Something strange happened this morning—I woke up with the sun coming through the tent screen. I looked outside and decided it was a fluke and we had a short window to get packed and and going before the dark clouds in the southwest caught us. Bunny and I were both out of the tent by a little after 7. I got the bear bags down (everything with a smell has to be stored in bear safes or hung in trees to keep the bears from getting it—they are almost as annoying as mice and can be a little bit more noticeable if they step on your face) while Bunny packed up the contents of the tent.
We had breakfast with Patches and were on the trail by 8:20. Patches was still eating and hadn’t taken her tent down when we left. We thought she would catch up with us after a little bit on the trail, but we never saw her again. She is wanting to make a wedding in New York in early June and has to average 13 miles/day to make it. We’re not there yet.
Coming at us on the trail was a very thin woman and dog. It turns out that White Walker (I’m assuming that is in reference to walking through the snow all winter and is not a racial comment) and her dog, Riley are Sobo’s finishing the trail tomorrow. White Walker started October 1 of last year (this date stuck with us because that happens to be the date we stopped walking). She has completed the AT through one of the worst winters in recent years including 2 arctic blasts, in a mere 4.5 months. We hope to get done in 7-8 months.
Blood Mountain has been painted as a boogeyman to Nobo’s because it’s the first big continuous climb to be encountered. It’s only about a 1200’ and has nice switchbacks (a piece of cake even for two fatty GR10 veterans). We ran into lots of day hikers on the mountain because it is a weekend and is close to a main road. We’ve been planning on hiking the AT for years, so it amazes us when people don’t know about the AT even when they are hiking it. We ran into several people that didn’t even realize it ran all the way to Maine, but they did know something strange was up with us because of our smell.
Urban (or more apt, rural) legend has it that Blood Mountain got its name from all the blood of a couple of early American (pre-European, sometimes referred to as “native” Americans) people’s battling each other. Presumably it was a battle over legal vs. illegal immigration and it got quite heated leading to many deaths.
Coming down from Blood Mountain was when my left knee started acting up. I was able to determine that this is a soft tissue issue. When I stretched, it got better so I’ve got to be more diligent when I stretch every day. This is completely different from the issues Bunny is having, primarily, because it was happening to me. This just stresses the fact that old geezers and their young stud husbands (who do not qualify as a geezer for another almost 8 months) need to stretch each and every night.
We stopped in at the outfitter to get a resupply and decided to rent a cabin for the night after they called down the hill for availability. We want to get laundry done this evening and do a shakedown to lighten our packs. After 5 days, we’ve already decided we packed too much. We got a pizza to eat and about half way through it, we ordered another one as an after dinner snack. Tonight we have a bed, kitchen, and bathroom all to ourselves. I bet we even stay up until 9.
EFG
Stayed in the “haunted” shelter on Blood Mountain in ’74 and ’81. Just my brother and I, treated to an amazing sunrise over a sea of undercast clouds, which still stands out as the moment when I realized the AT truly was where I was meant to be.
In 1981 I stayed in a badly abused shelter with 3 or 4 others thru-hikers and about 10 weekenders, with rain blowing in through the wide open windows. Not a good night.
It looked like a miserable shelter under any condition