Much Vertical

After that night when I was awakened by those guys who had a bear encounter, I had an easy two mile hike down to the Nantahala River, and the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). The NOC is large complex with a complete outdoors store catering to both backpackers and kayakers/canoers. It straddles both sides of the river and includes a restaurant and lodging. The AT runs right through the middle of it. I didn't spend much time there, stopping only to purchase some repair gear for my backpack, which had been stabbed the day before by a piece of wood. In this part of the country, river ventures are what skiing is to mountain dwellers. Entire families were out there kayaking, etc.

The NOC sits at around 1700 feet in elevation.The next 7.8 miles was all uphill and would bring me to over 5,000 feet. It was an extraordinarily strenuous climb that took most of the day. Someone told me that it was considered one of the toughest days on the trail and I'm inclined to believe that. Unfortunately, it was an overcast day, so I couldn't see much once on top. I walked another 5 or so miles, mostly downhill, before making camp.

Today (Monday, March 28), I faced a 15 mile hike to Fontana Lake/Dam, which sits just before the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It's a beautiful area and I'm staying at Fontana Lodge tonight, which offers discounted off-season rates to AT hikers. Except for a steep initial climb, the day's hike was an absolute pleasure compared to yesterday's.

Tomorrow, I will start at 1700 feet and eventually climb to over 5500 feet in the next 18 miles. It will take more than a day to do that.

I'm averaging at least 15 miles per day when on the trail, with a few days over 20. I am getting stronger every day.

My trail name is Downhiller.