North Carolina, Come on and Raise up!
Day 8 of the Trail: 16.3 miles hiked
4:30 am came early today and I could feel the moisture still hanging heavy in the air. At some point last night the rain increased to a full on down pour. I recall smiling to myself as I laid warm and dry in my tent. That time was over, though, and it was time to pack up this soaking mess of a tent and hit the trail.
Thomas and I were moving north by 5:00 am. The dark was only pierced by our small headlamps like so many nights before. The moon, which had been out partially, was now hiding behind the remaining clouds from yesterday's storm. Waves of fog still swept between mountain peaks, and as we hiked, popped in and out of the dense haze.
As we climbed higher in the terrain the wind seemed to challenge our progress and blow harder with every step up. It was as if the trail gods were telling us to turn back. The higher we climbed, the stronger and colder the wind blew. The noise became intimidating and we shivered as we acsended. There's no stopping, quitting, or turning around on this trip, though, kiddos! This continued for about two hours until the sun rose. It would be several more hours until the winds completely calmed and the clouds burned off.
It was almost 10:00 am when we reached the GA/NC boarder. Not far past that is Blys Gap, and let me tell you something, no one told me that North Carolina will welcome you with a slap in the face. Just after the gap you will acsend to over 5000 feet with minimal switch backs. It was one of the more challenging climbs to date. The terrain rises in NC, the wind increased in NC, and my pain rose in NC, but it was good to be in a different state.
That border crossing was just a bit more than our halfway point, today. From there, we pushed north past Deep Gap and refilled our water about a mile out of our camp site for the night. It was a tough day but we made it to NC, and in the end, the sun is out and we are dry.
