Make it count: Day #71

Friday, May 22 - Day #71 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 22.4
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 941.2/2,193 (42.92%)

Bearfence Mountain Hut (918.8) to Birds Nest #3 Hut (941.2) - tent at Birds Nest #3 Hut

Total ascent - 4,255’
Total descent - 4,209’

Total States Completed - 3/14

**Rain Day - Rained all night until around 9am. Dry during the day. Rained again at camp all night.

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Biblical rains last night. Crazy!! Last night now ranks in the Top 3 of the most epic weather days for me on the AT. There was the freezing rain day in Georgia (same day I fell and bent my trekking pole), there was the 12-hour rain storm the night before going into Damascus, and then there was Bearfence Mountain Hut in the Shenny’s.

As I was writing the blog last night - it was raining - but a casual rain. About 9pm - it just started to downpour. It rained all night - from 5pm until 9am this morning. Within that time frame were hard, hard downpours. Remember how the forecast was for a few inches of rain - I’d say 4-5 inches fell. I’ve not been able to check the news - but Owl Cat was saying something the other night about a hurricane in the Carolinas that’s bringing the heavy winds and rain. I can’t confirm - but makes sense.

So - a really solid bounce back day for me. It was tough out there - but got it done. 22.4 miles with 4,255’ vertical ascent. I wanted to get started early so I set my alarm for 5am. It was a massive downpour at that time - so I kept hitting the snooze. I ended up getting up at 6:45am - the rain was back to a casual drizzle. I took the tent down quickly and threw all my wet gear in my backpack. On the trail around 7:45am.

The hiking day went pretty good. It stopped raining around 9am. The rest of the day was bizarre. The sun would come out, then there would be a dense fog set-in. Then - dark and gloomy skies. Rinse and repeat. This happened the rest of the day.

I got into camp around 6:30pm. I was happy to see someone. It was Shawn (a dayhiker) and his dog. Then - about an hour later - here comes Learning Curve. Those guys stayed at a hotel in town as I suspected last night. He did a huge 30 mile day to be here tonight. It was great talking with the guys. Shawn is just out for the weekend. He’s meeting up with a buddy tomorrow.

OK - another bear sighting today. About 4:30pm - I had about 5 miles left into camp. Going uphill around a corner. I see a black image in the woods about 50 yards to my left. (I always think I see a bear because there’s black trees, rocks everywhere). But this time - the black image had 4 legs and was moving its head to eat. I stopped and clicked my trekking poles. The bear’s head shot up and looked my direction. I tried to yell to scare it away. It basically was not interested in me whatsoever. I had to angle his way a bit on the trail - but I never got closer than 40 yards or so. He new I was there - and didn’t seem to care too much. So I didn’t make too big of a deal trying to scare it off - I just went on my way. I didn’t hear it at all - it was 100% visual identification. (I wonder how many I miss that are off in the woods). I’m always clicking my trekking poles or singing or coughing - they probably know people come through the trail and don’t pay much attention. I knew with the rain stopped and sun out at times - they would be out. I really have to pay close attention the next 2 days as well (weather is expected to improve)

So - the nice effort today has earned me a 17.5 mile day tomorrow, then a 13.4 mile day on Sunday to get out of the park and into Front Royal, VA. The goal is to finish early afternoon on Sunday (1-2pm) and get a shuttle to Front Royal. I’ll stay the night in town and then come back late morning on Monday. I have 4 short days to Harpers Ferry from there - then a break!!

Here’s to a nice, relaxing day of hiking tomorrow! Goodnight from the middle of the Shenny’s!