This day, I was aiming for just outside of the one little mountain town of Franklin, NC where the trailhead for Winding Stair Gap was, and where I met up with my newer hiking partner Jonathan and his friend Ron to start this next hike. And where we would eventually meet up with another new hiking partner, Charlie. Charlie, Jonathan and I would go on to hike for about the next 4 years together.
I was still living in Brevard, NC at the time of this hike, about 2.5 hours away from this next section of the Trail.
Winding Stair started at about 3,500 ft. elevation with a gradual climb over the next 4 miles to our first bald for the day – Siler Bald — and probably my favorite Bald this trip!
