Day 12, Wayah Shelter to Rufus Morgan Shelter

There had been a brief rain shower last night about the time I crawled into my tent, but not enough to make the trail muddy this morning.

Leaving the camping area at Wayah Shelter, the trail continued its slow and easy descent of Wayah Bald.

Just under five miles past Wayah Shelter was Cold Spring Shelter.

Several hikers left Wayah about the same time I did, so unsurprisingly, the next shelter became a crowded spot for a snack and an opportunity to refill water bottles.

Not long after I left Cold Spring Shelter I could see some of the peaks I'd be climbing later today, including Rocky Bald, Wesser Bald and Fork Mountain.

In a few weeks, once the leaves have fully come out at these elevations, it will be harder to see distant peaks like these.

The trail then dropped down to Burningtown Gap.

There is a clue why the gap and the nearby creek are named Burningtown, though the explanation is incomplete. It is said a Cherokee town called Tikaleyasuni, which may be translated to something like “place where they were burned”, was located on the creek. There's no record, though, of the town burning.

When naturalist William Bartram walked through this gap he reportedly offered a young Cherokee tobacco in exchange for information about the area.

On the climb up Rocky Bald there was a sign to identify it. The sign was placed at a side trail that led to an overlook.

Though it's hard to condone graffiti, the endorsements written on the sign convinced me to take the side trail to see the view.

The view lived up to the hype. From here I could see a broad range of the Great Smoky Mountains.

The bald also lived up to its name. It had a large and exposed area that was nothing but rock.

Leaving Rocky Bald, the trail dropped down to Tellico Gap. When I arrived there I found a family had set up tables and chairs. Trail magic was being offered to hikers in the form of soft drinks, cookies, brownies and fresh fruit.

David (left) told me he is hoping to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail when he retires. He and his family drove from their home in Asheboro, N.C., half-way across the state, to provide this generous offering of kindness.

He said he wants to "pay it forward" for the next few years with a day of trail magic each year until he is ready to begin his hike.

From Tellico Gap the trail made a modest climb to the top of Wesser Bald, going 760 feet up in just under 1.5 miles. Over the whole traverse of the mountain a lot of fire damage could be seen.

As with Rocky Bald, the view from here was amazing. This time I could not only see the Smokies, but I got my first glimpse of Fontana Reservoir, which borders the Smokies.

Over the next 5.7 miles the trail dropped 2,500 feet. The farther we went the steeper and more difficult the trail became. There were several sections of large rocks, making the descent a challenge to negotiate.

At this point my left knee began to hurt more than it had hurt in several days. It hurt a lot.

I'm normally slow when I hike down steep and rocky sections of a trail, but with the added misery of my sore knee and tiredness from a long day, I began to slow down even more.

Despite that, Neal stayed just ahead of me. He is much younger than me and could have easily gone faster, but I suspect he was concerned for me and wanted to make sure I made it to our destination safely.

Though I was fine, especially after I had a snack and took a couple Ibuprofen, I appreciated his willingness to stick with me.

Neal's simple act of kindness reminded me again that the trail is not just a narrow, linear path through the mountains, but is also broadly and deeply filled with caring people who want you to succeed in your hike.