AT Hike #1: Wesser Bald from the NOC

Waaaaaaaaay out there

Wesser Bald, Nantahala

Background: 

"Nantahala" in Cherokee means "land of the noonday sun." Native Americans found this to be true because, due to the deep gorges and high profiles of the mountains in this rugged country, sunlight often only shines through the canopy during the mid-hours of the day.  

The Nantahala doesn't get nearly as much traffic as the nearby Pisgah due to it's remoteness, but at the end of the day this is the largest national forest in North Carolina and there is much to explore.

Wesser Bald fire tower can be reached via the Appalachain Trail from the Nantahala Outdoor Center in the Nantahala Gorge (awesome whitewater facilities on this river) at two different trailheads. One hike travels south from the NOC for a 14 mile total out and back. The other, shorter hike starts about 30 minutes down the road in the community of Nantahala off of Otter Creek road near the Tellico gap. This hike is the one I chose due to limited time and was 4 miles total out and back and probably 500-800 feet of elevation gain.

Hike Report: 

We started off at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, walked around and explored the place. This place is in sticks, and even driving down the gorge it comes out of nowhere. Alas, this little slice of civilization holds a lot of fun, there is a mountain bike rental fleet with trails, lots and lots of excellent whitewater rafting and kayaking opportunities, ropes courses, ziplines, restaurants, lodging, beer and more. Basically this place is like what the US National Whitewater Center wants to be. 

I began chatting with a couple girls who worked in the market shop about the best way to get to the fire tower and they gave me a whole sheet of hikes in the surrounding areas including directions to Wesser Bald. Now, out here there is limited cell phone reception so this really came in handy. All of the NOC staff members were very friendly and I'm sure it's a great place to work. So Clif and I drove to the trailhead up a dirt road on a mountain and we began. We made excellent pace and on this hike I saved most of the pictures for the top, but as you can see in the picture below, the trail was greatly easy to follow and well worn as expected for this old trail. 

We got to the top and the views were amazing! You could see the Snowbird backcountry to the west, Fontana Lake and the Smokies to the north, the Balsams to the east and Georgia to the south. There was a storm brewing in Asheville that prevented me from seeing the black mountains and Mitchell.

A view of the Snowbird mountains 

Fontana Lake and the cloudy Smokies

I was feeling spry and I know Clif was too so we decided we were doing to run down the 2ish mile descent, and this is the only picture I got from it mid stride. All in all, not the most strenous or longest hike I've ever done, but a fantastic view of nearly all of Western North Carolina from Georgia to Tennessee and everywhere in-between. One note I'll have to make is that this mountain is not "bald," thick canopy covers the top of the mountain. Perhaps at one point it was bald, but not anymore. Regardless, a fantastic view. Soon I'll be posting from a hike in the National Park from another fire tower high up in the Smokies. Until next time!