The Bartram Trail intersects the Appalachian Trail in 2 places, on the north end near the top of Cheoah Bald and on the south end near the top of Wayah Bald. The loop is about 58 miles long. The Bartram trail portion includes several road walks and requires care to avoid getting off the trail. The good news is that the Bartram trail is blazed with yellow blazes and you should usually be okay if you look out for blazes. There are a few places where the blazes...

Trailside Camp to Winding Stair Gap Road parking on Hwy 19 / 129 - 8 miles It was a short day. I was back to my car by noon. It had rained some during the night, but it was not blowing so I left one side of my tarp open and stayed dry. This lean-to tarp arrangement is comfortable and makes it easy to move around and cook and just open up to the outdoors. It was so muggy again that it made it hard to sleep with the down...

Started on Hwy 19 at Winding Stair road. 5 miles on Bartram to AT And Cheoah Bald. Another 8 miles to the Nantahala Outdoor Center on Hwy 19. Another 0.8 miles to Rufus Morgan Shelter on AT. Didn't see anyone on the Bartram trail. It follows Ledbetter Creek with beautiful cascades and falls. After climbing 3000 ft in 5 miles, the rest of the day added to the exhaustion. Now I am sitting at the Rivers End Restaurant at the NOC before hiking the last bit to the shelter. I...