22nd-23rd of March

3/22/14-3/23/14                               Wesser Bald Shelter

                Yesterday I only hiked 10.6 miles. At Burningtown Gap a large church group had trail magic. Basically they were making as much food as you could eat. Fortunately for me I pulled into the gap right when they were finishing up breakfast and starting lunch so they 'almost' forced me to stay and eat both meals. I was trying to push for 15-16 miles but 1 1/2 hours later I was still at Burningtown Gap. The food was definitely worth staying around for, but I was trying to get to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center). Either way I got to Wesser Bald Shelter at about 4:30. I could have pushed on, but ominous clouds were drifting around. It was supposedly going to start raining that evening and continue into today. As I sat here debating whether or not to leave, a couple from North Hollywood showed up at the shelter (Catnip & Admiral Caboose). The 3 of us decided to just sit tight instead of possibly getting caught in rain. Also the last deciding factor was that the NOC closes at 5, so we would have been stuck camping out in the rain. The evening became almost perfectly cloudless though and didn't start raining till about 3 am. But hey, they had whiskey, so I'm not complaining. 10am-ish now and I'm hoping by noon-1pm the rain will let up at least a little bit. Planning to stay tonight at the NOC. Gotta wait till Monday to see if they have a package for me.

- Sam