Mighty Nantahala

Woke up the next morning on top of the ridge above double spring with my water frozen. Cold as balls out. But I managed to pull myself out of the sleeping bag and pack up the tent because I knew we were gonna hit the NOC that day! I think we were maybe 8mi out from the Nantahala Outdoor Center on the Nantahala River in Wesser, NC. They run rafting and canoe trips outta there, have an outfitter, a hostel, a general store, a few restaurants, so on and so forth. Hauled ass there just to stay warm but oh it is a lovely sight to turn a corner in the woods and see a whole complex next to a river where you know you can get a burger and fries and there are an absurd amount of hikers hanging around. Apparently it's some pretty solid white water around there. The river was definitely moving. Saw Wheeler again upon arrival who had *shockingly* caught a ride from Franklin...but whatever floats his boat. I got a burger and fries at the restaurant...it was heavenly. Got a few clif bars from the outfitter. Then poked around the general store and got a carton o'red wine to hike out with. I remember I was on the phone with Raina for the first time since I started and heard "heads up" and turned around in time to catch a PBR from Brian. Life was good just then.

and OH the hike out. Most people were just staying there at the hostel but we were on schedule to meet Greenlite's dad in Fontana the next day so we were pushing on. It was a 3000ft climb over a mile or two out of the NOC and I tried to keep up with Brian and Greenlite for a bit. Definitely ended up having to stop and suck wind on multiple occasions. I thought I was in shape but really I had only been out there for a week and a few days so not so much. We stopped at the first shelter and hung out for a bit meeting some hikers. We had finally caught up with Greenlite's friends from South Carolina who had started a week or two before him. Slapshot and some other names I can't remember. Miss Janet had cut his hair into a mullet in Franklin and named him Slapshot in honor of Wayne Gretzky. It fit. Hiked on from there, the climb was over at least, 5 more miles or so to Locust Grove Gap where there were some good tent sites.

I can't remember the names of the people we met there but they were good folk. It was a group of 4 or 5, a few older couples that were section hiking. We'd run into them again in the Smokies. We made a fire for the first time in awhile and hung around digging into the wine and the PBR. Greenlite had some tunes on his iPhone. Quite the lovely eve actually despite the brutal ascent out of NOC. Good sleep that night.