Trip Miles: 106.00
The morning was quite cool, high 30's to low 40's. We headed out for Rock Gap Shelter 12.1 miles away. The early part of the hike was fairly easy with a great panoramic view along the way. We made quick time, the first four miles in just over an hour. The one tough stretch was over Albert Mt. 5,250'. It required some scrambling and some high stepping. While it was the most "White Mountains" like section of the trail so far, it was of short duration.
 |
| 100 miles, Albert Mountain |
I got some cell service at last and was able to coordinate through Amy (Thank you, love) our visit with Sarah in Franklin, N.C. She's coming from Nashville and will bring our Smoky Mountain passes. As of two years ago you have to pay ($20, I think) for a pass to go through the Smokies. That doesn't guarantee you a space at the mandatory shelters. In the park, you have to stay in the shelters, unless they're full and then you have to stay next to them. Bear problems or people problems, I'm not sure which. The pass only allows you to hike through the park. Day hikers get first dibs on the shelters. I guess they want to create class distinctions even out here in nature.
Natalie hiked the rest of the way to Rock Gap with us. She's not sure if she'll thru this year or finish her hike with her brother in the future. He's home preparing to be a first time dad. Congrats! Natalie will share space with me, Mike and Sarah in Franklin. We're all trying to save our pennies. We'll all hike to Winding Stair Gap in the a.m. Try and catch a ride into town and zero on Friday.
Got another nice fire going, another night of fun chatter, and to bed. Goodnight.
*SPECIAL*
Heather, Bradley's a terrific young man. He amazes me with his knowledge about nature and has been great company on the trail.
John T.
 |
| Acorn, Albert Mt. |
 |
| Natalie, daring to look over the edge |
 |
| Mike, Ginko, and Natalie chowing down GORP |
I am very happy to see that Bradley, "Ginko" has a group of friends to do this journey with, I miss you, and safe travels to all of you!!!!!
ReplyDelete-- Ashley.
These are different pics than were up yesterday. Glad to see Ginko is smiling :D Good luck to all and have fun!
ReplyDeleteWhen do you guys get funky trail names? I have suggestions:
ReplyDeleteQueequeg and Ahab
Natty Bumpo and Chingachgook
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
Kenan and Kel
You guys can choose who gets which name.
Sounds like you guys are moving better. Just remember: it can all end at any moment.
I remember hiking up that hill before the tower...I was trying to go faster cause I really wanted to meet back up with Mike and John and could hear their voices. Thankful they decided to take a nice break on this beautiful view! I also remember being so thrilled to be able to stay in town with them. I was exhausted and needed a day off...and well they were pretty cool so I was hoping to keep hiking a bit farther with them. They almost did 17 miles this day cause they thought about doing another 5 miles. I was so so sad cause I knew I couldn't do the extra 5 miles...so glad they didn't go further. I didn't really make trail notes for this day, but I remember hoping to camp near the guys (let's be honest I knew that John would build a fire so I wanted to be close by). There were a lot of people camping there so the room was limited. I was going to camp by Bradley but the guys called me over to camp with them. We stayed up that night pretty late just talking by the fire..."The Iditarod...the Iditarod...guys the Iditarod" I remember being so nervous because the next morning Mike and I were going to race ahead to hitch a ride into town...I was terrified cause there was a huge hill to climb and I was struggling a lot and didn't want to make Mike slow down too much...I didn't go the 9 miles I thought I needed...haha I was already hiking more than planned to keep up with Mike and John.
ReplyDelete