Day 30

Today was your typical downhill ascent into town. 

I woke up around 7:30, called Kristina briefly while she was heading off to work, and then started to pack up afterwards. 

By 8:40, we were done eating breakfast and were ready to get out of the wind that had started to blow through the east side of big bald mountain. 

Today, our main objective was to FINALLY HIKE into the town our Erwin, grab our resupply, charge our phones, and then hike slightly out of town. 

As for the descent, there's really not much to say about it. There was a nice mix of hardwood and rhododendren forests, and there was even the occasional softwood thrown in there. 90% of the trail was gradual, and even the few steep sections didn't last very long. 

Having started the day at 8:45, we were down into Erwin around 3:50. By 5:45, we had packed up and started heading out. 

Originally, we were planning on camping 1.5 miles out of town, but after thinking things through and noticing the impending rain cloud, we did an additional 4.2 miles up to maple branch shelter. This was 100% the right call. Maybe 2 minutes after getting here, the sky absolutely opened up and it's been pouring ever since. Although I'm not a huge fan of shelter, avoiding an inch of rain overnight is a very easy decision to make. 

Even better, we chipped off several more miles that we would have had to do first thing in the morning, and we went up 1500 feet of elevation. With the sound of rain against a tin roof, something tells me I'll sleep decently tonight. 

Daily recap:
- Total miles hiked: 20.8
- From mile marker: 328 to 348.8
- From a campsite slightly past bald mountain shelter to maple gap shelter
- High temp: 55 and cloudy
- Low temp (morning): 35 and cloudy
- low temp (tonight): 45 and raining
- Total ascent: 4,288 feet
- Total descent: 6,188 feet

Thanks for following along. 
Tyler M.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 22, 2024 at 7:27 PM

    Whoa-20 miles! Good timing on arriving shelter before the downpour

    ReplyDelete

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