A beautiful day on a beautiful trail! The leaves were dry, but still plentiful, hiding rocks and roots along the route. I only fell once though! More water was available than I expected, I started with 3.5 liters and thus only needed to fill once. Someone could probably do with less this time of year, but would trade off time saved in weight to time spent refilling water.
I started a little after 6am from Tot Hill Trailhead and got lost almost instantly in a campsite a few hundred yards from the trailhead. Luckily, no one was camping there and I got back on track quickly. The trail in general is well marked with white blazes and/or white diamonds. There are mileage markers starting around mile 25 (from the southern direction, you have to look behind you to see what they say). Lots of weekend backpackers out, as well as some hunters. I wore an orange shirt and heard no gun shoots, so one may be safe without any orange.
I had been hoping to bring the women's time to single digit hours and thought I would be closer to 9-9.5. Very happy to be just under 8.5 hours! I finished around 2:40 pm, crossing the road to stop my watch and take a picture by the trail sign. The route actually ends in the parking lot (meaning I didn't need to cross the busy highway--oops!)
Great route showcasing the beauty of NC and the bones of very old mountains!