Last night we camped at our lowest elevation yet, so it was toasty and warm. The whippoorwills sang all night long. We all woke up early, lured by the hot food only a mile downhill from where we camped. At the Nantahala Outdoor Center we are a huge breakfast, took showers, did laundry, resupplied, ate hot lunch with beer, and Paul got some new shoes.
After five hours we finally got back on the trail. The NOC is at 1700 feet elevation. We only had 7 miles to hike to the next shelter, over a 4700 foot Mountain. The last mile up was called ” the jump up ” and I have no pictures for obvious reasons. (Yesterday, on the descent to the NOC, we went down a particularly steep section called “the jump off”). The trail went straight up a ridge, with 3 false summits on the way up. It was a long seven miles. (Awesome views though). We are camped at mile 144.
Woah, dude. Hopefully you are eating some major calories!