Total Mileage – 150.7

Higher latitude, greater elevation, and weather patterns produced outdoor conditions much closer to expected for February. Whereas last week afforded 60-degree highs and lows safely above freezing, these days and nights were 5-10 degrees chillier at least. I generally enjoyed the mixup: colder days are less tiring and sweaty, although nights below freezing make it harder to eject myself from the toasty sleeping bag in the morning.

My battle rhythm is starting to coalesce. Up by 7:00, walking by 8:30. After a rosary, snack break around 10:30. Lunch is roughly 1-2. Get to camp by 6:30. And I thought I could escape the full-time job schedule…

The weekends are for resupply, rest, laundry, patching/cleaning gear, and catching up with y’all. When camping, I only have a few minutes to jot my immediate thoughts before it becomes too cold to type, so expect these updates weekly on Sunday afternoons/evenings. Maybe in the warmer months I can do a biweekly update, but you’ll have to be patient with me in the meantime. I can usually upload GPS waypoints at some point each day, and it’s been possible to upload photos every 1-3 days. These provide some way for you to check in on me throughout the week if you desire.

I greatly value the feedback I’ve received on the website. While these posts do help me journal and recollect, I’m overjoyed they’ve brought so many of you along for the ride. The prayers are much-needed and much-appreciated. Knowing so many family and friends are counting on me has pushed me the extra mile several occasions already. I hope to share as much of the joy and adventure as possible, without trying your patience too much with my writing style (have you noticed I like parentheses?).

Day 10 – Tuesday, February 13

Blue Ridge Gap to Beech Gap Campsite – 15.3 miles

So many milestones hit on this day. Just an hour of hiking brought me to the border with North Carolina. Georgia down, 12 more states to go! Very soon after crossing, I noticed frost accumulation. The entire hike before 5:00 PM was a gradual ascent. Eventually the frost gave way to patches of snow, with the remaining sections having wildly inconsistent coverage, though it was never more than a half inch deep. At times, the leaves underfoot crunched like potato chips.

After 8 miles, I stopped at Muskrat Creek Shelter to cook lunch. If I had pressed on through Day 9, this is likely where I would have stopped to ride out the storm. “Blues” had stayed the night there. All his equipment froze solid and he still hadn’t departed by 1:00 PM. Looks like I didn’t really lose time at the hostel.

Sunset saw me summit Standing Indian Mountain, the first 5k-footer, though I still had an hour to my planned campsite. Somewhere along the way I lost my headlamp, but the small flashlight on my battery pack serves as a fine backup. Tucking it under my beanie is a reasonable recreation of the lost headlamp.

Day 11 – Wednesday, February 14

Beech Gap Campsite to Rock Gap Shelter  – 15.3 miles

Nothing eventful. The grade of the slope was mostly gentle, easing the load. The exception was the last half mile up to Albert Mountain, the steepest ascent yet (silly me forgot to take a picture). The forest service had chiseled/drilled steps into parts of the rock face. A fire watch tower was waiting at the top, first I’ve seen.

This night, I tried sleeping in an actual shelter building, as opposed to camping outside in my tent at the past three shelter sites. The experienced through hikers usually set up their sleeping pad and bag inside the shelter building, as they save time not pitching and packing up their tent. Since I’ve increased mileage by extending my hiking hours rather than pace, I thought it was worth a shot.

These overwhelming wooden shacks are maintained by the various volunteer clubs. Each club manages the grunt work for a dedicated section: chainsawing obstructive logs, managing campsites, and maintaining common amenities like shelters and privies. For instance, this week was mostly in the Nantahala Hiking Club section. For larger projects like shelters, these volunteer groups will get funding and other assistance from the Appalachian Trail Conservatory, US Forest Service, or other government agencies. These shelters range in size and style based on need and age (a few are trail-original). The designs vary: some look like scaled-up Lincoln Log sets (complete with pinkish timbers and green roofing), some are ye olde log-and-plaster, and one was even made of stone! Most appear like modern sheds with treated planks and sheet metal roofs. The biggest one I’ve seen slept 20 comfortably and was helicoptered in by Army Rangers. You never know what you’re going to get, which makes each shelter unique (in addition to any views or fellow travelers you encounter).

But you can always count on one thing: mice. This was my largest reason for avoiding shelters, but some AT experts ensured me it wasn’t all that bad. Other than adjusting to a constant scratching echoing under the floorboards, I sleep comfortably with no surprise guests in my sleeping bag. Not fiddling with the tent and the space to spread out gear are huge benefits, so I’ll stick with this approach for now. Perhaps when temperatures rise the mice (and bugs) will become more active, so we’ll see how long the bliss lasts.

Day 12 – Thursday, February 15

Rock Gap Shelter to Wayah Bald Shelter – 14.8 miles

The most dramatic day thus far, with a combined 3500-foot climb over three progressively taller peaks. I made fine time over the first two, but was definitely tired on the third mountain, Wayah Bald. I had to lean into my prayer, especially the rosary, to keep pounding my boots up the ridge. But MAN was the view incredible at the top, complete with a picturesque stone path, lookout tower, and fence. The first truly panorama-worthy prospect. Looking south, I located Siler Bald and Standing Indian, where I trekked two hours and two days ago, respectively. I desired to stay at the summit for an hour to take in all the details, but it was already 5:30 PM and 2 miles to the stopping point. I will definitely revisit this spot again, perhaps when all of the magnolias are blooming. Even the shelter provided a fantastic view of the valley.

Day 13 – Friday, February 16

Wayah Bald Shelter to A. Rufus Morgan Shelter – 15.5 miles

A major feature at the end of this week’s walking is the Nantahala Gorge, at the northern end of the Nantahala National Forest featuring the uniquely named Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). What’s so special about the NOC? Other than the ziplines (currently closed) and the famed burgers ($18 each, too pricy for me), it’s nestled at 1500 ft between two 5000 ft peaks. That’s lower than Day 1’s start at 1800 ft. Quite a dramatic dip, spanning 15 miles with the elevation profile drawing a giant “V”. I split it into two days, approaching and descending into the NOC on this day.

Well, I stopped a mile short of the bottom, but the majority of the drop was over. While the vista was above average, I enjoyed the trail itself more. There’s something about a gusty, rocky, steep path on the crest of a ridge that piques my sense of adventure. It reminded me of the approach to Dragon’s Tooth back in Virginia (on the AT, not the usual trail in the valley).

Day 14 – Saturday, February 17

A. Rufus Morgan Shelter to Stecoah Gap – 14.6 miles

The week ended much as it had begun. The valley never reached 40 degrees throughout the day. Every 1000ft of elevation gain drops the temperature by 3.5 degrees, resulting in mostly below-freezing conditions. The upward course pulled me into sparse snow clouds. Around 4000 ft I was treated to my favorite wintry sight: frosted trees. Each branch, bramble, and bush was delicately adorned with wind-blown spikes. As the miles continued, the atmosphere was more turbulent, varying the effect. On one ridge, the east side was a windy winter wonderland, juxtaposed to the calm autumn afternoon on the west slope (see photo album).

My ankles and knees recovered from being the weak links last week, so this time around my heels and muscles were struggling. The all-morning climb really took a toll on my left achilles. It was just strained, not torn, but the last couple miles saw me hobbling to prevent injury. Even starting at 7:00 AM and skipping my usual hour lunch, I shuffled to the pick-up location 20 minutes before my scheduled shuttle.

Day 15 – Sunday, February 18

Robbinsville, North Carolina

Because of the earlier mass time and farther-away parish, I’m again in-town rather than at a hostel. Robbinsville is even sleepier than Clayton, though equipped with a third stoplight. There’s not much to explore, so I’ve stayed warm in my motel room most of the day. Hopefully, once these mountain towns hit the regular season there will be more exciting encounters to be had. Small with adequate amenities, I’ll rate it 5/10 slices of the large pepperoni pizza I had for yesterday’s dinner and today’s breakfast.

Coming Soon…

After Monday, I’ll be trekking through the formidable Great Smoky Mountain National Park. If you thought 5000-footers were cool, check out the 6.6k Clingman’s dome, the highest point on the AT. Most of the week will be spent above 5000 feet. When you add in deeper snow and more frequent bear encounters, it’s one of the toughest sections of the entire trail and the greatest challenge since Springer Mountain. I’ll shoot straight north to the TN-NC border, which I’ll follow until Virginia comes in a few weeks.

Pebbles

About the picture: South view from Cheoah Bald, Saturday’s high point. Though the clouds prevented me from identifying the specific landmarks, I’d zigzagged across most of the terrain you can see center-frame, to the horizon. The mixture of icy and uncovered vegetation provides the perfect retrospective for the week.

So many of the mountains have had “Bald” in their title. In my mind that implies little vegetation at the summit, but only Wayah Bald and Siler Bald seemed to fit that description out of this week’s dozen. I found “Swim Bald” especially perplexing, given the hardy woods and lack of any water source.

New birds: Brown Thrasher, Cardinal, Common Raven, and Pileated Woodpecker. All of those were on Friday, the rest of the week was overflowing with Dark-Eyed Juncos and Chickadees. While I did see a Red-Breasted Woodpecker in town, I’ve decided only birds on the trail “count”.

Songs in my head: Country Roads by John Denver, City of New Orleans by Willie Nelson, Pancho and Lefty by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, American Remains by The Highwaymen, and Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg. Plus a certain tune from Joey Scarbury…

🎶Believe it or not I’m walking through a fridgidaire🎶,

Max “Frassati” Stelmack