Monday, May 18, 2015

Day 26: A Nice Day For a Walk

Dscn6604April 2: I woke up to mostly cloudy skies which turned into partly cloudy skies as the day progressed for a pleasant day of walking. Not much of a story to tell today, but here are the highlights:

* Met the first trail maintainers thus far who had a chainsaw and were taking out blowdowns from the trail.

* Broke my trekking pole. It had been damaged just prior to my arrival at Fontana Dam when I accidentally dropped a log on it leaving cracks in the carbon fiber, but the pole hadn’t broken completely, so I kept using it. Today, the bottom several inches snapped clean off. Only the bottom segment was broken, though, and I figured when time permitted, I’d look for a good stick that I could replace the broken part with and see if I could keep it working.

* Stopped at “Mom’s” for a Coke and a Klondike bar. It was at a road crossing and my AT guidebook said nothing about it. All I saw was a sad-looking sign pointing down the road a short ways. I went ahead and followed it to a structure that looked like it had been condemned with boarded up windows and all, but a sign on the front said it was open so in I walked. Inside, half the place felt like a flea market or maybe a storage unit with all sorts of junk (antiques) laying around, and the other half was a simple store with snacks and drinks for hikers. A boy was tending the store, who looked old enough to be in high school. He spoke with that thick, slow southern accent and fiddled with a cigarette as if waiting for me to leave before lighting it. He seemed nice and chatted a bit, but the conversation felt a little forced and I left after finishing my Coke and Klondike bar.

I finished the day at the Jerry Mountain Cabin Shelter, a forgettable shelter I shared with a few other hikers. For the most part, not an especially exciting day…

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Rich Mountain Lookout Tower

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Although it was still cloudy early in the morning, the clouds were high enough to still leave some views from the lookout tower.

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Hiking back down the lookout tower.

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You’d think this would be an exciting story!

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But it was clear that the prescribed burns had already happened and were long over.

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Memorial on the trail! Passed a few of them today! (Note the prescribed burn just behind it.)

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Sounds… interesting…

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Mom’s store was in this building that looked like it had been condemned!

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The Coke and Klondike bar I had to snack on in Mom’s store. I rather liked the cigarette ads in the background. You don’t see those very much anymore!

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Another mysterious pipe in the middle of nowhere.

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Drats! Trekking pole gave up the ghost! I extended the rest of it as far as it would go and continued using it, broken tip and all until I could find a suitable stick to replace the broken part. The pole was, obviously, a little short for me after this mishap. I’d definitely need to do something about it.


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View from Whiterock Cliff.

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View from Blackstack Cliffs.

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Oh, we’re totally taking the “exposed ridgeline trail”!

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Yep, that’s definitely an exposed ridgeline!

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And the views from it were great!

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‘Tis the Jerry Cabin Shelter. Not much to look at!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Survey Markers. Those mysterious pipes are marking the TN/NC border.

Anonymous said...

I just LOVE that tree pic between the memorial marker and the worm. Thanks for sharing!

Trishee =)