April 6

Saving the sun from the fog

We were up early due to the weather and cold.  Two young hikers, Lewis and Lucky passed our trailside camp, and said:  "last night we slept in a castle", referring to the tower on Wayah Bald, and "we're on a mission to save the sun from the fog".  Quite an odd first 2 sentences to hear in the morning.  Hiking was great though.  The fog was so thick you could only see about 100 feet around you.  The woods smelled fresh, crisp, and green.  More ups, more downs.  That's how it goes.  When the sun finally decided to grace us with its presence, we dried out our sopping wet gear in Tellico Gap.  We climbed up a steep section to Wesser Bald, which finally had a bit of an actual bald on it.  There was a great wooden observation deck too.  I climbed up, and looked out to rolling mountains in every direction.  Absolutely breathtaking.  We all layed down on the floor of the tower, soaking in the sun.  It was the most comfortable wood I had every layed on.  We pushed on past the Wesser shelter, saw some good views at a place called "The Jumpoff", and called it a day at A. Rufus Morgan Shelter after about a 15 mile day.  The knee is feeling a lot better, but my blisters from Georgia have still not healed.  We're only 1 mile away from the NOC, so were going to check it out tomorrow morning.  There's a festival there today and tomorrow, should be cool.

Taking a nap at Tellico Gap.