[at-l] AT Hike Report: Day 15

[ARTCLOUTMN at aol.com (ARTCLOUTMN@xxxxxxx)]

Sunday, 03/23/03  NOC                   12 miles
    Up early this morning.  28 degrees, brrrrr.  We had breakfast and were 
out of camp before 7:45AM.  We want to get into the hostel (bunk room) at NOC.  
So, we were trying to get out of camp ahead of the rest of the crew.  It 
didn?t happen. New Hampshire and his friends left camp before us.  Patch and his 
girl friend passed us like we were standing still on Wesser Bald, where   we 
stopped at the tower for a 360 view.  It was magnificent, clear blue sky, 
mountains for miles.
    From the bald we began a long arduous descent to Wesser and the NOC.  The 
trail follows a ridge.  So, we would hike down 400 feet then climb up 300 
feet.  This happened over and over until exhaustion set in about 12:00 PM.  But 
we plodded on despite sore knees and aching backs.  We finally took a break 
around 1:45 PM to relieve ourselves and to eat.  We stopped at the Rufus Morgan 
Shelter for only 10 minutes.  Then continued on.  Down, down down, we began to 
hear traffic below.  Soon we could see the river and then a bridge and cars.  
Eventually we came down into Nantahala OutDoor Center where people white water 
raft, canoe and kayak.  
    We were again greeted by Pittsburgh.  He was waiting for us across the 
street on a bench that overlooked the trail head.  He wanted to see if we were 
interested in sharing a motel room with him in Bryson City, about 18 miles 
away.   John didn?t want to move another step.  So, we had a nice lunch with 
Pittsburgh.  I had the biggest hamburger I have ever eaten - 8 oz. - with a huge 
bun and large pile of fries.  I don?t believe I ate the whole thing.
    We missed Laura from Canada by a few minutes.  Her partner, Sabina 
-?Celcius? was on the river rafting.  We met her and Katherine Pong when they 
finished their rafting trip.   
    New Hampshire and the college kids along with Patch (his girlfriend went 
back to school) learned of a convenience store that served as an office for 
some cottage rentals, but it was a 1 mile walk down the road.  We rented motel 
room  D7 from NOC because there was only one bunk available in the bunkhouse.  
It was expensive $70 per night.  We cooked trail food for dinner using the 
coffee maker to boil water.  John was still not feeling well.
    We met a lot of people in our motel building.  There was a kayak clinic 
going on this week.  Most of the people at the clinic were instructors honing 
their skills for the upcoming season.  We saw several cars with New Hampshire 
and Vermont plates.  We never figured who belonged to those New England 
vehicles.  We talked with the yakers and went to bed by 9 PM after a wonderful 
shower.  Late night for us.