My pops dropped me off for the final time at Rock Gap near Franklin, NC. It was yet another beautiful day. There was a family providing some “trail magic” in the form of a hot cooked breakfast in the parking lot when we arrived. Quite a few hikers were partaking in this free meal as I hugged my Dad goodbye and stepped onto the trail.
It was pretty chilly out so I put my jacket on. I quickly regretted doing so after climbing the first mountain out of the gap. I started sweating pretty badly so I stopped and took it back off. I strapped it to my pack and lunged upward.
I made my way down to Winding Stair Gap Waterfall. I stopped to take a few photos. It was relaxing so I decided to grab some water and eat a snack. I met a young thru hiker by the name of Long Legs. Yes he had some long legs which aided him in moving up mountains pretty quickly.
Mid afternoon I took a side trail which led down to a shetler. I figured I’d see if I knew anyone there and sit and have lunch as well. The shelter was far off the trail and too far down a hill so I just plopped down on a fallen tree instead. A few minutes later a dog came running around the corner and right up to me. He was really cute. I asked him where his owner was. He starred at me and blinked a few times. A few minutes later a hiker came up the hill around the corner. Her name was Snow Flake. I didn’t ask her how she got her name– though I wish I would have. We chatted for a bit. She said she rescued the dog from a dog shelter. She enjoyed his company but they are only able to do about 5 miles a day as the dog needs a lot of water and just wants to lay around all day. We parted ways and a passed another hiker by the name of Diesel on my way back to the trail. Her plan was to stay at that shelter that evening. I marched on.
I climbed another mountain and in a big open field sitting in the sun eating his lunch was another hiker. A young guy who went by the name of Fargo. I stopped and chatted with him for a bit as well. He was from South Dakota. He told someone that and they blurted out “Fargo!” Fargo is actually in North Dakota, but he opted to keep that as his trail name anyway.
We climbed Wayah Bald together. It’s about 5300 feet to the top. The fire tower is made of stone. It was rather windy that high up so we snapped some pics and journeyed down the mountain. We passed a hawk that landed in a tree close to the trail. I wish I had my good camera with me still. That’s one of the things I got rid of when I knocked my pack weight down from 40 lbs to 25 lbs. I took some photos of some strange mushroom / slug looking things growing on the sides of trees instead 
It was dark by the time we reached the shelter. I remember coming down the side trail leading to the shelter… I could smell the camp fire burning. I got a little excited actually. I love camp fires! The camp site was packed. There must have been some 25 people camping there that night. I said hello to several people as I searched for a place to setup my tent. There weren’t many spots left. I had to settle for a spot on a slight hill. I setup my tent and cooked dinner.
While eating dinner I noticed all of the thru hikers where hanging out by the shelter. And all of the people hanging out by the campfire were day / section / local hikers. It was kind of segregated. It was interesting. I wanted to hang out by the campfire. But “my people” were hanging out by the shelter. After debating which group to hang out with for a bit I just decided to climb in my tent and go to bed. So much for socializing:)
The temperature dropped pretty quickly that night as the sun went down. “Hiker midnight” is when the sun goes down. It’s dark and cold so everyone just climbs in the their tents / hammocks and wraps up in their sleeping bags / quilts to stay warm and rest up for the next big day of hiking.
As I lay there trying to stay warm, sliding off my sleeping pad, I realized I was close to one on my client’s vacation rental properties in Topton, NC. My company built a new website for a few years back: www.forgelakelodge.com. I’ve stayed there several times. The owner said “come back anytime”…yet here I am freezing, rolling around on the ground, tossing and turning all night, wondering WTH!? 
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