Day 8

I don't think anyone else is on the AT.

Last night was cold. I wouldn't be shocked to hear it got below 20. Certainly a chilly night. Our rain gear froze immediately after we took it off, and once we got into our bags, our shoes and socks were next. Thankfully, we slept dry, and fairly warm. Having a hiking pair of clothes and a sleeping pair of clothes that are distinct really make a difference. I will say, one redeeming factor about a lack of clouds to keep the heat in, is that the stars come out, and last night, the stars were phenomenal.

We woke up around 730, and knew exactly what was about to happen. We were going to take off our warm sleeping clothes, and put on frozen socks, and then push them into frozen shoes. By 815, we were packed up, and the shoes were on. 

We walked for a little over an hour this morning before taking breakfast right after Wallace gap. We set up next to a mountain stream, and enjoyed the sun starting to poke through the clouds. Although the sun didn't manage to poke through the clouds for long, a change in temp from the morning to 10am was welcomed. 

Our goal for the day was to hike from long branch shelter, to licklog gap, 19.7 miles away. 

The morning consisted of climbing up and over 2 no-named mountains / gaps, and then dropping down to the base of Siler bald. The afternoon was then spent going up and over Siler, and then up and over wayah. 

Starting with Siler, from where camped last night to the summit, we had 11.4 miles of hiking, with roughly 2700 feet of elevation gain. With the recent rain and just general conditions of the nanthahala section, the trail has been rather slippery in areas. Whether we're going up or downhill, we've been watching out where we step. Slipping on a wet rock / log, or firmly planting your foot on a side slope of mud and downhill skiing could spell disaster for a thru hike. So again, we've been careful. 

Going up Siler I felt pretty good. My ankle started hurting this morning again, but it was only a dull pain and I think it's just from overuse. Apart from my ankle, my hips and glutes would be the second most sore, although on second thought they should be tied with my calves. Finally, my hamstrings. 

With the lighter gear, calorically denser food, and the way that I've been adjusting my pack, my shoulders feel so much better than 2020, almost as if they aren't carrying weight. They do occasionally get sore throughout the day, but comparatively, it's a breeze. 

We made pretty decent time up Siler bald, and even chose to go all the way up the summit to check out the 360 degree views of North Carolina and Georgia. 

After taking it all in, we knew that we had a good ways to go to get to camp, and we were in the mid afternoon. We climbed down close to 1000 feet, and then began our climb up to wayah bold. With 1600 feet of ascent ahead of us, spanning 4.2 miles we maintained a 2.5 mile an hour pace going up. After getting to the top around 515, we began our final descent of the day. 

Around 5:40, we walked near wayah bald shelter and stopped to check if anyone was in it. Shockingly, there was nobody. So, instead of pushing another 1.5 miles and having to tear down camp in the freezing rain tomorrow morning, we opted to stay dry in the shelter, especially since it's just us staying here. 

This leads me to my next point. We have barely seen any nobo hikers. Unless we are just constantly missing people, the numbers are way down this year. Most days we pass a couple of day hikers, and 1 or 2 AT hikers. In 2020 there were hikers everyone during this portion of the hike. This year, nobody. Super strange. Maybe more people have quit than they usually do? From the statistics I've heard, 33% of people who are going to quit, do so by Georgia. Meanwhile, 50% of all AT hikers quit by the end of the smokies. Couple these "facts" with the lack of people we've seen, and there will be a decent chance that we'll be near the front of the 2024 pack. Then again, this could all change shortly if we bump into a bunch of people. Time will tell.

One other thing to note quickly: the woman who was at the shelter last night with us was originally not going to hang her bear bag, and instead just leave it in the shelter... when we went to hang ours, walker asked if she had found a good spot. After learning that it was sitting right next to her and in the shelter, I asked (suggested) that we hang it for her -- which she accepted. I have no need for a bear to visit us. 

As I was wrapping up this post, I heard our first bard owl of the trip. Last time they were everywhere, so this just seems like a fitting welcome home. All of the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place...

Daily recap:

- hiked 18.2 miles

- from mile marker 102.4 to 120.6

- from long branch shelter to wayah bald shelter

- high temp was 45 and mostly cloudy

- low temp (morning) 20 or below

- low temp (tonight) 25 to 30

- ascent: 4,236 feet

- descent: 4,049 feet. 

Thanks for reading. 

Tyler M.