Increasingly warm at night. Zero bags, which were excellent over the past couple weeks are overkill right now, but warm days are good to hike in.
Rained last night, and continued to drizzle throughout the day. Great walking temps however.
Saw only Sensei and Goldfish during the day. Didn’t see anybody else from the group that we have been hiking with. Got a text that they got sucked into town yesterday afternoon….towns will do that.
We had some good climbs at the beginning of the day and then after lunch it was a long downhill into NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center), where we had a maildrop sent. Unfortunately, the maildrop is not here and the store that would receive the mail does not open until 10am tomorrow. Our planned 23 mile day will get shortened to a 16 mile day most likely, which means we will have to make up the miles over the coming days. We are lucky that this is the first maildrop delay or issue. If the box is not here tomorrow, we will just buy food and move on and have the box forwarded back home.
The NOC is interesting. There is a reasonable restaurant here and rooms. The hours are not correct in the guidebook, which is a bit at the root of our waiting around tomorrow. The place is kind of dead right now, but would have a different vibe in high season, most likely. Good to get a shower and do laundry.
Saw SoWay (a southbounder that started around the time we did) in the restaurant as well as a couple flip-floppers that we had met in Vermont. Beardos big beard is very recognizable, so other hikers often remember us, even when we don’t recognize them.
Daily Distance: 22.1
Trip Distance: 2,045.0
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