Appalachian Trail: Day 16
Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. All the gear mentioned in this post was purchased by me at retail prices. I have no affiliations with any of the companies or brands mentioned.
Today was a hard day. Probably should have taken a zero in Franklin, but I didn't. I got the early shuttle from the hostel back to Winding Stair Gap and then proceeded to have my butt kicked by Siler and Wayah Balds. The views were great and definitely earned, but the ascents sucked.
I hiked with Shaka, Trinket, Loose Change, and a non-binary hiker named Mixer who uses they/them pronouns. Phantom and River showed up later when we were at the Wayah Bald Tower.
There was trail magic at Wayah Bald. I had a very delicious pulled pork sandwich. It was enough food that I didn't even need to eat any of the food I packed out of Franklin. Which is nice since that means less resupply in NOC, but also not nice since it means my food bag doesn't get lighter.
We thought about seeing the sunset from the tower, but decided against it due to the storm forecasted for that evening and hiked to the shelter for the night. Got to the shelter late and had to setup my tent after sunset.
Also, I seemed to have left my earbuds back at the hostel, but they said they didn't see them when they checked. Guess I need to buy new earbuds in the next town.