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AT Blog: 30 and 31

On Top of the AT... for a thousand miles

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Day 30:

Early start to today. A lot of people were gone by 6:30 but I slept in a bit and left shelter by 7:05. There is some rain in the forecast and we are all hoping to get past the balls before it arrives.

The first 5 miles are beautiful as we enter Carvers Gap and the various balds nearby. The balds are essentially where there’s mostly grasses and reeds near the tops of the mountains instead of trees. Meaning we can see for miles.

I pass by some day and section hikers and eventually make it to Smith Shelter, where Dukes, No-Name, Lobster, Waywalker and Tigger are all taking breakfast. I catch up with them and leave around the same time.

We hike 2 more miles together to the demolished overmountain shelter; the site of an old barn that was converted to a shelter. Unfortunately they got rid of it last year due to structural damage, but the privy and water source is still there.

After that break we set off again, and I lead the pack. The next two hills are Little Hump and Hump Mountain. It’s amazing to watch the clouds tumble off the tops of the mountains, and to be able to see a mile ahead and behind on the trail.

As I pull ahead I can see everyone else a half mile back down the mountain, a really neat and rare sight so far. Beyond Hump mountain is rocky terrain descending nearly 4000 feet. It takes a while and kills my knees lol, but eventually we make it to the road crossing at 395. I wait 10 minutes for everyone to catch up and we make our plan.

We decide to stop by Mountain Harbor hostel, as they serve dinner and have a small resupply. Unfortunately they have an odd schedule and it turns out they do not open till 4, over an hour after we arrive. We end up deciding to buy supplies and wait for it to open.

I use the time to buy snacks, grab an ice cream sandwich then dip my feet and legs in the nearby creek. After descending so far it has started to warm up a decent bit, so it felt refreshing.

Eventually the resteraunt opens and we all grab food, I end up splitting chicken tenders and fries with Waywalker and getting a smash BBQ burger and onion rings for myself.

After the delicious meal we all hit the road again. We ended up hiking another 3 miles to Isaac’s cemetery, a decently large cemetery with some campsites outside of it. We all had a hard time with bear hangs tonight which we blamed on the graves. I unfortunately lost a decent bit of my rope as it tied itself to a tree after a throw. After a dozen or so bear hangs out here I finally failed big time.

With that we turn in for the night after hiking 19.2 AT miles today.

Day 31:

Start the day at the cemetery. We all agreed to have breakfast at Jones Falls, so I hike about 2 miles to it. A few protein bars, slim Jim’s and a protein shake later I head out again.

As we descend we run into elk creek, a very nice flowing river that cools us off as we walk by.

We all take lunch at various spots on the trail and keep moving. The forecast is calling for rain tonight and tomorrow so we are trying to get as close to Hampton as we can. No name, Dukes, Lobster, Waywalker, Tigger and I all stop at Canute Place for camp for the night, leaving us 12 miles tomorrow.