Originally Posted by
Lefty Red
It's a good thing hiking the AT doesn't require map reading skills. I suck at map reading. Bad. More on this later. We took advantage of a long Easter Break to practice important AT skills like wearing the same clothes for days, getting wet, being cold, peeing in a bottle and being attacked by rodents. We hiked in the Shining Rock Wilderness area near Brevard, North Carolina. Trails in wilderness areas are not marked with signs or blazes. Faded maps mounted on plywood at trailheads are the only guidance the government provides. On day one we quickly lost track of tail near the Big East Fork River and bushwhacked a few miles until we rediscovered it. No harm, no foul. As the trail climbed, the effects of a lingering snowfall made for slippery going. When we reached the amazing cluster of intersecting trails at the top of the knob, I used the handy photo an online friend provided to choose the right trail, The Art Loeb Trail towards Cold Mountain. Holy ****. Although our intention was to follow the trail north to the Daniel Boone Boy Scout camp we missed the cutoff thanks to a group of tents conveniently pitched right on top of the diverging trails. That's OK folks,. We'll just walk right on up this 6,000 foot mountain in the snow and sleep there. Which we did. In the morning we descended from three inches of snow to no snow, found the right trail and mostly didn't get lost for the next nine hours. Then we arrived at Ivestor Gap and Grassy Cove where we spent the night. In the morning Hush smiled at all the cute little rabbit poops and then screamed in anger when she saw her trekking pole handles, gnawed beyond recognition. Mine, just a foot away were untouched. I'll spare you all the poor decisions we made the next day. Just know we hiked across the top of the same waterfall twice, crossed a river that knocked me down again and again and finally emerged onto the closed Blue Ridge Parkway a good seven miles from where we anted to be. It was kind of cool road walking the parkway. We went a couple of miles seeing no people and no cars. If the Zombie Apocalypse happens, I know where to go. I'm experienced. We finally hitched a ride from a patrolling ranger who delivered us to our car. From there we hauled ass to the Uwharrie National Forest to hike on a beautifully marked trail - just like the AT. In all we got in a four day hike and climbed a few mountains. Nobody whined. -“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that ******* mountain.” - Jack Kerouac