The AT - Rock Gap to Burningtown Gap

This past weekend we went hiking on the Appalachian Trail with our friends Michelle & Kelly. I have to say it was rough going!!! This was the first time Eric and I had hiked on the AT since last August and it was my first time hiking with a pack on.

We started out early Saturday morning at 7:30 to drive to Franklin, NC. We drove the car to our final destination (Burningtown Gap) and waited for our pre-arranged shuttle drive to the beginning at Rock Gap. We got on the AT and at first I was excited to be back on the trail...but right away we started going up hill. Hiking with a 20-30lb pack on is VERY different than hiking without one. That first step up was a lot harder than I thought it would be!

Spring is just starting in the NC Mountains. We saw a lot of beautiful wild flowers while hiking. Here is a picture of one but we saw may other varieties!



After about 4 hours on the trail, I was tired and had a migraine. Not a good thing. It took a lot in me to keep going. It felt like we kept going up and up and up. It was a real mental and physical struggle for me. I wanted to stop but there was no place to camp...and you cant call it quits when you are in the middle of nowhere on the AT. Finally, after 7 1/2 hours of hiking we found a place to camp. It was on an old forest service road that appeared to be decommissioned. THANK YOU U.S. Forest Service! (Most hikers, including myself, aren't big fans of the U.S. forest service...but I was grateful for them on this day!!) We quickly set up camp before the sun went down and started making dinner. Here is a pic of our makeshift cap site. Michelle & Kelly camp in a hammock....we are "old fashioned" and camp in a tent. :)


We ate dinner quickly and went to bed early...We were tired and it was cold outside! We think the temperature fell to around 35 degrees that night. I was very grateful to have a nice warm sleeping bag!!

On Sunday we got up around 7am, packed up our camp and started up the trail by 8:00. We went up hill again for about another two miles before reaching Wayah Bald. Along the trail we ran across a wild boar and her piglet. The sow was HUGE :) I think it was one of the biggest pigs I have ever seen! Her little piglet was very cute though. We didn't want to startle them too much (that big of a pig could do some damage to us!) so we waited for them to run away before continuing up the trail. Unfortunately we never saw them again to get a picture.

Once on Wayah Bald we enjoyed the views while eating breakfast. There is an old fire tower on the Bald and you can see for miles! It was very beautiful! We could see where we had hiked the day before across the mountains. In the picture below you can see Siler Bald, it is the middle/right peak where there is a big patch of grass on top. On Saturday Eric, Michelle, and Kelly hiked to the top of the grassy knoll while I rested at the bottom.


From Wayah Bald, most of our hike was down hill. I was somewhat grateful for the change but my legs were working just as hard as they were the day before. On this day we only hiked 4 1/2 hours before we were back to our car. Overall, we did 18 miles in roughly 12 hours (including rest breaks). Sunday was a HUGE challenge for me, but Saturday well made up for the hard day before! However, I am SUPER sore today from the long hike over the weekend. I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning!

Here are some other pictures from our hike.... The view from Wayah Bald.





Burningtown Gap: The End!


Kelly, Michelle, Eric & I After 18 miles...I think we look pretty good don't you!?