Today is a day off. We've doubled up on some mileage to have the extra day, so don't feel guilty. Got up about 7:00 and wandered down to River's End for breakfast. Ran into Beetle, our bunkmate from last night. He was going to leave today for Fontana, but he found out this morning that his friend couldn't meet him at Fontana as planned. So he decided to call it quits here and head home to Athens, to finish his dissertation.

Our Eagle's Nest Camp friends came in while we were still at breakfast. They were very excited about eating in a restaurant after roughing it for a week or so. They were even more excited when the got the word they were going rafting and spending the night. Their leaders, Will and Lisa, told us several days ago what they were planning, but the kids didn't know till today. As we walked by the group, we heard collective cheers and hollers, so figured they'd just been told the good news.

There were canoe races going on this weekend, so after breakfast we walked up to the slalom course and watched the races. We were surprised to see a lot of women and middle aged or older men competing. Boy, it takes a lot of upper body strength to ferry back and forth through the gates, especially the upstream ones. I know we won't be trying anything remotely close to that degree of difficulty on our trip this afternoon.

Our Nantahala River trip turned out to be great fun. I've been apprehensive because I've only been on a couple whitewater trips, and I'm basically a whitewater weenie. Of course, Ronald and Brandon think I'm being a wimp, and they are all gung-ho about it. Had a moment of panic when they asked for several volunteers to be in the one self-guided boat, and of course, Ronald raised his hand. I had visions of us going down the river sideways or backward, and being flipped out of the boat. As it turned out, we probably had more fun than the guided boats because we go to experiment more. I'll have to admit I'd do it again in a minute, and might even take on some more challenging water. Look out, Meryl Streep in "The River Wild." (Ha!) Brandon was ready to quit hiking altogether and just spend the rest of the summer running rivers from the N.O.C.

Got off the river around 3:45, just before an afternoon thunderstorm hit. Ducked for cover for about an hour, then had another good dinner, before heading back to the bunkhouse to organize our gear. Brandon's hip belt on his pack has been driving him crazy. It's too big for him, so no matter how much he cinches it up, it keeps slipping down. The way mine falls, it's digging into my hips, causing numbness. We switched the two, and they both seem better now. Hope it helps.

Even got in on a little "trail magic," later in the evening. Went down to the community building to give the Eagle's Nesters an extra bag of gorp (we're sending ourselves way too much). They invited us to join them in a Ben and Jerry's pig-out. A couple of men had brought them an assortment of pints, so we were delighted to help test them all. Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia rule!

There's always a danger to taking a day off on the trail. With each passing hour the mind begins to wander off to other pursuits. At least here at the NOC we're always on the trail. It was good to take today off and let our tired muscles and blisters recover a little. They've been taking quite a beating the last few days.

Our morning was spent in a general state of relaxation. We sat around and watch the flowing waters of the Nantahala. Journals and gear were tended to as we eagerly awaited our afternoon trip down the river. Ever since we'd decided to spend a day here, we wanted to include a raft trip in our rest. At first Linda didn't want to go, so only Brandon and I were going to sign up. By the time we arrived, Linda had reconsidered somewhat reluctantly. As the hour of our venture drew near, her apprehension only heightened.

Finally we sat through all of the prep talks, collected our paddles, rain jackets, and life vest. We climbed on the buses for the trip to the drop off. During the prep we were informed that there weren't enough guides for the three boats needed for our group. This meant one boat would go unguided. I knew immediately that I wanted to go in the unguided boat, but Linda had reservations. When we boarded the bus, I chose the one empty seat in the front for Brandon and me. That way Linda would have to sit several rows back. I knew from looking at the river that the trip would be easy, and that Linda would have great time once we were underway. I also knew that if I agreed to take the unguided boat with her sitting next to me, I wouldn't get off that bus without a few more black and blue marks.

When I volunteered for the boat, Linda shot me the death look from her seat. I told her she could take the guided boat. But that did little to appease her. Brandon didn't want to upset either of us, so he didn’t make a preference. When the guides had difficulty filling up the boat, Linda agreed to go. I'd have to say there was quite a bit of tension in the air when we arrived at the put in. Linda kept giving me the death look as we carried our boat down to the river.

It only took a few minutes on the river for Linda to discover how great it was. There are only a few rapids and they are easy. Sure, we didn't travel down the river as straight as the other boats. But then we also had more fun. Whenever we got hung up on a rock, the guided boat behind would bump us off. No one fell out and a great time was had by all. By the time we got back to the NOC, Linda was wondering when we could do this again. Brandon's ready to bag the rest of the hike and spend his summer here.

This evening we were able to share some trail magic with the group teens we'd been hiking on and off with the last few days. They were given several pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream from a couple of school superintendents. They invited us to share the wealth. Since we are traveling faster than they are, I don't think we'll see them again before we get to Fontana Dam.

With some reluctance, tomorrow we'll leave this beautiful area and begin the long climb up to Cheoah Bald. It was good to have a chance to relax for a day.

Today we got up and went to River's End for breakfast. I had French toast and bacon there. Then we walked up the river and watched the canoe races on the Nantahala. After that we went down to the outfitter store and looked around but didn't buy anything.

Around 12:30 we walked over to get in line for our 1:00 raft trip. They showed us how everything worked and gave us P.F.D's (personal flotation devices). We piled into a bus with a paddle each. We drove to the river put-in and got the rafts from the top of the bus. We go into the water and practiced paddling around. Dad, Mom and I were in a self-guided boat with four other people. The whitewater trip was great and not scary at all! I would recommend it to other hikers looking for something exciting to do on a day off. We ordered a picture of our raft going over Nantahala Falls.

After the trip was over we went over to Slow Joe's and I got some chips and salsa. It was around 4:00 and I had not eaten since breakfast, so I was starving. Later we went and had dinner at the River's End. The place was so full that it took an hour to get our food after we ordered. We were in no hurry so we just waited and waited and finally got our food. After dinner we walked around a little longer then went to bed.