We had straight up warm to hot weather today. Temps felt like the 80’s. It was a challenging day with a huge amount of elevation change. We started with a few summits in the AM and had lunch on Wesser Bald.

Copper Ridge Bald

Wesser Bald from fire tower

Wesser had a cool fire tower that was open all the way to the top, so we went up. Completely amazing 360 views of the mountains that just seem to go on forever. I tried to take a panoramic pic but I’m not sure how it came out as it’s tough to tell on my phone.

After that most of the afternoon consisted of a huge 4000 foot descent to the Nantahala Outdoor Center, referred to as the NOC. It’s a complex for whitewater rafting amd kayaking and stuff like that. They also had a live band, bbq restaurant, and loads of beer.

NOC

It was super tough to pass up but we pushed on for a few more miles up the giant ascent out of there. From the elevation profiles of the entire trail this descent and ascent appears to be one of the biggest anywhere. We found one of the few campsites on the way up in Grassy Gap and made camp after a hot, tough 17.5 mile day.

Grassy Gap...Where's the grass?

Tomorrow looks pretty tough also, but with less overall mileage planned.

Vital stats:
Mood – determined
Physical state – feet and knees are feeling it after the massively long descent, but good
Smell – pure funk
Song stuck in my head – Settle Down by The 1975