Friday, March 11th

Winding Stair Gap to Siler Bald Shelter 

4.2 miles

Total miles 113.6

Today we had another continental breakfast at Chica and Sunsets Hostel. My housemates were Alicia in the mountains and DIY. Alicia in the mountains has a YouTube channel. DIY is from Virginia, but originally from Istanbul, Turkey. 

I was out on the trail at 8:15am. The start of my hike was challenging, of course. Every time there is a gap, there is a mountain. The elevation started at 3690 and ended at 4769. What goes down, must go up! Lol Taking two days off makes getting back to the trail a bit difficult. The first hour was a shock to the system and or legs. After the first hour I had my hiking pace back. 

I’m at the Siler Bald Shelter tonight. This shelter looks old and a bit rundown. I just looked up it’s age. It was built between 1939-1941. Pretty cool spending the night in a depression era shelter. Grandma Gatewood could have stayed here. 

It is supposed to be cold, rainy, and snowy tonight. The wind chill is going to be below zero. There is a guy here named Tortuga (Steve) from North Carolina. He is a little older than I am and seems to walk my pace. He put a tarp up in the shelter to help with the wind. I wish that I was able to hike with him. He is the first person I have found to hike my pace. Unfortunately, he is not taking time off for the bad weather. Tomorrow I am getting off trail after a couple of miles. I booked a hostel for Saturday and Sunday due to the weather. I’ll be back on trail on Monday.

On my hike today, I decided I need to quit being down on myself for hiking slow. I’m doing the best I can and I need to embrace my own journey. As they say in the hiking community, hike your own hike.

Staying in Jed Clampett’s cabin!

Tortuga (Steve from North Carolina)