Day 45
Start: Indian Grave Gap
End: Campsite
Miles Hiked: ~13.7
Miles on AT: 366.5
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Back on trail! And no slackpacking this go ‘round. Today our goal was to reach a campsite near a water source around 13 miles away. The goal for this section is to start ramping up the miles. The elevation profile on the map looks like the trail will get easier for a while, so we can do bigger miles without as much pain. Today was also my first day with my new Zpacks Arc Haul pack and it felt so light. I could really feel a difference in the pressure on my knees, hips, and feet.
Our first destination of the day was the Beauty Spot. It didn’t get that name for nothing. Up on the bald, we could see mountains int he distance and retrace where we had been. Thick clouds surrounded us and the neighboring mountains. At this point, the threat of rain always seems to be present, so I don’t let the clouds bother me anymore.
Unaka Mountain was our next mountain to tackle. The switchbacks climbed steadily up, shielding us from a sharp incline up the mountain. At the top, we reached a cool spruce forest and stopped for a nice lunch on a pine needle bed.
Despite all of our hard work climbing up the mountain, there were no views to reward us. The reward instead was the cool spruce forest and an interesting environment.
After our meal, we headed down. There were a bunch of groups of boys and families out today, but not too many thru-hikers. Soon, we reached a shelter where we filled up on water and met some section hikers.
One guy had been hiking several sections with his daughter, but, because of her school schedule, she couldn’t make it this trip. As most hikers do, we talked about other trails, bear hangs, and upcoming sections.
We moved on to complete our final miles before finding our campsite. The day was calm, sun-shiny, and dry! It was hard to believe we were hiking on the AT – there was no rain!
At a road crossing, I picked up a Clif bar from a man doing trail magic (trail magic #4?), then reached the planned campsite. We were supposed to stop near a water source, but there were already campers there, making it a bit crowded.
Hungry and tired, we pushed another half-mile, passing two more spots that were already occupied. Finally we found one of our own. We were pooped! But a good dinner rejuvenated our spirits and we hung one of our best bear hangs yet.
And that’s day 45.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.