Labor Day weekend, we had a kid free weekend and after a lot of research, Smalls chose for us to do Tellico Gap to the NOC on the AT. It is 8.3 miles point to point difficult trail. The first half is a climb with incredible views and the second half descends into the NOC. Smalls arranged to have the Further Shuttle pick us up at the NOC to take us back to our car. Excellent service! Mary was punctual and knowledgeable.
Smalls and I headed up on Saturday and took our time stopping in Clayton to shop at one of our favorite Outfitters followed by a delicious meal. We drove over to Black Rock Mountain State Park to take in the views and watched the sunset at Wayah Bald. Absolutely incredible!
That night we stayed at a hotel in Franklin. We woke up early to head to the trail. The first mile up to Wesser Bald was a pretty good climb. It was 1.4 miles from Tellico Gap to Wesser Bald and up the fire tower. The views were outstanding! This would be a great day hike as well.
At the base of the tower, there are 2 splits. If you are facing the fire tower, the trail to the left goes north on the AT. The trail to the right we think takes you back to the parking area. The trail was pretty narrow and over grown through here for the next 2-3 miles. There were some pretty spectacular views at the halfway point. The trail was rolling most of the way with a good climb up to the final view on the trail.
From there, we hiked the other 4 miles downhill to the NOC. It was shaded and pretty. We stopped around mile 7 to have some lunch–a mountain house meal. The last mile or so into the NOC my knees were killing me and I don’t normally have knee pain. 5000 ft of descent will do that to you.
As we came in to the NOC, there were several large tents and a group of people carrying cases of beer to the shelter. We had planned to camp there but decided to look elsewhere because it seemed to be crowded and probably more lively than we wanted. Keeping our priorities straight we went to get a burger and a beer. Smalls asked one of the employees about options to stealth camp. He suggested Hobo Island. In true Smalls fashion, it all worked out.
The next morning we went back to get a pimento cheese, egg, and bacon biscuit with a Bloody Mary–can’t beat it! We saw the same employee and he asked if we stayed dry since Hobo Island often floods making it impassable to get back. It didn’t but he had a good laugh thinking that we could have been stranded. Mary from the Further Shuttle picked us up at noon as planned and we picked up our car to head home.
Smalls and Talls Outdoors 