Springer Mtn, GA to Fontana Dam, NC

Day 11, Friday, June 2

Carter Gap Shelter to Wallace Gap, 12.8 miles

Up at 5:55 AM and away by 6:50 AM. Earliest start of the trip. We're going to try to get to Wallace Gap shortly after lunch. We eat a cold breakfast this morning and saddle up quickly. We reach Betty Creek Gap at 8:15 AM, take a break at the Forest Service road at 8:45 AM, and begin the climb up Albert Mountain.

Albert Mountain. The name doesn't do it justice. It's the toughest short duration climb we'll have the entire trip. Only .3 miles, but straight up. No elevator. It could use one. My legs are absolutely on fire by the time I reach the top at 9:40 AM. The view is great, but a little hazy. I throw my pack on the rocks just short of the firetower and sit down to rest for a few minutes. No one says much. We're all exhausted. Hopefully this is the major climb of the day.

We finally walk the hundred yards to the firetower and stop for a snack and water. M&L climb the firetower. I climb to the first landing and decide that's far enough. I'm not scared of heights, just falls and crashes. The tower looks old. I'm sure it's safe. The engineer in me says that if it wasn't safe, it wouldn't be here. But the engineer in me also says that what looks rickety is rickety. So I decide I can see just fine from the first landing.

We hike an enjoyable few miles down the mountain. We stop at Big Spring Shelter, pump water and cook a hot lunch at 10:30 AM. We rest for an hour.

We pound down the mountain; the goal is Wallace Gap. We reach Glassmine Gap and climb over the last hill before Wallace Gap. We hit the parking lot at the highway at 1:45 PM. I spread my tarp under the shade tree and pull off my boots and stretch out for a few minutes of shuteye. Monty pulls out the trail book to see which way we need to go to reach Rainbow Springs Campground. It's not very clear. Lydia walks across the road and reads the sign. It says we are at Rock Gap. We're not there yet! We still have a half-mile to go and it's two miles long. Uphill. My feet and knee are killing me. I climb over a rock ledge and downed tree stump and scare up a small Copperhead snake. First poisonous snake I've seen on the trip. I nudge him with my walking stick and he slides down the bank, out of our path.

We climb out of the hole the trail ascends from to the intersection of Old Highway 64 and the Forest Service Road to Standing Indian Campground. There are two kids sitting on the side of the road on the bank across the Forest Service Road. They've spent a night in Franklin and the last two nights at Rainbow Springs. They point the direction to the campground and we begin the longest mile of the trip, down the paved road to the campground.

We put our packs on the picnic tables under the blue shelter like the sign says. I sit down to get out of my boots. M&L head into the campground store. The lady behind the counter says, "You must be Monty and Lydia". They're surprised. The lady says that they have a message to call home to Chris, the guy house sitting for them while they are on the trail.

Lydia buys me some popcorn and a Pepsi at the store. Bless her. The Pepsi goes down fast and the popcorn is great. I walk into the store myself and run into Phree, Jason, and Matthew. Phree and Jason passed me the first day. Matthew was at the Springer Mountain Shelter the morning I stopped there. Phree and Jason are from Lynchburg, VA. They met up with Matthew from Salisbury at Springer.

I follow Lydia's Pepsi and popcorn with a pint of Mayfield vanilla ice-cream, which awakens my digestive system. I head for the campground bathhouse to drop a few pounds.

Monty calls Mark Crawford in Franklin, the brother of his first pastor in Kentucky. Mark works for the US Forest Service at the Water Lab. Mark isn't in his office, so Monty leaves a message. He then calls home to Kentucky to find out that someone has thrown a rock through one of the bedroom windows in their house.

After another thirty minutes, Monty calls Mark again. This time he is in his office. He agrees to come pick us up in thirty minutes at Rainbow Springs. He takes us to his sister's house. Mark's sister, Jane Riddle has been widowed for twenty years and lives near the rest of her family on the west side of Franklin, a few miles from Winding Stair Gap on new Highway 64. She is a retired fourth grade school teacher, who taught for 35 years. She's been retired for seven years and now works part time for the Forest Service Information Center in Highlands.

Jane was supposed to take their mother to the doctor this afternoon so she isn't home when we arrive. Mark lets us in the house and we begin to clean up. I spread my gear on the grass and driveway to dry out. It is actually hot in Franklin. Almost 86 degrees at 4:40 PM. It feels good after being cool and wet most of the day.

After we clean up, Mark drives us into town to pick up a few things. We hit Wal-Mart and Ingles to get some first-aid supplies for our feet and food for the next leg of the trip. We get back to Jane's house and find she has returned. Lydia stayed while we were gone. She's done the laundry while we went to town.

We cook hotdogs for supper and pig out on snack foods and fruit. After supper I adjust my pack harnesses and repack it. I spend the rest of the evening writing in my journal and getting ready for tomorrow. It feels great to be clean and have clean clothes. We're planning to leave at 7:30 AM in the morning. Mark is going to drive us back up to the trail. We're going to leave our packs in the woods at Winding Stair Gap where the new highway crosses and slackpack from Wallace Gap to Winding Stair Gap. We're going to try to get to Wesser at the Nantahala River in two days. That will keep M&L from losing a day on their schedule and will put me a full day ahead.

Jane is a saint if a little lonely. She seems to welcome our company for the evening and is a very gracious host. I bed down in her son's old bedroom.