***Pictures to be inserted in Fontana***
Everything in North Carolina seems to have a gap in its name. At least on the AT it does. We started the day at a great campsite just big enough for the two of us and watched the sun rise over the mountain while we enjoyed blueberry oatmeal and blueberry tea. It was a blueberry day, apparently.
Packed up and headed down the trail. Nice rolling hills and enjoyed the hiking. Stopped at a beautiful spring, ate lunch on the side of the trail and filtered water. Once we were fueled it was back to putting miles behind us. By the time we got to Rock Gap I decided I needed a break from my boots and to tape up my toes. I has a couple hot spots that needed addressing. Tootsie strikes again. Upon inspection I had a couple noticible blisters forming on my pinky toes. Got them wrapped and we were on our way.
By the time we made it the the bottom of Winding Stair Gap Alaska Sherpa and I were done. (I have officially renamed Alaska to AKsherpa. She took some weight for me and hence the name). After a 13.3 day do you blame us? We set up camp AKsherpa hiked back up the hill (to fetch a pail of water) .2 of a mile to make sure we had water the evening and the next day. She gets the best hiking partner ever award!! We ate our dinner and then snuggled into our sleeping bags. Talking about all the things that we were going to chuck (I mean ship back home) once we got to the NOC.
Then 4am rolled around and my bladder decided it was time to be emptied. I relucntly left the safety of the tent to do said relieving and then snuggled back into the tent. Then my mind started to play tricks on me. Every sound I heard was a animal out to get me and AKsherpa. At this point thoughts running through my mind are, "why didn't we bring bear spray or a gun, can I run a bear off with trekking poles, does the smell blocking bags for our food I bought really block smell" and the list goes on. Meanwhile unbeknownst to me AKsherpa is worried about the vehicles she keeps hearing from the nearby road with crazy thoughts of her own, "that driver is going to come up here and rape us then kill us." The cars were a soothing thought to me and obvisiously not AKsherpa. I was so relieved when I heard birds start their morning chirping around 5:30am.
As we packed up camp and got ready for our day we shared the thoughts that raced through the night and decided that we would not be staying nearing a road anymore. We were leaving WInding stair Gap to make our way to Wayah Bald.
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