I awoke, as usual, cold. It got down to 34 degrees overnight. With all of the fog outside, and my body inside the tent producing heat, everything was wet from condensation. I fell asleep pretty early. Which means I woke up pretty early the next morning. So it was still dark out. I managed to muster up enough energy to pull out my phone and get caught up on some work items. I turned on my JetBoil to get some water boiling for some oatmeal. While that was heating up I started packing up my stuff in my tent. I changed back into my hiking clothes, ate my breakfast, and finished packing. I climbed out of my tent to pack it up as well. It too was wet from all of the condensation that collected on it overnight. I strapped it to the back of my pack so it could dry off while I hiking throughout the day.
I camped in a gap between two mountains. I could see the sun shining above on the mountain tops. It was still early, so the sun wasn’t high enough to reach me down in the gap. I was eager to climb out of the cold, damp, dark hole I was in and up the first mountain into the sunlight. It’s amazing how something as simple as sunshine on your face can warm you and lift your spirits.
On today’s agenda was the marvelous mountain bald called Max Patch. On my way there I saw Red and his brother Billy Goat. We hiked up to Max Patch and stopped short of the very top to have lunch. Why not go to the very top and have lunch you ask? Because it’s super windy on top of bald mountains and can be cold as well. We finished our lunch and finished our trek to the top.
It was beautiful with 360 degree views of the mountains and landscape surrounding us. We were so thankful the fog had disappeared by the time we reached this destination. There’s nothing like spending hours climbing a mountain only to reach the top and not being able to see 10 feet in front of you. So this was really nice. Someone had camped out the night before as thier tent was still there. All I can say to that is brrrrr. I took some time to snap some photos and grab some video as well so Red and Billy Goat went ahead.
On the way down the other side of Max Patch were a few Llamas or Alpacas. I was a little caught off guard by these creatures. What were they doing here I wondered? In talking to some other people later I learned that they were used to carry peoples stuff up the mountain. You mean I could have thrown my backup on one of those things and it would have carried it up top for me!? Geeez. Too late now. I snapped some photos of them. They looked super excited to see me and posed really nicely (sarcasm) (see pics)
I continued on my way. I was coming down a hill and looked ahead and saw a woman coming down another hill towards me. As we got closer I thought “man that’s looks like Spinner. But what would Spinner be doing going south instead of north?” As we got closer a big smile appeared on her face and she said “Wolverine!?” At the same time I smiled and said “Spinner!?” The last time we saw each other we got separated in a snow storm on top of Clingman’s Dome. We both were excited to see each other and caught up. A few days ago when I saw them and expected them to be at the next shelter, I didn’t because they stayed at a hostel instead. She was going south as her and Cushy and Trigger had cars setup at both ends of the trail that day and could shuttle each other vs paying the ridiculous prices some of these shuttle drivers charge. She was getting off the trail (she never intended on hiking the entire AT) but we exchanged numbers to keep in touch, and so I could connect with Cushy and the others.
I continued onto the next shelter. Shortly before arriving a passed two older gentlemen and one of thier sons. We chatted for a bit, I told them where the next camp sites were ahead, as well as the next shelter. I then flew up the hill ahead of them.
When I arrived Stretch and Radar were there from the night before. A few kids strolled in as well and we all sat down to eat dinner together. The kids were Rose Bud, Speedy and Jacob. Speedy, a 19 yo, has been averaging about 22 miles a day. He started 12 days ago and has already traveled 270 miles. The other two were in their earlier 20s. We finished our dinners, made a fire, and hung out for a bit before retiring to our tents for the evening.
As always, before going to sleep, I caught up on work emails in my sleeping bag. The temp was dropping quickly so I thought I’d try this trick I heard about to help keep my feet and legs warm at night. You simply sleep in a trash bag inside your sleeping bag. I know, I know, how much more “homeless” can I get, right? Well we’ll see if it works. I’ll let you know the results in my next post. I will give you a one word hint “nightmare”.
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