Mile 137.3
Elevation 1,732
Miles Hiked 12.9
Staying at the Nantahala Mountain Lodge for a few days. During the stay I’m slackpacking. Today I went from the Burningtown Gap (mile 124.4) to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) (137.3 mile). That’s almost 13 miles. The hike itself wasn’t too bad especially since the last part was downhill for nearly 7 miles. Deejay is with me and we both finished at the NOC tired but happy to have finished the 13 miles. One thing that certainly helped us speed through the hike was the smaller packs we used. On a slackpack, you leave your regular backpack behind and use a smaller backpack stocked with water and something to eat on the trail. The difference in weight is substantial and makes all the difference in the world.
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- Check out this part of trail. It was steep, narrow and had a fairly sharp drop if you missteped.
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- This is a memorial on the trail to a fire fighter who lost his life fighting a forest fire.
The outdoor center is quite impressive. It has white water rafting, a restaurant, outfitters and a general store where I downed two quarts of Poweraide. Just a little thirsty! The NOC is widely visited by adventure seekers as well as hikers. Checkout the pictures below.
After resting awhile and looking around the NOC with Deejay, we called for a pickup from the Nantahala Mountain Lodge. They were great about picking us up as quickly as possible and that night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner and desert in the dining room for only $12.50.
