Day 13: Bugs

Hiked 18.7 miles, camping at Cody Gap.

Today we earned our dinner.    The theme for today was steep uphill.  It started out with a 3000 foot climb out of the NOC.  The first 2000 took about 5 miles, the last 1000 took place in about 1.5 miles.  We did get an excellent view of Nantahala Gorge from most of the way up.  The bald at the top was called Swim Bald.  I really wanted to get a photo on it, but alas there was no sign.

Hiking up from the NOC

Uphill climb

Nantahala Gorge

Enjoying the view of the gorge

 Next after a short downhill we had to ascend to Cheoah Bald.  The view was fantastic but the wind was whipping over it, so we managed to find a secret viewpoint on the other side of the bald where we stopped and ate lunch.  When we got going again we found POM sitting on top of Cheoah.

Resting my laurels after a hard climb up Cheoah

POM!

Our secret lunch spot

Cool cloud view

 One of the hard parts of today was the lack of water sources.  We were getting pretty low by the time we rolled into Stecoah Gap.  Lucky for us, a trail angel had set up shop and was handing out water and chocolate.  Perfect timing.  Immediately after Stecoah Gap was Jacob's Ladder.  The trail up this was smooth with few roots and rocks.  Don't be fooled though, this was no handicap ramp.  The main part of Jacob's Ladder rises 600 feet in half a mile.  I'm assuming it got the name from the fact that after the major ascent it summits at least a half dozen false peaks, making it seem to go on forever.

After we came down from Cheoah the wind died and the bugs came out for the first time on our trip and did so en masse.  I had really been hoping we would have at least another week of respite given the recent cold weather but unfortunately we were not so lucky.  When we got to the shelter we planned to stay at we found it swarming with biting insects.  Given that there was no space to camp we decided to move on.  This meant adding an additional 3.2 miles to an exhausting day.

On our descent to Stecoah Gap

 It was worth it though, when we pulled into Cody Gap who did we find?  Long Gone!  He said he slowed down a bit after his knee started bothering him.  I think he was just embarrassed that we managed to catch him :-P  We also ran into another hiker named Beeline, he doesn't have a cool hyphen in his name though, so clearly I am the better B-Line.  We are moving faster than him, but it's going to be confusing for a couple days until we pass him.  Overall I would say that today was our toughest first day, even harder than the 24 mile we did a week ago.  Tomorrow we plan to sleep in by a half hour and take our time ambling the 8.6 miles to Fontana Dam.

Evening view from Cody Gap

Left to right: K2, Radagasta, Beeline, Long Gone

Why Not at Cody Gap tent site

Sunset at Cody Gap

 We are trying to figure out our plan for the next few days.  On the AT it rains a lot and generally you don't want to plan around it.  But summitting Clingmans Dome is an exception and we want to make sure it is clear for that.  As a result we have to slow down somehow so that we don't arrive there until Saturday.  With Newfound Gap closed to cars we also have to figure out our resupply situation, we may have to go the whole way through the Smokies without a resupply!