Winter or Spring?

On Tuesday, April 5th, I left Hot Springs by crossing over the French Broad River, named such in the 18th century because it eventually flowed into what was then French territory. A steep climb led up to cliffs overlooking the river and town, so I took a few photos.

My next stop would be Erwin, TN, 70 miles away. I spent three nights on the trail in sometimes challenging conditions. There were a few miles of extraordinarily rocky and difficult trail on a windy ridge when the temperature was plummeting. I bundled up with all of my outerwear, and when I was off of the ridge I noticed that my water bottles had started to freeze.

Despite winter weather sometimes clinging to the higher altitudes, it was great to see spring slowly moving in lower down. Small, white wildflowers were blooming by the thousands, peaking through the dead, brown leaves which remained from the fall. All kinds of small green plants were also starting to cover the forest floor, which was a sullen brown just a few weeks earlier. Most of the deciduous trees were still grey and lifeless, but a few were beginning to grow new leaves.

Spring begins.

It's tough to get out of a warm sleeping bag on a cold morning. It's something that I've never enjoyed, but a hot cup of tea certainly helps. A cold morning is better than a wet, cold morning though. On the second night my tent was pummeled by strong rain and wind and I had to pack it up wet. It was cool and cloudy to dry it out before hitting the trail.

Thursday was very windy and cool almost all day long. There was intermittent hail and rain during the day also. I walked up and over a few large grassy "balds," as they call hilltops that are devoid of trees here. The wind was particularly intense up there. Although quite scenic, reminding me of the Scottish Highlands, I couldn't wait to get back to the relative comfort of the trees.

I passed no northbound hikers that day, and none passed me. That was a first since I began hiking the trail. When it started to get dark I decided to stop at the last shelter before Erwin, TN. I was quite surprised to find that it was unoccupied, except for a mouse who greeted me up in the rafters, casually checking me out. Ten minutes after I arrived at the shelter an enormous thunder and lightning storm erupted, lasting for perhaps 30 minutes and bringing marble sized hail with it. It was nice to be in a shelter instead of a tent at that point.

I put a half Snickers bar up in the rafters, away from my sleeping spot, in the hope that it would keep the mouse occupied and away from me and my stuff while I slept. I think it worked; just before going to sleep I shone my headlamp up into the corner of the shelter and saw the chubby mouse standing on its hind legs nibbling away on the Snickers bar. The light didn't concern the mouse at all, and he never bothered me.

Nolichucky River near Erwin, TN.

The next morning a German guy came by as I was packing up, telling me about his ordeal riding out the storm in his tent a few miles back. I was glad to have spent the night in the shelter, at least that night.

In general though, the shelters and immediately surrounding tent areas strike me as unsanitary and I don't like them. The authorities who control the wilderness areas that the AT runs through prefer that camping be concentrated in such areas, so as to limit human impact on other areas. I do not like it at all, and am an advocate for greater dispersal. Fortunately, only Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the White Mountains in New Hampshire mandate concentrated camping.

A constant thought: I'll be glad when Spring arrives for good.

Not quite spring yet!