5-4-08: Non_Stop Beauty

I was a little intimidated by the hike out. I knew that if I couldn’t make it I could just camp though the food was getting short. I was not looking forward to another meal of rice and reconstituted hummus. I took my time and took a lot of photos. It was just beautiful. There were many hikers going in and a few passed me going out as well.

The beauty is non-stop and the fragrances are knockouts. The dogwood is so sweet and the balsam so leathery pungent and many more. All the while Deep Creek is tumbling over the rocks and rushing past the mossy banks covered with tiny flowers.

I got back to the parking lot in one piece by three and felt pretty grungy but first went looking to replace the lost water bottle. That took me to Nantahala Outfitters which turns out to be a kind of vortex of outdoorsy folks. The Appalachian Trail crosses the Nantahala River and U.S. 19 at that point so they have a lot of supplies and the river is amazing white water and people were running slaloms there. I found a water bottle and access to a free shower and then I bought myself a catfish dinner. Nice.

I went looking for a free campsite but time was running out and my GPS took me back to the Deep Creek Campground by mistake so I just camped there. It’s $8.50 with the senior discount. I set up the tent. And then set up the computer on the picnic table catching up with the written notes from the last few days and sorting through the photos. With luck tomorrow I will find Internet access and upload.