(Mis)Adventures in Nantahala
Why you should always have a plan when backpacking
So there I was…cold and wet, my ankle (broken six months before and still not 100%) was slightly throbbing, and the rain showed no signs of stopping. It was nearing 7 P.M. (and going on 13 hours since we’d first jumped in the car early that morning) but the entire trail had been in a sort of gloomy pre-dusk light since the rain rolled in around 3 that afternoon. I was standing at the bottom of Albert Mountain looking up the southern approach (approx. 400 ft of elevation gain over a 1/2 mile), an approach I had just finished coming down less than 30 minutes before with three empty Nalgene bottles and my Platypus 4-liter gravity filter. Now, seven liters of clean water and four liters of dirty water heavier, I was headed back up the mountain to camp, where my wife, warm and cozy in her sleeping bag, was waiting for me to cook dinner. After a few minutes of roundly cussing myself out for being in this situation to begin with, there was nothing left to do except cinch up my day pack straps, pick up the dirty water bladder (wouldn’t fit in the day pack), and start putting one foot in front of the other.
How did I, an experienced U.S. Army infantryman and Ranger School graduate, end up in a situation like that? Simply, I failed to apply even the most basic planning principles to this trip and I underestimated the terrain while overestimating my team’s ability on that terrain. I did not take steps that I routinely take at work. Steps that would have taken me all of about 15 minutes to do using a map and protractor. Easy, simple, steps were overlooked because I did not apply them to my weekend recreational backpacking trip, which in hindsight, was really stupid.
Here it should be noted that “The Suck” was never entered, much less embraced. It was just more suck than I thought was necessary for weekend fun.
Lack of Planning
I actually started planning this trip pretty thoroughly. I was searching all over North Carolina looking for a ~20 mile loop that we could hike over a four-day weekend. Searching around the internet, I found this hike on everytrail.com. Considering that a father with his 12 year old son were able to do it in four days and a troop of Boy Scouts did it in two, I figured it would be a great trip for our team’s first extended backpacking trip. After reading both the trip journals, I decided to store coordinates for the water sources and major trail intersections in my GPS but didn’t worry about campsites or Appalachian Trail (AT) shelters, as it appeared they plentiful and not far apart. I also did not order a map (as I usually do) from MyTopo.com because the AT is clearly marked and at this time of year there are plenty of thru-hikers and section hikers in this area.
Having decided on making the loop in a clockwise direction, to avoid the steep climb up the south approach of Albert Mountain, it looked like we were good. Water sources were plentiful along the route. Camp sites were available every few miles as well the Big Spring, Carter Gap, and Standing Indian AT Shelters. At this point, I stopped my planning. I thought we’d be fine just walking until we felt tired, then heading for the nearest water source and finding a camp site nearby. “Anyways,” I thought to myself, “I’m strong and this 50 pound backpacking load is nothing compared to Ranger School and whatever limitations my wife has I can make up for.”
That was the wrong answer, as I learned the hard way. I should have planned out our days by mileage and terrain feature with planned campsites and backups. Had I done this, I would not have elected to camp on the top of Albert Mountain, which is where we did end up camping. Rather than make that summit at the end of the day, after having driven 6-plus hours and hiked five miles steadily uphill (as we did), a properly planned hike would have stopped us in the vicinity of the Big Spring Shelter after a relatively easy first day hike and we would have climbed the mountain early and on fresh legs the next day. Having failed to make any of these plans, I also failed to brief the other half of my team (my wife) on them. The plan of “hike 4-6 miles and find a campsite near water when we get tired” means something completely different to her than it does to me.
Underestimating the Terrain
Having previously done the Carver’s Gap to Hwy 19E section of the AT (about 14 miles) I thought I had a pretty good grasp on what we were looking at. That section has a few climbs including a fairly steep one up to Hump Mountain. Two other Army buddies of mine and I had knocked that out as a day hike in about 7.5 hours, which includes stopping to cook a hot lunch and taking plenty of pictures. We’d been carrying packs in the 35-40 lb. range too because we’re hard(headed) like that. Looking at the elevation profiles provided from my research, I wasn’t too worried. I saw two good climbs, separated by a little one which over the course of three to four days wouldn't be bad at all (and it wouldn't have, had I planned our stops accordingly).
However, hiking with two other infantrymen used to 4 mph forced marches is significantly different than hiking with your wife. For some reason, (probably the decision not to plan above) it did not register with me that our team had generally moved at 2.5-3 mph the rolling trails and easy terrain from our earlier overnight trips in the Uwharrie National Forest and Raven Rock State Park. With the (mostly) gentle but steady uphill trek of our first day in Nantahala, this would quickly decrease to about a 1.5-2 mph pace.
Overestimating the Team
Once again, just as I did with the route plan and analyzing the terrain, I looked at it from a personal perspective and not the perspective of my team/unit, something I would have never done at work. I can always go farther if need be. Hiking 12 miles with a 45 lb pack plus water? Takes me about three hours; two and a half if I feel like running a bit. At this point my plan was “well, I can always compensate if she comes up short,” which is exactly why I found myself in the situation described earlier.
Our team is fairly inexperienced when it comes to backpacking. Sure, one of us has spent a lot of time in the woods with the Army, but that’s actually not equivalent to (and a whole lot less fun) than backpacking. It’s also why I end up bringing two of everything even if I don’t need it and why my pack always seems to be so much bigger than everybody else’s on the trail.
Before this our longest trip a 2.5-mile (one-way) out and back trip at Raven Rock State Park. We walked about 2.5 miles out to the camp site, camped overnight and walked 2.5 miles back. (It’s also the reason why I carry the gravity filter and a SteriPen, but that’s another story.) The terrain there is fairly rolling and has no serious climbs. The most strenuous part was climbing the stairs back up to the trail after descending to the actual Raven Rock near the river.
Failing to plan, underestimating the terrain and overestimating the team. The combination of those three things is what led us to push too far on the first day, camping just below the summit of Albert Mountain, about 5.5 miles into our route, with no water source to be found except for at the base of the mountain. I finally did get back up to the top of Albert Mountain, and after a dinner of pizza ramen (be careful not to use too much Italian mix) and dried banana chips we turned in for a night of listening to the wind howl and the rain pound the tent. Luckily, being just off the summit, we were in the lee of the mountain and didn’t get blown around too. Due to the weather and the fatigue from the first day, we spent some time on the summit of Albert Mountain the next morning and then re-traced our steps back to the car. It rained for the whole drive back and was still raining in Nantahala when we got back home. Looking back, you could say our team more than doubled our daily distance on significantly more difficult terrain. Rather than be disappointed we failed at a lofty goal such as completing the whole 20 mile loop, I should probably just be impressed.
Lessons Learned
Sure, a weekend backpacking trip is not a combat mission, but that doesn’t mean you can throw all planning out the window. It’s still a ground movement over terrain with limited logistical support. At a minimum, here are the planning steps that would have made this experience much more successful:
- Analyze the terrain (including elevation changes): We had a whole four days. The father and his 12 year-old son took four days for this trip and called it leisurely. A group of Boy Scouts knocked it out in two days by hiking around 10 miles per day. We had no reason to rush and try to get five-plus miles on the first day. Planning our days to tackle the hard climbs on fresh legs early in the morning would have made this trip much more successful.
- Plan each day: Using the terrain analysis from above, plan out the mid-points and stopping points for each day. I’d plan a “must-get-to” campsite that you have hike to in order to have a chance to complete the loop in your alloted time and a “no farther than” point to make sure you don’t end up tackling a summit on tired legs. Also, I would plan to camp within 500 yards of a water source, but no too close to it so you aren’t disturbed or disturbing other people and animals using the source. Finally, make sure you know where the nearest Forest Service Road is at all times in case you need to evacuate an injured person.
- Know your team: During this process, plan from the perspective of your team, not your personal ability. Remember, this is supposed to be recreational fun, not a death march. Take it easy, enjoy the scenery and plan to stop at intervals to keep everybody fresh, not just yourself.
With those three things in mind, I know my next trip will be a lot more fun and successful, and hopefully yours will be as well. The bottom line goes back to the old maxim: Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail. Don’t get caught up in winging it like I did.
For gear reviews from this trip, check out this post.
