Day 10, Whiterock Gap to Franklin

We were ready to hike a little earlier than usual this morning, leaving our campsite at 7:30. We had camped at Whiterock Gap where there was a large meadow, but we didn't get much of a view of it. The area was blanketed in a thick layer of low-hang clouds.

We followed the trail over several short ups and downs between Little Fishhawk Mountain and Conley Ridge before ascending the slope of Fishhawk Mountain (4,747 feet). The trail didn't go over the summit but passed near it.

A plaque was placed at the top in 1985 to honor William Bartram. We didn't follow a side trail up there because there would not have been any views at the top.

A report written by the U.S. Forest Service in 2017 evaluated this area for possible inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. No action has been reported about its status since then.

On the descent from Fishhawk Mountain, we passed a sign that pointed to an overlook at Wolf Rock. There was nothing to see here because the low clouds obscured everything.

A couple of miles below Wolf Rock was an incongruous sight: a rusted old school bus. It was completely out of place because no roads led to this spot. The bus was surrounded by trees on a narrow ridge, and driving it here seemed impossible.

There were no wheels or seats, and the engine compartment was missing. According to the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy, this land years ago was an orchard and farm. Why the bus was parked here remained unclear, but it may have been used for equipment storage and perhaps as a shelter for farm workers.

We had nowhere to sit near the bus, but Polecat and I stood there long enough to eat a snack. While we were stopped, I felt something sting my hand. Undoubtedly, it was an insect and probably a yellowjacket, but I never saw it. Fortunately, the pain only lasted a few seconds. By the time we began hiking again, I had forgotten about the sting.

We stopped again at 10 a.m., this time to collect water from a spring. Conveniently, a pipe attached to the side of the hill made quick work of the task. We knew we would need to carry water the rest of the way to town. Any water along the road would likely be contaminated by farm runoff.

By now, we had descended below the layer of clouds that had enveloped us since we left camp. The trail was easy to follow. If we were to hike this section a couple of weeks later, it would be covered in leaves, making the descent a little more slippery.

Clouds continued to scrape the tops of nearby mountains, but we were now getting a few views through the trees. On a clearer day, we might have seen Kuwohi Mountain (Clingman's Dome) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, though at 34 miles away, it would have been difficult to pick out.

A couple of mountains we could see had unfortunate names. One was Pickens Nose (4,898 feet). The other one was called Big Butt (5,082 feet). Both were a little more than six miles away on the other side of the valley where we were heading. And incidentally, there is more than one mountain in North Carolina named Big Butt.

We reached the bottom of the descent at Hickory Knoll Road at noon. Across the road was a hiker parking lot, so we crossed there to eat lunch before continuing our hike.

From the trailhead, we had roughly 7.5 miles to go before reaching our motel in Franklin. The entire distance was on paved roads.

As we began walking, the sky began to gradually brighten. The clouds looked like they would leave, but that condition didn't last long. Nevertheless, rain was never a threat.

The route was boring. Thankfully, there weren't many cars on the road. One of the few spots of interest appeared after we turned off Hickory Knoll Road. It was a large field of red peppers.

In the last hour of the road walk, I began to feel blisters forming on my feet. Because we were so close to our destination, I decided to not bother with stopping to treat the blisters.

When we arrived at the Microtel motel in Franklin, the desk clerk couldn’t find our food boxes. It took several minutes of frantic searching in back rooms before the boxes were found.

The motel didn't have guest laundry facilities, but a laundromat was only a couple blocks away. Even though we hadn't worn clean clothes in 10 days, we decided to put off washing them until the morning. We agreed that all we wanted to do now was get cleaned up, find some dinner, and get some rest.

During dinner, however, we realized we should have run one errand. I forgot I wanted to buy a new water filter at an outfitter store down the street. I will have to go there tomorrow when it opens at 10 a.m. That shouldn't delay us much from getting back to the trail, however, because I can do that while we wash our clothes.

Later, we calculated the remaining miles to the end of the trail and realized we both had packed more food than necessary. Now we had another errand to run in the morning. We'll box up the extra food and mail it home.