The NOC
The Nantahala Outdoor Center is a whitewater recreation, learning and competition destination situated on the Nantahala River in the mountains of North Carolina, just south of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). I arrived here this morning after a short 5 mile morning hike- the AT goes right through the sprawling campus. By the time I got the key to check in to my bunk, I’d already done my laundry, purchased and printed my backcounty permit for GSMNP, hitchhiked to a nearby general store for resupply, charged my phone, uploaded videos (5-10) to my YouTube channel (feel free to check those out) and relaxed a bit with an ice cold beverage in the brief sunshine we had earlier today. As I sit writing in my cell block room now near sunset, I hear the rain coming down outside. Looks like I chose a good night to sleep indoors.
At mile 136.9 I’m happy to note that so far this is the smoothest/best start I’ve had on a thru-hike. My feet, legs and back all feel good. I’ve met several great hikers already (Mike, Dave) but as we’re all establishing our own pace, etc it’ll be some time before I see if I’ll fall in with a hiking crew or not.
With no library nearby, I’m posting via phone and therefore will keep things brief, but one fun new development is that some of the places I’m seeing are triggering forgotten memories from the SOBO hike I completed back in 2015. A couple of days ago just before dusk I reached the shelter I intended to camp nearby, instantly recalling upon seeing it two of the people I encountered there back in 2015. They were weekend hikers in their late 20s. It was her birthday as I recall and he worked as a lobbyist in D.C. He hated the work and complained in depth about the spirit-crushing nature of the job and how lobbyists have to sell their souls, etc. But my most vivid recollection was that the two of them downed an entire liter of whiskey sitting in the shelter that night. In the morning despite the noise and hubbub from all the surrounding hikers, they slept obliviously.
I ended up buying a lightweight liner to augment the old down sleeping bag I brought, which was a simpler and cheaper solution then having Wendy send my heavy-duty quilt and then swapping back again later. It’s been very cold and the old war horse sleeping bag has lost most of its umph.
I hope you enjoy this round of pictures. My next resupply will likely be in Gatlinburg, Tennessee so I’ll try to update again then, depending on how things go. Love, Max
Hi Max,
sorry we didn’t wish you all the best for your “AT-Nobo-Project 2023” on your f i r s t blog concerning your actual long-distanc-hike. But maybe our delay was also a little bit due to a lack of time caused by the preperation of our youngest son Stephan for his PCT-Nobo-Hike which is planned to start on April 11th; his departure from Frankfurt will be next Thursday, 6th.!
We hope that the extreme snow-conditions this year will not be a too big problem for a longer period of time but we think that he will probably have to skip the Sierra, then hike for some weeks in Northern California in oder to be able to “continue” the PCT from the Canadian border in Sobo-direction and maybe end up with the Sierra… – But as you already mentioned in your “intro” of your AT-Nobo this year: We (as his parents) first hope that he will have a safe hike with great adventures which will help him to become a “happy adult” person getting to know the nice sides of life and nature… (difficult to express in English, sorry… 😉 ).
If you want you can follow him on Instagram where he plans to post some pictures and maybe impressions: stephannothawbutking
Our whole family wishes you all the best,
we are looking forward to read more of you
Christoph König
Congrats on a great start. Have fun in the Smokeys.
Staying at Laughing Heart tonight in hot springs…been cold and rainy, but 275 miles in and the feet feel gooood.
Even if you’re in a vehicle, the Blue Ridge is a beautiful place to be.
Hi Max,
I already reached out to you about one week ago but I must have done a mistake while sending my message because today I can’t see it in your blog… So I will write you again; sorry, if you read my message (with about the same content) twice…:
First our whole familiy would like to wish you all the best for your actual long-distance-hike. We regret that we are pretty late with this but a lot of things had to be done in the last months and so time passsed by very fast…
Two days ago our youngest son Stephan left Germany by airplane from Frankfurt with destination San Diego where he will spend five days. The last two days he is going to stay at the house of Trailangels before he will start the PCT near Campo on Tuesday, 11th of April! We hope that the extreme snow conditions in (Southern) California this year will not already make the hike through the desert too difficult. He probably will have to skip the Sierra section, then maybe spend some time hiking in lower areas in Northern California and after that shift to the US-Canadian border in mid June in order to hike the PCT in Sobo direction…? – We (or better he) will/must see…
We hope that he will share some of his hiking impressions on his Instagram account:
stephannothawbutking
For sure he would like you to follow him on his account!
Max, we wish you all the best and look forward to hear from you.
Christoph Koenig & Family
Christopher and all: Thanks always for the kind words and I’ll definitely check in on your son via insta at “stephannothawbutking”. Sounds like a sensible plan to prepare for the possibility of bypassing the Sierras after all that snow. Send him my best wishes and happy 2023 to you all! Max (Michael)