Appalachian Trail (day 37) - John's Hollow Shelter to Hog Camp Gap / mile 816

"My trailname is Skyscraper - Why because you are so tall? - No, because I'm afraid of heights" Skyscraper

Another good day of walking in the woods.

I've managed to complete two big climbs in one day, which should make it easier for me for  the rest of the section. First morning climb was up the Bluff Mountain and the afternoon climb was up the Bald Knob. Trail also went past the 800 mile marker, which many hikers commemorated by arranging the numbers on the forest floor.
Really close to Bluff Mountain there was a chilling memorial site for 4 year old Ottie Powell, who strayed from school in the late XIXth century and was found dead 7 miles away, very close to the peak of the mountain. I can't imagine what was going through Ottie's mind while he was climbing up this steep mountain side, Appalachian Trail did not exist back then, so he must have been using another path.
For the most of the day water was quite scarce but with the little trail magic everything worked out well. Just before the Bald Knob climb I've met a Dutch guy called Skyscraper, him and his fairly large tramily (5 people) were heading off trail to resupply in town called Buena Vista. Buena Vista didn't have a hostel but it had a nice campsite, shower and ice-cream included for 5$ per person.

Right on the US Road 60 leading to town, father of hiker called Fun Size has set up a trail magic with drinks and snacks. He was shuttling her daughter around the AT (she was climbing Bald Mountain as we spoke), they had a campervan where she and her trail friends could spend the night. During his free time he was offering trail magic to people.
I've ended up staying at the gorgeous meadow few miles past the Bald Mountain, it definitely was one of my favourite places to camp so far. I've had a brief chat with Nomad here, he was hiking his first long distance trail after living and traveling through 37 states in his van for the last 6 years. Nomad was planning to go back to his van life after completing the trail, he said that there was so much to see in US that he wasn't even considering travelling abroad yet.
The clock struck (hikers) midnight and we all went to our tents getting send off to sleep by myriads of singing birds.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appalachian Trail (day 77) - Hikers Welcome Hostel to Eliza Brook Campsite / mile 1816

Image
"After hiking in White Mountain's everything else seems easy" Sue First day in the White's, I can confirm now that terrain here is unlike anything we faced on the AT so far. In the morning I had a coffee and a breakfast muffin at the hostel, surprisingly despite the early hour Tum Tum, Iceman, Yukon and Gutsy were up as well. Weather was supposed to be a mixed bag but we were all determined to climb Mt Moosilauke today. I headed out and started the 4000 feet climb first, it was a long, steady uphill going through well maintained terrain, problems only started at the top. Day was quite windy, combined with the rain and exposed, alpine environment, it became a recipe for a very wet, cold and uncomfortable time. At the top wind was pushing me left and right and rain was cutting across with great speed, I was completely drenched in just few moments. Luckily exposed section didn't last too long and the AT dived into the pine forest soon after. ...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 12) - Icewater Sorin Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter / mile 231

Image
Today could be described in one word - windy. And it was not your refreshing summer breeze, it was the kind of wind that chills your bones and the moment you feel it you want to turn around and go back home, except there's no home and you can't turn around. The food I hanged last night was completely frozen, it was funny to crunch on a solid snickers and granola bars for breakfast. At least it was sunny, I've put all my layers on and started hiking. Trail looked really good, I could see small patches of snow and icicles probably formed last night hanging from the bushes. Later during the day you could see the damage last years hurricane has done, fallen trees, layers of uncovered rock showing that there was not much trees could hang on to beneath, trail was trying to manoeuvre around the blow downs and disturbed earth. I haven't met many people today but I hiked alongside Blazer, a friendly, older American guy. He also hiked PCT, so w...
Read more

Appalachian Trail (day 76) - Lambert Ridge to Hikers Welcome Hostel / mile 1799

Image
Hot, humid, stormy day. My goal was to place myself withing the short distance before the climb to Mount Moosilauke. AT in New Hampshire definitely prooved from the very begining that it means business. The first and second climb of the day:  Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube were steep and rocky, the path was muddy, overgrown and not very well marked, combined with the hot and humid weather I was moving at a snail's pace. Views were quite rewarding though and after the initial struggle trail got easier for the rest of the day. I've seen yet another two bear cubs, no mother in sight this time around which got me a bit spooked. Cubs climbed so high up the tree I could hardly see them from the trail, they were so incredibly agile! I've taken a blurry video of the couple as I thought it was fairly safe to do so, that's 10 black bears I've seen so far on Appalachian Trail.  At one point I took a break  by the road and tried to dry my feet a...
Read more