nantahala nc

“Is this a nice place? JUST want to do a 3 day hike.

Thank's for info.”

“u talkin bout the national forest? yea, its pretty cool. how many miles you wanna do?”

“Yeah, It's good - The Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area would be a great place for a three day trip. Check out Hangover Lead Trail and Naked Ground Trail - camp up on Hangover Lead - great great views.”

“Sounds like a TT trip! When are we going?”

“and can we end it with a whitewater rafting trip on the Namtahal River?”

“the Hangover Lead trail is cool - the last mile or so (maybe less) is on the very top of a narrow ridge - cool place to camp, about 150 yards shy of the end of the ridge, which drops straight down to the gorge... great views. Room for maybe 4 or 5 small tents there in a little clearing.

Not much water there though - but there's water just at the ridge top where the main trail comes up - its a spring on the west side of the ridge - huge trail junction there. You'll know it when you see it (the jct).”

“The AT follows some of my old foot steps, its a really nice place. Completely away from the crowds, most places.”

“YOU PEOPLE ARE TO COOL.

MY good friend has a place in murphy...but dont hike, and for years ask me to go to his cabin.

As far as time...oct so i can check out one of my bags.

I would love to meet all that can come... and my buddy could carry COLD ONES TO HIKE .

Thanks to all.”

“Sorry CB, As long as we want ....and the cold ones last.”

“Try the River's End Resturant for dinner, additionally take some bucks there are a large number of KILLER outdoor supply places.

Great place to go. At the end of October they have a HEAD HUNT for kayakers and Nantahala Outdoor Center has a HUGE sale.”

“Chili and I were over at NOC Sunday afternoon. We were talking about going back to hike/camp over that way...very cool place..”

“The water was up Sunday and the paddlers were definately in their element.”

“That descent into the NOC from the south on the AT just about sucks. :) I think you start smelling the food from River's End about 2 miles from the NOC...talk about frustrating!

But the food was definitely good. :)

One shelter north of the NOC, Sassafras Gap ~ has the Red Privy of Death. I don't recommend using it. I think Freddy and Jason live nearby.”

“Um chili...you do know the river is fed from the dam...its always UP during the day...then they drop it off at night...Its pretty cool to be on the first bus up in the morning...”

““Appalachian Lullaby

Twenty thousand strides. I did not count each one, but the map indicated that the days hike had brought us an additional twelve miles or so, therefore, the number is probably a close estimate. Whatever the amount of lifts and drops my boots had endured, my final destination made them each worthwhile. Sarabelle, my faithful yellow lab, and I found ourselves nestled in a high cove of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. The surrounding forest is designated as the Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness Area, a 17,000 acre unit within the Nantahala National Forest. The wilderness is home to one of only a handful of virgin forests in America. For whatever reason - be it economic, political, geographical, or social - the trees had never fallen to the saw, or the rich earth laid open to the plow.

I leaned back against a large log that seemed a natural border for what had become our temporary homestead. I sat upon my folded sleeping pad. Sarabelle, contentedly tired and full of kibble and tuna and jerked beef, laid asleep with her head pressed hard against my leg in a perpetual nudge. Her occasional jerk and barely discernable whimper indicated her deep, restful slumber. I sat silently sipping hot cocoa - my traditional follow-up to Ramen noodles and tuna. Hot food and drink taste no better than in the backcountry - and nowhere else does a small fire warm so well. Despite the rains of the preceding days, I had managed to raise a more than adequate flame. I watched the fiery follies of the one-ring circus as my titanium cup became decreasingly lighter, and my eyelids heavier.

As darkness grew, my dreamy attention was drawn to the treetops. There was a familiar stir in the air. Indeed, the stir was brought about by the News of things to come. The Titans - red maple, white oak, blue spruce - standing above me were first to receive the News. They became restless and excited; leaning first to one neighbor, then another - thus spreading the News. Then, to the rousing applause of the nearby rhododendron, the News swept through the camp.

Smoke, which had been slithering about the ground as if searching out the vulnerable for it's flaming master, began first to stop, then reel, then dart off in a panicked retreat - disappearing into the shadows of the forest. Fire, angered by the News, glowed a ferocious red then orange then yellow. He raised up and hissed and threw outward and upward his pyroclastic weapons of destruction - all of which diminished, dim and harmless, until they fell black onto the damp leaf litter. Seeing all this, Little Creek leapt into a rock crevice to giggle unseen like a bashful schoolgirl. She, too, had heard the News, and knew that her fantasies would soon come true - that she was about to grow into a beautiful and patient woman as she meandered to the place where she would someday wed her briney groom.

Then nothing. Silence. Eerily motionless and perfectly quiet. As soon as it arrived, it had vanished.

But not for long.

First, a tap on the hat. Then, a tap on the toe. Then another, and another, and another. The fire spat and spewed, the rhododendron began another ovation, and I roused from my slumber and scrambled to my feet. Within a few seconds, the pitterpatter of a few raindrops had become the roar of a deluge. I scurried around grabbing all that my headlamp illuminated, and within a minute Sarabelle and I were safely bedded down in the dry comfort of our little tent. The rain continued battering the fly of our shelter, and lulled us quickly to sleep - my favorite sleep. It is a sleep that can only be found 20,000 steps to where the giant sentinels of the forest stand watch, where the creatures of the dark prowl by to whisper "good night", and where you are snugly cradled in the loving arms of God.””

“very well done. Thank you.”

“One shelter north of the NOC, Sassafras Gap ~ has the Red Privy of Death. I don't recommend using it. I think Freddy and Jason live nearby.”
lilmountaingirl
1:40:35 PM
7/31/07

not Freddy and Jason - they're in MD. It's Bubba and Junior in NC.”

“gojo that's wonderful writing.”

“i second that emotion”

“The river is a from the bottom of the lake, where the power house is, thats why its alot colder than most.”

“In oct ...what are the norm for temp lows?

Roam Around,that looks swell,Thanks to all.”

“I second Kilmer/Slickrock/Citico Cr. Look into Snowbird Cr, an AT/Bartram combination, S. Nantahala Wilderness, Panthertown, or something in the SE corner of GSMNP. Rafting the Nantahala is ok. If I had to choose between another day on trail or rafting I'd stick to trail. After summer the river feels even colder.”