We had a few neroes (near zeros), but no zeroes. The night before last stretch into Fontana we ended up at Stechoa Gap, after another blooper, where for over 20 minutes, after 7 pm and exhausted, we were looking for the water source and campsite based on Far Out comments, rather than just looking at the map. When we finally found it, we set camp and literally collapsed watching the sunset.
At Fontana, we started walking the road towards Fontana Village, quite a distance , when luckily, we were picked up by somebody and dropped nearby. We ran into Yellow, Sonic, Tagless, Tracker, Tree, Beyond the Scene, Laurel, Milkman and others that we had met up to that point. Despite some work we had to do, we felt recharged enough to take on the Smokies.
Break on Cheoah Bald
Stechoa Gap tensite sunset
Another display of copious amounts of food, cause that’s what hikers do when they get back to civilization
We just learned that zero days are not exactly do nothing days. We have to do laundry, wash our hiking equipment, definitely water bottles, organize the resupply, so based on any definition of zero, it’s not a zero day.
Leaving Fontana and heading for the Smokies, rested, resupplied and ready for the uphill.
