(3/16) Slow and not so Steady

     We slept in this morning. After getting to camp in the dark last night we didn’t fall asleep until after 10. We had a stream nearby which gave us some pleasant white noise and a pretty steady wind keeping our tents around 50 degrees.

    Finally at 8:30 am we woke up. It was nice sleeping in and we were still on trail faster than if we had stayed in town. By 9:20 we were hiking and heading uphill toward Unaka Mt. This mountain was 5200 feet high but still managed to be nearly the toughest mountain we have climbed yet. Don’t get me wrong 5200 feet is a high mountain on the east coast but it isn’t even close to the highest mountain we have climbed so far. What made Unaka difficult was the gradual uphill climb combined with the extra weight from our resupply. 


     The climb took place over 12 miles. And those 12 miles took us like 7 hours. We took a lot of breaks for food and to rest our legs. The top of Unaka was a dense spruce forest which reminded us of the woods of Maine.



     After hitting the top of Unaka and stopping for lunch near the peak we headed down 2 miles to Low Gap where there is a stealth site. We set up our tents at 4:30 after a 14 mile day. And we were exhausted. I don’t really know why today was so physically challenging, but I’m glad to be in bed right now (in my tent).

     Tomorrow it might rain on and off. We will try to hike a 23 mile day to take a serious chunk out of the 35 miles we have left before Banner Elk. I look forward to the zero.

     Just before Banner Elk we will cross out of North Carolina for the last time. Then we will have nearly 100 miles in Tennessee.

Goodnight.

Walker

Check out Tyler’s blog too- https://tylerat2020.blogspot.com/?m=1

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