Day 11 Cold Spring Shelter to NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Centre)

Today's miles 11.7  AT miles 137.3

We all woke up at first daylight (Nigel, I & Honeybun).  I didn't hear any mice in the night but I was tucked well into my sleeping bag so they couldn't get me, Honeybun said he thought he could hear them scurrying around though. By the time we'd had drinks, breakfast and packed our gear it was 8:45.  It was warmer today, cloudy in the morning, sunny later and the humidity we had the first couple of days was back again.   We walked for a while with Honeybun, well I walked on in front and left the two men chatting away behind me - I thought women could talk!

Nigel eventually caught me up and we carried on ahead of Honeybun.  It was uphill for a bit then down then up again heading for Wesser Bald which had another observation tower.  The views weren't as good today, too cloudy and hazy.  We met an Irish guy and Austrian girl at the top.  From Wesser Bald it was about six miles downhill to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Centre) where we planned on stopping the night.  We've never known six miles downhill to have so many ups!  It was a fairly tough descent, lots of rocks and tree roots as obstacles.

We arrived at the NOC around 2pm.  It's a huge complex with loads of river activities (canoeing, white water rafting etc.), zip lines, shop, restaurant, accommodation etc.  We checked into a twin bunk room, very basic but also very cheap, showered then headed to shops to resupply with some more trail food before they closed at 4pm, then on to the restaurant to eat.  Honeybun arrived just as we were shopping and joined us in the restaurant to eat once he'd checked in and showered.  

A lovely restaurant (Rivers End Restaurant) overlooking the river, we could see all the canoeists going by.  Food was good too, we ordered a starter each, salsa and chips (nachos) and black bean hummus with fried pitta bread, both delicious but huge portions we couldn't eat it all.  Followed by a burger and fries for Nigel and Sherpa Rice and beef chilli for me. Nigel also sampled a few of their beers!  We headed back to our bunk room about 6pm, we were feeling quite tired.