Total trail mileage: 394.8
Starting location: Round Top
Ending location: Campsite after Jones Falls
Weather: clear and sunny all day. 40 in the morning. 50-75 degrees
during the day
I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=36.140054,+-82.011649
Days like today are one of the reasons why I am out doing this. I
woke up to a fantastic sunrise and didn't even need to leave my
sleeping bag. I could see the sun come up over the mountains all
around me. Fortunately it didn't rain during the night.
I made breakfast and then got going. After passing Jane's Bald (and
another 360 degree view), I stopped at the Overmountain Shelter for
second breakfast and ran into Camp Chair. The shelter was a cool
coverted barn and was quite large compared to most of the other
shelters. It was also in a field with a good view of the surrounding
mountains. Camp Chair got going before I finished eating, and I then
returned to the trail.
I then went up and over Little Hump, yet another awesome bald with
incredible views of the nearby mountains. I took a bunch of pictures,
but I know they won't do the view justice.
After stopping a bit, I continued on and made the first big blunder of
the trip. The trail turned and I didn't. I followed another path
that had quite a bit of foot traffic through it. After a while I saw
a double white blaze (which usually means a turn or a trail crossing)
and thought "oh good this is probably the campsite my guidebook
mentioned". And then I looked to the right and saw a blaze and looked
to the left and also saw a blaze. At that point I knew a got off on a
wrong trail. So, I hiked back along the AT to the point that I
screwed up (about 0.5 miles) and ran into Camp Chair again. He
apparently got lost somewhere else.
So, we hiked up Big Hump which trumped Little Hump in terms of views.
Again, incredible 360 views.
I continued down the descent and FINISHED THE SECOND STATE! NC is
done. Of course I didn't realize that at the time, and only noticed
when I checked the guidebook at the end of the day. NC and TN are
kinda blended together as the trail has bounced back and forth on and
across the state line. So, my quick impressions of the two states
are: balds, views, barbed-wire fences, and varied terrain and
forests. Overall the trail in NC was more interesting than in GA.
At the bottom of the descent from Big Hump, I ran into Cookie Monster
at the shelter (who was staying there tonight), and Mellow Yellow,
Dethmarch, Sugarbush, and Mouse at the road crossing. The four had
just gotten back from resupplying in town and were also continuing on.
A few miles more and I came to Jones Falls which were much larger than
I was expecting and were pretty cool. I haven't seen any good
waterfalls on the trail since Day 1. I continued on and camped by a
river with Mellow Yellow, Dethmarch, Sugarbush, Mouse, Camp Chair, and
Sockburn. Dethmarch scored a few steaks from someone who gave him a
hitch back at town, so we cooked those up on a fire.
So, views upon views, sunrise, waterfall, steak, and I hiked another
20 mile day. Yep, good times. And, oh I saw my first snake of the trip.
The plan for the next couple days is to go to a hostel tomorrow night
and get a shower/laundry/real food. The next day will likely be a
short day ending by a lake. The day after that will be an even
shorter day. And finally, an attempt at a 33-mile day into Damascus
and finishing TN (it is called the "TN Highway" and is pretty much
flat the entire way). Of course if I make it I will promptly crash
and take a zero day.
Happy Easter everyone!
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