Week 8 - 2021

Week Eight of HOBOS going SOBO in their OBOZ ... and we never looked back.  Our In-Tents Journey on the Appalachian Trail

Bryson City, NC to Hiawassee, GA: 68 miles in 6 days, averaging just over 11 miles a day.  Highlights this week:  The Balds:  Cheoah, Rocky, Wayah, Siler, Albert Mountain, the 100 mile marker, and we crossed over into Georgia, our last state!

Things learned on the trail this week:

• Climbed several bald mountains this week — all with a spectacular beauty of their own.  As stated before, pictures do not do the rolling mountains of North Carolina any justice.  The blue haze of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the greens ... unbelievably beautiful! 

• Culture shock #2!  Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) in Bryson City, NC. We had been walking in solitude for days and then BOOM!! People everywhere!!  It was Memorial Day weekend so that for sure added to the amount of people that may normally have been there.   NOC is an outdoor wonderland for the outdoor enthusiast!  They have whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, zip lining, paddling instruction classes for adults and kids, restaurants, general store, an outfitter store, lodging accommodations and a train that comes through daily that brings people in ... a little city of its own.  After we got over the shock, it was fun to sit and watch so many families enjoying outdoor activities together.

•  Guys sometimes just don’t get it!  We arrive at a shelter later than usual so all the good, flat tent sites are taken - all except one spot that is smack dab between two hammocks.  One being occupied by a guy, the other by a gal. The guy (and Brad) finds nothing wrong with us putting our tent up between them; the gal you can tell is not fond of the idea, as I wasn’t at all either.  I understand the importance of sleeping on a flat surface but women just need their privacy!   It was a battle between the sexes for awhile (we might just be taking separate vacations after this!), anyway...we ended up finding ourselves a nice slanted tent site and had ourselves some nice slanted privacy!  And if I might add, it ended up being a pretty good night’s sleep.  Sleeping on flat ground is overrated! 

• The owls are at it again!  I’m not sure if there’s a different mating season for different regions but it’s been quiet for awhile and now it has started up again!  They are sooo loud!  Can anyone enlighten me on this subject?  What’s taking them so long to get this mating thing figured out?!

• My turn to fall this week; wet rocks tripped me up this time!  As I’m laying on the ground, Brad asks if he should get a picture so y’all can see?!  “Ummm...NO! I’m sure it would have been a good picture and all but is that the first thing you think of when I fall, to snap a picture?!   It’s worth saying again ... we just might be taking separate vacations after this!

• Rattlesnakes - the new thing to fear now on the trail.  We have been warned so much that every tree root you see on the trail looks like it just might be a dreaded snake!  I think I’m more afraid to encounter them than I was about a bear.  They say you will be plenty warned by the rattle but we have no idea what that sound is, all we ever had in NY was harmless (but ugly!) garter snakes.  Will I really recognize a distinct rattle?

• We’ve gotten asked several times if we are going to ‘flip flop’ our hike.  For us this would mean to walk one way (SOBO) to Springer, GA and then turn around and walk back (NOBO) to where we started in Groseclose, VA.  I say we’ll do the ‘flip’ part but the only ‘flop’ I am going to be doing at the end is in a lounge chair with my flip flops on!   No flip flopping here!

•  FALSE ADVERTISING!  We stopped at Wine Spring Campsite for the night, went to the spring with our glass and NO WINE!  How can they advertise a wine spring if all that comes out is water?!  I was really looking forward to a glass of wine after a long day’s hike! 

• The weather in the mountains is unpredictable.   I had just told Brad it wasn’t going to rain that night as we’re setting up camp so we weren’t as careful as we usually are about making sure the footprint (extra ground cover) was completely under the tent.  If it’s not completely under and it rains, water collects on the cover and runs down under the tent.  Well ... it didn’t rain, it poured!!!!  I paid the price as my side only got wet - luckily I have a pretty good air mattress that separated me from the wet bottom so I stayed dry.  But see! We were on a flat surface so it collected and had no where to go - what would have happened if we had been on a slant- would it have gone down the hill?  I’m starting a new slogan ‘camp on the slant!’  for privacy and dryness.

• Another great Hostel to report: “Around the Bend” in Hiawassee, GA.  Gordon and Lisa were great hosts and took good care of us. After a wet night it was good to be staying in a dry cabin - no wet bottoms that night!

• Big week for us! We first hit the 100 mile marker and then 22 miles later we crossed over into Georgia, woo hoo!!  (As of this posting, we have 69 miles to go to the finish line.)