The one at dawn – Day 10

What an amazing sunrise Blaze and I had from Rocky Bald! They will never grow old! Another perfect day on the road.

Trail update

Blaze and I left Rocky Bald after sunrise with the intention of having lunch at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). I was excited and had high hopes of getting a cheeseburger there.

Before the NOC we climbed the Wesser Bald tower. That tower provided another incredible view.

I bought a cheeseburger at the NOC – Yum! I’m definitely craving cheeseburgers. Blaze wanted to stay an extra hour at the NOC and hang out, so I left around 1:00 pm and began the climb to Cheoah Bald.

The climb from the NOC is long, but I was rewarded with a great view from Cheoah Bald. It was only another 2.5 miles from there to the campground at Locust Cove Gap.

Blaze met me at camp because we planned to hike to Fontana Dam together tomorrow. The campground was pretty full and there weren’t many, if any, flat spots. But I made it work.

Thought of the day

I want the thought of the day to not always be a deep thought or something serious. Some will be fun.

Today’s thought is about sport. We just had the Olympic Games and I am tired of watching “sports” whose outcome is determined solely by qualitative human judgment. For example, this year’s ice dancing couples, where the gold was determined by a single biased judge.

So… I have decided on my definition of sport. A sporting event can only be a sport if the result is quantitative. In other words, if the winner is determined solely by human judgment, then it is not a sport.

people i met

On the climb to Cheoah Bald, I passed someone about 3 miles from the top. I didn’t know his name, but when I visited, I didn’t think much about it.

I took a break near the top to drink water at the crossing to Sassafras Shelter. He caught up with me. When he did, he said, «Thank you.» I looked bewildered and asked why. He said that when I walked past him he felt tired and sorry for himself. He said just seeing me gave him the motivation to keep going.

It always amazes me how you can impact people without even knowing it. Just with a simple action or word.

Plant of the day

The plant of the day is the American root of cancer. This was such an unusual plant that I had to take a photo of it.

bird of the day

The bird of the day is the scarlet tanager. A very brightly colored bird; However, I didn’t actually see it, I just heard it. Spend the winter in South America.

“Scarlet Tanager – Point Pelee – Ontario 11052017-FJ0A4632 (28036926339)” by Francesco Veronesi from Italy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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