Dick's Creek to NOC

[jesse]

Leaving Tommorow for a hike from Dicks Creek Gap, GA to the NOC. Is there plenty of water? If not where are the dry areas?

[l0ngterm]

One of my absolute favorite sections. Hope you enjoy it as much as I always do. I've done this one several times this time of year and later in the summer. No real problems with water. I would suspect that with the rain this year you should have too much of a problem finding water.

have a great hike

l0ngterm

[Ron Haven]

Leaving Tommorow for a hike from Dicks Creek Gap, GA to the NOC. Is there plenty of water? If not where are the dry areas?

water is fine

[jesse]

Just got back. Great hike. Plenty of water. Ran into WBer Kerosene, at Carter Gap. His daughter was injured, and they were going to get off the trail in Franklin for a while. Hope shes OK.

[Kerosene]

We stopped our hike at Franklin instead of trying to forge onto NOC. My daughter, with her new trailname of Sunshine (as in, "You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine", which we harmonized together in the middle of the woods on a sunny morning), appears to have added a minor meniscus tear in her left knee while compensating for a "tweak" behind her right knee on the final climb south of Carter Gap. She obviously inherited her ligament structure and joints from me.

We had a lovely 3-day hike over which she took more than 200 pictures while I reminded myself to wait patiently up the trail for her. I highly recommend this section (Deep Gap to Winding Stair Gap) for newbies, as the trail surface is quite smooth with minimal elevation changes (Albert Mountain really isn't that difficult).

We yogi'ed a ride back to Haven's Budget Inn from the husband of a thru-hiker who was restarting after the winter snows, and then went into Asheville for the day where my daughter shopped while I sampled various styles in the Bier Garden while catching up on e-mail. Lovely time of year if you can reach camp before the afternoon showers.

We met Jesse and his son at Carter Gap Shelter, and then Dutchess & Trashcan along with section hikers Matt, Darlin' Mary, and Big Mama at Big Spring Shelter. My 20 year-old daughter really appreciated hiking (but she was only carrying a 15-pound pack) but really loved running into people every so often.

[daddytwosticks]

Hey Kerosene...met Dutchess and her son Trashcan plus a very happy lady named "Merry Mary" on my hike from Wayah Gap to the NOC on Thurs to Sat. Great group. Sadly, Dutchess' 17 y/o son was getting off the trail at the NOC. He was getting bored with thru-hiking. They were about the funnest group I have hiked with in a long time.