Day Sixteen Entry: Sep 26, 2013

Wesser Bald. I didn't wake up in Wayah Bald shelter thinking I'd make it all the way to the Nantahala Outdoor Center but by 6 pm I had covered 16.5 miles. Making sure that every blaze I saw was that happy little white AT blaze. There were some ups and downs and the Wesser bald fire toweresque observation tower was a real up hill run but the views were amazing. Lately I've gotten to the tops of three balds and have been fogged in --not this time. Since my little stick pick contraption has weaseled out of all the stuff I've sent home I thought I would try to do a 360 video just like in the commercial. Not so much. I tend to fall back on the panoramic sew three shots together of my camera. It was hard to walk past the Wesser bald leanto at mile 10.2 but I pushed on. I walked right past the Rufus Morgan shelter. I had wanted to at least see the place since I knew the guy's story but I didn't even see the blue blaze for a turnoff. At one point I did see the roof to the "mouldering privy" but that was it. Mouldering priveys are the only thing I've seen so far for out houses. They are usually a platform sometimes with a roof over them and under the platform usually about 4 x4x4, chicken wire and all above ground is where everything goes from the seat above. They ask you to throw some dried leave and twigs down after you are done but that's about it. There are usually barrels of leaves and such for your convenience. An above ground out house. The smell was not noticeable at all - really! So I get into the NOC about six and they have a bunk in the overflow room. Something about a herd of middle schoolers coming in. My bunk is about a half mile away and up about 1000 feet. I couldn't believe it. Course it was the17$ variety ANSI was gratefull to be on a mattress, never mind that it was 2 incessant of old egg crate. I had a shower, about ¼ mile from my bunk, put on my cleanest cloths sans underwater and hurried back to the restaurant for a burger before it closed at 8. On the way back I ran into Steve. He had just tumbled in, heading sobo. **He was looking for a bunk. I said everything is closed but I have the key to the overflow room that still has 3 open bunks
So the NOC recently played host to an international freestyle kayaking thing. The river runs right thru the middle of "campus" and the gates were still up. The AT goes right across the bridge right in the middle of it all. There are zip lines, xcountry bikes, rafting all sort of stuff almost Disney-esq. I decide tomorrow will be my first real zero day. And I'll figure out if I make Fontana dam in two hard days or three easy days. Relatively speaking.
Did I mail this to you????
70° Cloudy
Nantahala National Forest, Franklin, NC, United States

**sobo = South Bound

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