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| Golden Hour view from Wayah Bald |
It all started off like a simple short day with little hope of much progress. We got up in the motel and went to look for something for breakfast. None of the restaurants seemed to be open, it being Sunday, I guess. An older lady drove up and asked if we were looking for an open restaurant. She was too so she took us to one. We had breakfast and walked back to the motel, mailing some stuff on the way.
We packed up and checked out at 11:00 and got the taxi to take us back up to the gap. Started hiking about 11:30. We planned to hike only 6 1/2 miles to the first shelter, but first decided to go an extra mile to a camp ground near Wayah Gap. There we decided to continue on up Wayah Bald and 1/2 miles beyond to a spring and camp site that was listed in the guide book. It was a 4 mile climb but well worth it with fantastic views in all directions. We started hiking down the mountain to the campsite, but never found it. The trail had been relocated. There was a sign on another trail which crossed the AT pointing 1/2 mile to spring and campsite, but we decided to risk it on the AT. So we kept pushing. We began climbing Wayah Bald at 4:30, got there at 6:30 and the now the sun was setting.
Well, we kept going hoping to find a camping spot somewhere, but it got dark soon and by the time we had gone 4 1/2 miles it was completely dark. It was then only 1.2 miles to the next shelter, so we got our flashlights out and pushed on uphill to the shelter. There were two people already in their sleeping bags when we got there at about 9:30. Cooked supper and went to bed ourselves. Nice shelter. Small with a spring and water all over the ground outside. I knew we were getting close to the shelter when I could smell smoke from a fire. We wouldn't have missed it anyway as it is right on the trail.
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| Rick applying moleskin |
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| Observation tower on Wayah Bald |
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| The Ed Garvey Twins |
It was an experience hiking at night. You don't see much except for the distant lights, which actually can reveal the locations of houses which wouldn't be visible in daylight. The sounds are the scary part. We heard owls and some strange space age type of sound not too distant. You never know where you are going, just like in the fog only more so. And we were so afraid we'd miss the shelter. We sure were happy to see it.
I remember that night. It was kind of strange where your whole world is what you're flashlight shows. Good thing the shelter was in the trail. It was a dark night.
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