Day eleven

Thursday March 9, 2017

The wind died during the night. And there were stars but not spectacular stars because of the big buttery moon melted off on one side.

The morning began still and quite, not a cloud in the sky. I was on the trail again by 8:00 A.M. As usual the morning was a series of climbs and descents , certainly not easy but I had eaten well and slept well, so I pushed on without too much difficulty.

As I was making the long decent down into Addis Gap I noticed a large dead tree lying on the right side of the trail. It seemed to be calling to me “Cotton come sit on me. Take a break and have something to eat.” So I did. I dropped my pack against its base, dug out my food bag and had a snack and a rest. I had a half eaten, three day old roll, a chunk of cheese, and some cashews. And nothing has ever tasted better. I even laid out on the log and absorbed it’s energy as well as the warmth from the sun.

It was a good thing that I took that break because at the end of the day lay Kelly Knob. It rises from 3304 ft. to 4126 ft. and it does it in one mile.

Holy shit what a climb. It just about did me in. I climbed, and climbed, and climbed, until my lungs were about to burst out of my chest. I would climb until I could go no further, then rest, hanging over my trekking poles until my breathing returned to semi-normal. I repeated this over and over until I eventually made the summit. One of the things that made this climb so difficult was the fact that there was not a single switch back up the whole mountain. You just went up and up.

But I did eventually make the summit, with a big sigh of relief. I then dropped down into Deep Gap, where I am now. I’m camped near the Deep Gap shelter. I’m sitting on a big log writing this. The sun is well down and the temperature is dropping. My fingers are getting cold. Rain is forecast during the night so we shall see. I’m not concerned in the least. I have great gear and have every confidence that I will remain snug and dry.

Tomorrow I will go into Hiawassee for a shower and a hot meal.

69.3 miles down      2120.5 miles to go