Black Balsam Knob was one of the laziest backpacking trips in the history of OAR. At least, my version of it was really lazy. Again carpooling from Jacksonville, Mike and I were both going on this trip as well but we made it all the way to Gainesville for this trip. Leaving the Gear Shed somewhat early, the car I rode in lost all of its progress by stopping for Ethiopian food in Atlanta. Ethiopian is another big OAR tradition, though I haven't eaten it as much this past year. Sharing is a must and food is eaten with a soft spongy bread called injera, rather than forks. The one downside to Ethiopian is that it takes over an hour to get through a meal. I prefer going on the way home instead of on the way there. We arrived during the designated 2-3 AM frame. The weather was nice and cool atop the bald and I chose to sleep outside rather than in a tent. The next morning, it registered in my mind how many people were on this trip. After stopping for a long time at the start of the hike, Mike, Kelsey, and I took off for the head of the pack. We referred to group as a whole as the hive and Mike would periodically shout "blueberries!" in hopes that the hive would get distracted picking wild blueberries. When we were far enough ahead, Mike realized the path felt wrongly familiar and refused to go further, fearing the infamous Art Loeb Trail. If you ask anyone in OAR about Art Loeb, you've just signed up for a lengthy diatribe about how awful the trip there a few years ago had been. So, Kelsey and I trusting Mike on this one, we headed for the back of the pack, hesitantly following everyone else. We picked up one more, Rudy, and the four of us stopped in a shaded offshoot of the trail hidden by trees. There, we napped. Rudy, clearly bored, took off to find everyone else. Shortly thereafter, our trio headed back to the bald to nap. Then we went down further toward the car to a shaded spot. Along the way, I picked and ate a lot of wild blackberries. After several hours of napping and since the sun was going down, we headed back to the top and slept in a tent until everyone returned. A group decided they wanted to go to Asheville so several cars left for a majority of the night. Kelsey, Mike, Jeff, and I also took of in search of food but our efforts were futile. When we returned, I realized that my sleeping bag was in the car I had ridden up with and they were headed to Asheville. I tried sleeping in the tent with just a sheet but the wind was vicious and I was miserable. 
The next morning, we drove to Rainbow Falls. It was a short hike and then there was a giant slab of rock being used as a water slide. As per usual, I was terrified. I climbed up to the top and felt the water rushing over my legs and I sat and decided whether or not I would go. Then, Jeff and some others took off for a hike to another waterfall and I followed. It was unaccessible because it was on private property but pretty nonetheless. When we returned to the sliding rock, I took no chances and hiked down instead after watching a girl hit an unexpected bump and almost knock her head into the rocks. Instead, I went back to Rainbow Falls and took a nice nap on top of a giant boulder, close enough to the falls to be gently misted and cooled off from the hot sun. Leaving, Mike and Kelsey tried to rally a group together to stay an extra day rather than going back since it was already so late. I joined since Mike was my ride to Jacksonville anyway and I had nothing better to do but we couldn't get anyone else to commit. Events occurred: July 27-29, 2012
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