Day 24-Green Acres

April 11-9.9 miles-AT mile marker 271.7 (we are about 105 miles less due to skipping the Smokies, and the section to Fontana Dam)

It was another freezing morning. The water in my bottle was not frozen when it was next to my tent under the vestibule, but ice was forming while I was packing up. Still, because there was no wind, it didn’t seem as cold as the day before. It was sunny though, so once we got into the sun we warmed up. 

This next bit is a little TMI, so if you don’t want to read it, you can skip to the next paragraph. Since we camped down in the “holler”, I thought I would stop at the privy up top before we left this morning (digging a cat hole seemed not a good idea down by the water). But, I didn’t have to go. So, we just started hiking. Well...not far down the trail, the urge hit. Sure Foot was ahead of me. I dropped my pack, grabbed my cat hole kit, and hiked up the hill. I dug the hole, did the business, then used the bidet (this little bidet was one of my smartest purchases). Well, let me tell you, a freezing squirt of water to the nether region...well, let’s just say it really puts the pep in the step! Holy moly that was cold!

TMI over...on with the day. I booked it up Bluff Mountain (that pep in the step...), and caught up to Sure Foot. Once we hit the top, it was downhill for a very long time. The trail was really cool with all the green ground cover. 

Snack time on Bluff Mtn (well, it was a little early, but we didn’t care). 

The hillsides of green...acres and acres of green hills. 

I don’t know all the names of the plants, but I still think the May Apples are the coolest. 

They look like little tiny palapas (from Mexico).

Went by this cave. We decided it was too wet to be a bear’s den. 

Just before noon, we stopped to get water. We thought we’d go ahead and eat lunch, but there wasn’t any good place to sit. Shortly after, we came to another water source. Just before we got to it, we saw a guy coming up the trail. We said he was the first person we had seen (actually, I had seen a hunter just before starting the climb up Bluff Mtn, but I hadn’t talked to him). He was out trail running. Said he is from the area, but usually runs the trail between Hot Springs and Erwin. We told him we were heading into Hot Springs tomorrow, where we’ll get a resupply to last us until Greasy Creek Gap (9 days), thus skipping Erwin (where we’d have to try to shuttle into town). He gave me his name (Derik) and number, and said if we needed any resupply before Erwin, to call him. Nice to have that option in our back pocket. 

Shortly after, we found a good spot for lunch, then continued down to Garenflo Gap. 

Large fungi at our lunch stop. 

We had to do a few more ups and downs before we reached our campsite for the night near Deer Mtn Shelter. Before setting up our tents, we took inventory of our food, and calculated how many days we would need to get in Hot Springs. We also made our shopping lists. I find it works best to go in with a list. Otherwise I’m likely to either get too much or not enough. When you have to carry 9 days of food, you don’t want to get too much! 

Before dinner, we walked up to the shelter. The area isn’t bad, but our campsite is just as nice (and closer to the water source). 

Tomorrow we have 3.2 miles to Hot Springs, NC. We’ll get our resupply, then head another 4.8 miles out to the next campsite. 

Pretty flowers to end today’s post.