Last week I had the opportunity to hike another 115 miles of the AT near Damascus, VA, through the Appalachian Mountain Club. After more than a month off the trail it felt like I had never left. That's because it rained like hell the first day. (Ah, the memories.) Fortunately, it only rained one more time over the entire week and that was while I was slackpacking* to a hostel in Roan Mountain, TN. So instead of camping in the rain, I had a warm, dry bed waiting for me.
The trail though northern Tennessee and southern Virginia is beautiful but much of it is a long green tunnel with limited vistas. Hump Mountain and Little Hump are notable exceptions with a huge, open view from the nearly 6,000 foot bald ridge that rivals Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire.
Several miles of the trail around Watauga Lake were closed because of aggressive bear activity but AT through -hikers are exempted from the ordinance. I suspect it's because the officials figure AT through-hikers smell too bad for any self-respecting bear to bother with. Or maybe they just think losing a few AT through-hikers to aggressive bears is not such a bad thing. Either way, we made it through the closed area without a single bear sighting. Damn.
This section hike was 115 miles long but it turned out one of my boots only had 85 miles left in it. I walked the last 30 miles (25 miles on the last day alone) with various layers of duct tape keeping the sole attached to the rest of the boot. I guess I will retire those boots. Darn it! I really liked those boots. Now I'm down to only five pairs of hiking shoes on my gear shelf.
Here are some pics from the hike...
* Translation: I hiked with just a light daypack. My heavy backpack was delivered to the hostel by shuttle.
 |
| The ridge along Hump Mt. |
 |
| First day back on the trail - rain, of course |
 |
| After the rain... |
 |
| I forget which mountain this is from. |
 |
| Looks good enough to eat. Almost. |
 |
| I'm going to miss this old friend. |
Comments
Post a Comment