Friday, May 29 9:12 pm 20.7 miles Big Bald
AT 317.3 Hogback Ridge → AT 338.0 No Business Shelter
Weather: AM drizzle, evening rain and thunder
Trail Conditions: Lots of variety today. Dry trail mostly
My Condition: Sore heels – switched insoles at about 2 pm which seemed to help. I like the ride better with the stock insoles.
Big Bald – WOW! Breathtaking, panoramic, top of the world type view. Met a guy at the top who is celebrating his 30 year AT thru hike anniversary, and he claimed that Big Bald is a top 10 view along the trail for sure. Met a section hiker, Aaron, at the shelter site tonight. He is about my age and was about 300 miles into the Arizona Trail when COVID hit. Similar to how the Smokies were shut down for me, the Grand Canyon was shut down for him. The experience sadly wasn’t what he envisioned, so he called it for this year and hopes to return to it next year. His intention was to finish the AZT and then southbound the CDT (Continental Divide Trail). Instead, he accepted a job offer from a buddy (12 month government construction contact – much desired job security in these scary times). Now, he’s experiencing buyer’s remorse though and wishes he could be out hiking all summer. He is a trail maintainer for this section of trail and is planning to chip away at southern sections of the trail for now. He says trail crews need to do a better job recruiting – mostly older folks doing it since younger people tend to work all the time, but a lot of the work is of a physical nature better suited to the more youthful. He enjoys the feeling of putting in a brand new stair along the trail during thru hiker season and telling someone that they’re the first person ever to use it. Talked the Smokies and the SOBO crowd NOBO route old school type experience that this year has been, gear, and other long distance trails. Tomorrow I’ll get to see Pat and Kelsey! Can’t wait for that!
Post Trail Analysis
I’ll have to put together a top 10 views list, but Big Bald was definitely memorable. Aaron suggested I stop by the Kincora Hostel if I had a chance to meet trail legend Bob Peoples and learn more about the history of the trail. The man holds a Chuck Norris-esque reputation in trail conversations – “Bob Peoples got bit by a rattlesnake. After 3 days of pain and misery, the rattlesnake died.” “When Bob Peoples hikes the trail, bears wear Bob Peoples bells.” I didn’t get a chance to stop by unfortunately. This evening, with the thunder rolling in the distance, I heard my first nighttime bear activity around our tents. Fortunately, we had both thrown proper bear bags. I’m now realizing that in many of these entries, I end at shelters for the night. The reality, however, is most of those nights I’m still pitching and sleeping in my tent. The shelter sites typically have ample room for tents, as well as water access and sometimes bear containers, poles, and pulleys that make food storage easy peasy. With the exception of the Smokies, a stretch in Virginia, the Shenandoahs, and Baxter State Park, I was in my tent every night. Even when the shelter wasn’t occupied, there was a certain comfort in avoiding potential contagion points that have held crowds. I was out here going for it, but I still believed in exercising caution.
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