Stecoah Gap to Nantahala Outdoor Center: 13.6 miles.
Heading out early on Friday morning on Hwy. 28 west of Bryson City, the mountains that we'd be traversing later today were still wreathed in clouds. The weather forecast for the day called for rain, lots of rain. We hoped for the best, but it didn't look good.

Below, Stecoah Gap on NC Hwy. 143, 3,165' elevation..This view looks to the northeast.

A logging road cuts away from the Gap just to the left of the trailhead for the AT. It has been designated as an official "Birding Trail." With a mix of heavy timber and brush, it should have some promise for birders as spring moves up the mountain slopes.

In the valley below Stecoah Gap, the blue waters of Fontana Lake can be seen (as well as the 'bathtub ring' resulting from TVA's practice of constantly raising and lowering the level of the lake.) In the distance beneath the clouds on the horizon, the Great Smoky Mountains wait for the northbound AT hiker.

Steps lead out of the trailhead beside Hwy. 143 as Donna starts the walk to the Nantahala River in Wesser. Southbound, we'll climb about 1,900' to the summit of Cheoah Bald before beginning the steep 3,500' descent down into the Nantahala Gorge.

This stretch of the AT is often rocky, traversing boulder fields that spill down from the mountainside above.

We encountered these guys a couple of times over the next two days. That's Atlas with Tug the 16 week old chocolate Lab, and the Renaissance Man in the gray shirt. They are headed for Maine and they're moving fast, having hiked from Bly Gap on the Georgia line to Sassafras Gap, north of the Nantahala River, in only two days. That's 66.2 miles in two days. Rock on!!!

Hiking with the NOBOs above was Tawa and Tiny. Tawa, trail-named for the Pueblo god of nature, had started much earlier this year, but interrupted his trip north to wait out the deep snow in the Great Smoky Mountains. Now back on the trek to Katadhin, he's making good time and having a ball.

Then there is Tiny, who is anything but... He's visiting America from Belgium and is trying to put in as many miles as possible before his visa runs out. He's a big guy, well over 6 ft., but he's eating up the miles as he see's some of the best that America has to offer. I find myself wondering now, as floods sweep the southeastern Appalachians, how these guys are faring. We wish 'em luck!