Mason, Astro and I set out to hike a section of the Bartram Trail over the 3 day Memorial Day Weekend. We parked our vehicle at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, which is a resort that the Appalachian Trail goes right through the middle of and caught a shuttle from a nice lady named Patricia to our trail head, some 20 miles away as a crow flies. Our objective for the weekend was to hike a 30 mile trek using a combination of Appalachian trail and Bartram trail sections, which would end us back to our vehicle. I was field testing a new pack, new camera, new hiking shoes and carrying 6 days worth of enertia brand food. The goal was to ensure my pack was as close to content and weight that I would need for an upcoming trip being planned for later this summer with my brother Robby and sister Stacey to hike the 100 mile wilderness in Maine. 30 miles was a pretty aggressive goal for us, but there are some planned contingencies, should we fall off the pace for any reason. I was starting with a 25lb pack, carrying my gear, water and both Mason and my food supply. Mason, was carrying a 12 lb pack, carrying his gear and water. Astro, I didn't weigh his pack, but he had his 3 days of food.
 |
| Mason and Astro's first ever White Blaze, signifying the Appalachian Trail. Google the Appalachian Trail if you don't know much about it. |
 |
| My picture to mark the occasion of my first White Blaze too! |
 |
| From Waya Bald, looking to the West at the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in the distance. |
 |
| Again from the top of Wayah Bald, this time looking West at the evening sun glowing in the clouds. |
 |
| The remnant blooms of Azalea's seen in the background were frequent sights over the weekend. |
|
 |
| Astro, the UBER trail dog, marking out the double blaze ahead. Double blazes indicate a change in the trail ahead. |
 |
| This is where the Bartram and Appalacian trails soon split. Mason dubbed the joint trail the Bartalachian trail. We would camp close to here for the night. |
 |
| Mason was calling this King Fruit, but it's not. I'm not sure what it is, but it's commonly found throughout the forrest's floor. |
 |
| After an early morning start, we hiked through a series of meadows and switchbacks down to the reservoir. Mistakenly, we elected to get to the Lake where we would stop for lunch and change into dry socks. Astro, cooling off here, during our Lunch time stop at Lake Nantahala, which feeds the Nantahala River's Rafting community. We all took a chilly dip which was very refreshing. The six miles of wet socks resulted in the beginning of some good heel blisters. |
 |
| The Bartram Trail. I dubbed it "The Trail Less Traveled", as a lot of hikers opt for the more famous Appalachian trail, leaving the Bartram a bit less beat down, providing much over growth along the actual trail. We went a whole day without seeing another hiker on what would be a busy weekend in the nation's hiking community |
 |
| Mason is clearly in need of a break. We are at about the 10 mile mark of day 2. He is such a trooper. He will ask for a break when he needs/wants one, but he NEVER complains. I'm so glad he and Astro love the trail. We eventually found ourselves back here at the approximate 13 mile mark, due to a bit of confusion with the trail blazing. We elected to hike back up a couple of miles to where we missed our turn and camp for the night, while also thinking on our next plan of action, as our 30 mile destination was now in serious jeopardy, given the wasted time late this afternoon. On day 3 we woke up and elected to double back a few miles to hit the main road from Nantahala Gorge to Franklin, where we'd eat breakfast. I knew we'd get some good traffic to hitch back to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, where we left our vehicle. The rationale behind this was based on a few things. Most of which was that Mason was discouraged with our previous day's mishap and simply finishing would put us back home REALLY late and tired when all said and done. Instead, we could try to get back to NOC early enough that we'd have a chance to sign up for a rafting trip. The decision was a good one, as we immediately caught a ride, not 10 minutes after finishing our road side breakfast. | |
|
 |
| Upon arriving at NOC, we were able to get signed up for a trip down the river. While waiting, we found a thru-hiker, Austin, to watch Astro while we took our trip. He was taking a zero day(not hiking that day, but just resting) and actually seek'd us out to pet Astro. I regret not getting a picture of Austin, who was through hiking from Springer Mountain, GA to Harpers Ferry, WV this summer, then from Harpers Ferry to Mt. Katahdin, ME next year. We enjoyed Austin's company during our wait, who being fresh out of the Army, had alot of similarities to myself at his age. We were privileged to share the raft with the Drewing Family(above, from Left to Right: April, Kaytie and Robert), who were on a multi-leg tour/vacation of the Southeast. |
 |
| The Drewing Family and Mason and I, taken by our Guide Bullwinkle. Great guide. |
 |
| Mason at the nose of our 8 man raft. Ahead, you can see some of the other 5 rafts in our group. Our raft was "the sweeper", which is the tail raft, typically manned by the most experienced guide and first aid kit. |
 |
| Mason and I enjoying some flatwater. You can see we got our bath in. No better way to wash off a couple of days of trail dust :-) |
 |
| This is supposedly the bridge from the movie The Deliverance, although, rebuilt since the movie. I was unable to confirm this as fact or fiction, but interestlingly the movie was filmed mostly on the Chatooga and TAllulah rivers in Georgia and SC, but there were no footbridges for the scene where the banjo kid was on the bridge as they paddled under. |
 |
| A lovely mated pair of ducks on the river. They were beautiful. Too bad camera lens was a bit blurry from being in the water, so the quality wasn't the best and they flew off before I could clear the lens. |
 |
| Sleeping Bear. This is a close up of the side of a mountain, which if you look dead center of this picture is what would be a Nos, then above it the "bears" left eye, sorta closed in a slumber. Hope you can see it. It looked better from afar |
 |
| The Nantahala River, splitting the Nantahala Gorge, which the Eastern side of the Gorge in the background. | | | | | |
 |
| If you can't tell by his face here, Mason's first Rafting experience was a blast. He now wants to be a river guide when he grows up. Here Mason is bracing for one of our most exciting rapids of the day at Nantahala Falls. |
 |
Mason getting soaked :-) it was COLD!!
My first attempt at video Blogging. Nothing special about this clip of exiting a rapid. Just wanted to capture some sights and sounds to refresh the memory of the experience. |
 |
| A view from the outside eating at Wendy's in the town of Black Mountain, which we stopped for dinner on our way home. Seems like such a pity to have such a scenic community, only to litter it with above ground power lines |
Takeaways:
- Getting blistered for the first time, made me aware of the need to consider subjecting my brother and sister to the 100 mile wilderness, which has NO contingencies, should someone get injured.
- My new pack is awesome. Although, I did have noticeable shoulder aches from the weight of it. 25lbs is about max of what I'd carry in that pack, and day after day, the weight will dwindle, AND, no water would be needed to be packed in Maine, thus trimming 6 lbs for my 2 liter max.
- My new Montrail Masochist hiking shoes suck. They feel funny in the heels, which I hoped would break in. But even today, after recovering, they can be felt in the heel section in a strange way. Taking them back to REI. you don't compromise with your feet. But I am still in search for a much lighter alternative to my 4lb boots.
- My origional Leki's are starting to have the seam on one of the cork handles to come undone. I may attempt a super glue, or take them back to REI.
- Astro is a prince! He gets sooo much attention in public. Noticeably more than other dogs, imho. He's turning into such a good social pup. At 1 year old, he's still got another 6-12 months of puppy left in him, but he's so well behaved, you wouldn't know. He's by far the best dog I've ever had in my life. Sorry Rollo, Pepper and Sadie... all good dogs, but none hold a candle to Astro.
- The Bartram Trail's blazing was faded/weathered in the sections we were at. Which will become more challenging when the fall colors hit. Mason and I discussed this as a potential service project for Boy Scouting.
- Never pass up a chance to swap out to dry socks. Even better to consider a long delay to dry out. In the long run, you likely come out ahead.
- Inertia's 3 cheese Mac was very flavorful. So was the Coleman Southwest Chili, though a tad spicy.
- Inertia's SlickRock Beans was a loser. Too bland, too grainy. Coleman Mackenzie Chowder, not so much either.
- Bamaboy's spicy Jerky was WAY hot. hotter than the last time we got it. Mason wants regular next time.
- Mason can easily eat 2 or 3 packs of Oatmeal at breakfast, despite insisting on only one before our trip.
- Austin indicated that the AT Section from Wayah to the NOC was the driest he's seen on the trail to date.
- Plan any overnight at NOC with a dog in advance, as they have limited accommodations for dogs. We lucked out with Austin, who was taking a Zero.
- TAKE MORE PICTURES!!!
- I'm finally getting more comfortable sleeping in a hammock.
