The Roaming Romantics

Started the day with high hopes of a pancake breakfast. We woke up to 18 degree temps, packed up quick and started the one mile walk to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) When we got there, we quickly found out that not only are they not opening until 11, they don’t...

We started our day with a pretty steep climb from Sassafras shelter up to Cheoah  Bald, gaining around 700 ft of elevation in about a mile. Great unobstructed views from the top (elevation 5062) From there, it was a steep 5 mile descent down to to Cheoah Gap. The loss...

Today we had a shorter hike from cable Gap Shelter down to Fontana  Dam shelter, aka “the Fontana Hilton”. Really just a regular wooden shelter, but a couple hundred meters away, it had a brick building housing bathrooms with flush toilets and a coin operated shower....

With 100% chance of rain in the forecast and needing to resupply anyway, we took a zero day and stayed at the Fontana Lodge. [Sorry, no pictures on this update, the wifi is pretty slow and there is little to no signal here at the lodge. ] It turned out to be a good...

Hiked from Fontana dam to Russell Field shelter today.  The weather was clear and we had a good climb into the Smokies Along the way, we found a teepee tree! The shelter was pretty cool. Double decker, made of stone, with a fireplace and a tarp across the fourth wall...

Hiked from Russel Field Shelter to Silas Bald Shelter. Trail started off easy with a gradual incline and we made good time, covering 5 miles on the first two hours. Crossed a couple balds that had really nice views As we gained elevation, we ran into a little bit of...

It got really windy overnight, a consistent 30-40mph starting at 8pm around 1pm a Thunderstorm rolled in. Luckily the rain stopped by dawn, but the wind picked up to a steady 40mph, threatening to blow us off the ridge lines. Aside from the wind/cold, the trail was...

With 7+ inches of snow expected up in the Smokies and high winds, everyone got out of the mountains for the weekend. We ended up renting a car and driving to Doug’s house an hour and a half away in Virginia to wait out the storm. We could see the higher elevations...

Spent our zero day at Doug’s house, relaxing, recovering and resupplying. I took my Tenkura fly rod to the river on the edge of the property and landed my first Brown trout! We ended the day organizing our packs and getting to get back on the trail tomorrow. Going to...

Got back onto the trail today at Newfound Gap and hiked up to Cold Spring shelter.  The trail was full of ice and snow.  Trekking poles were worth their weight in gold today. I found a pair of sunglasses on the trail! They said the glasses made me look blind Even...