April 9-10 in North Carolina

April 9, 2005 | Day 13 | Miles: 5.6 | Total Miles: 133.8
End: Nantahala Outdoor Center, NC
Danielle:
Sunny and warm!
After the snorefest last night in the shelter, we got off to an early start to get down to NOC this morning. We're thinking, great, we're almost there, oh except for the 4m straight downhill section. UGH! It was a bit tough as there really wasn't too much relief. It was just all downhill. But it really was pretty-at the start the trail opened out onto a great view of the mountaintops around us looking like islands in a sea of clouds. And as we dropped into the valley, more and more flowers and green buds appeared which was great.
And then, we heard music and voices and bright colors down in the valley below... Ahhhhh... Civilization. And on a weekend too. Lots of people. The NOC is a really neat conglomerate of buildings by the river. Lots of river rafters and bikers and smelly hikers. We fit right in :-) We spent the afternoon showering and doing laundry, eating and relaxing and hanging out with other hikers coming and going. Perfect. Then out to a great dinner with Bravo, who we caught up to again after a few days of him being ahead of us, and his brother and wife. How to better end the day? We're content. :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warm
crashing at the noc. ahhhhh...shower. 7 days on the trail, and we're ready for a little r and r. last night at wesser bald shelter was great until everyone in the shelter started snoring. the good news was that i knew just where my earplugs were. the bad news is that they were in the food bag which was suspended 30 feet in the air from the bear cables. so, off i went in the dark to fetch them. one step out of the shelter and i heard a couple coyotes in the distance. i got to the bear cables, and i heard the coyotes again, this time a little closer. i lowered the food bag, and fished out my earplugs. again, i heard the coyotes, but this time a little closer. i fished my earplugs out of my bag, and since i'm a nice guy i decided to search for her earplugs. i couldn't find them, but i heard the coyotes again...a little closer. i kept searching, but still couldn't find her earplugs. i basically had the food bag emptied, and was shining my headlamp everywhere. still no earplugs, but i heard the coyotes again, even closer...but this time i also heard leaves rustling. oh well, no earplugs for danielle. i had the food bag repacked and up the cables in about 10 seconds, and i scurried back to the shelter. i heard the coyotes one last time as i crawled into my sleeping bag. this morning, i found out that danielle already had her earplugs.

April 10, 2005 | Day 14 | Miles: 0 | Total Miles: 133.8
End: NOC
Danielle:
Sunny and hot!
A zero day! Nowhere to go and nothing pressing to do. We got up, had breakfast, checked and wrote email, hung out by the outfitter talking to hikers coming and going and waited for Mom and Dad to arrive. Then lunch, a bit of time in the outfitter (convinced Dad to get the cool camp shoes we have, in bright orange too. Perfect!), grocery shopping, a bit of reorganizing food, more relaxing, and then a yummy dinner with wine. Ahhh....It was great to see Mom and Dad (Thanks for coming guys! It was great. A personal mail drop with food we needed and cookies too! yum!). Now we're all packed up, relaxed and full of food, and ready to hit the trail again tomorrow. It's 7m straight uphill out of the valley. Should be fun :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warm
everybody needs a day off. this was our first zero day, and it was great. we relaxed. danielle's parents came to visit, and the took us out to dinner. they were happy to see that we haven't been lying in our journals and that we actually are doing great. back at it tomorrow. only a couple days until we hit the smokies, and we're really looking forward to them. now, off to drink beer with other hiking bums...i mean hydrate.