After looking over today’s trail altitude profile, I felt like I should be able to throw my pack down and ride it like a sled all the way to the car. There is a final descent of over 3000 feet to Davenport Gap, where the trail exits the GSMNP. I was glad to be going down that 3000 feet rather than up.
Today started with a little rain. Not enough to pull out the rainjacket, but just enough to remind me that a major hurricane is on its way. The collective consensus of the ad-hoc amateur hurricane mobile phone data analysis team huddled in the shelter last night was that Hurricane Michael would be making landfall today and then will plow our direction(!). Getting ahead of my schedule and finishing my hike a day early now looks like a genius idea.
I hiked through the morning and decided to stop for lunch at the Cosby Knob Shelter. There, I cooked some ramen noodles, filled up on water and started to depart when the Wisconson sisters arrived. We talked for a few minutes and I wished them well on the rest of their hike. They were hiking on to Hot Springs, NC.
The rest of the downhill jog was unremarkable. I exited the trail at Davenport Gap, on a gravel road, NC 284. I knew that the road twisted downhill for another mile and a half to the Big Creek Ranger Station where my car was parked. I had just started the roadwalk when, from behind me, I heard a vehicle crunching its way down the gravel road. As the car approached, it slowed and the window came down. A nice older couple asked if I knew how to get back to the interstate. I gave them the directions, then asked if they could kindly let me hitch a ride down the hill to the ranger station. They were only too happy to load me up and carry me for the 5 minutes it took to get to the bottom of the hill. I thanked them, ensured they made the left turn to I-40, then walked the short distance to the car. I never did come across any Rangers who cared where I was while in the park. Maybe the manhunt continues even today…
The drive back to Alabama was rainy. Hurricane Michael made landfall just about the time I exited the trail this afternoon, and is now churning and chewing its way across Georgia. I wanted to be well out of its way before it made an appearance in the western Carolinas.
Another hike completed. Another ramen packet consumed. Another shelter night survived. Another cathole dug (and filled). Another journal entry finished. And I cannot wait to do it again! Until next spring…
Doctor Photon