Day: 027
Date: Sunday, 21 May 2023
Start: Near Stan Murray Shelter (AT Mile 384.0)
Finish: Highway US 19-E (AT Mile 395.3)
Daily Kilometres: 19.8
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 668.9
Weather: Foggy and cool early then warm and sunny.
Accommodation: Hostel
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts
Lunch: Chimichangas/Burrito
Dinner: Patty melt & fries/Chicken burger & fries, ice-cream
Aches: None to speak of.
Highlight: After crossing Little Hump Mountain (5,445’) in fog and not seeing any of the views from its grassy summit, a few miles later we crossed Hump Mountain (5,559’) in sunshine with great views in all directions. For a mile or two we were crossing the grassy summit and ridge and it reminiscent of the Pennine Way in the UK.
Lowlight: Packing up in the pre-dawn light with everything wet or damp or muddy.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
It seemed like large quantities of water were continually dripping on the tent all night though it wasn’t actually raining much. We woke to find the fly sheet sopping wet and even some of the tent inner wall wet, though we’re not sure why. We put the tent up in such a hurry in the rain last night, maybe we didn’t get everything adjusted correctly. Anyway, it wasn’t much fun and it always seems a relief when we get everything stowed away, regardless of dampness, and get moving, which we did a little after 6:30am.
The weather forecast indicated sun later in the morning, but to start with it was foggy and the trail-side vegetation, often grass, was sopping wet from dew or rain. So much so, that Julie was once again walking in wet boots and socks. Dave’s boots are perhaps a little more robust, and he stayed more or less dry.
The early trail was quite fast walking, though slippery and muddy in parts, and we made good time, passing a shelter where the hiker residents seemed all to be still sleeping and a couple of other tents along the way.
The trail became harder as it climbed fairly steeply up Little Hump Mountain for some time and, sadly, no views were to be had because of the continuing fog, though there was a hint that the sun was starting to break through. And, so it did on our descent from the mountain and by the time we reached the grassy Bradley Gap between Little Hump Mountain and Hump Mountain, the sky had cleared and we had wonderful visibility all around. It was another fairly steep long climb to the summit of Hump Mountain but, because it was treeless moorland and we could see where we were going, it didn’t seem so bad.
From the summit of Hump Mountain we could see both backwards and forwards along the trail for some distance and there were no other hikers around. We had the magnificent scene all to ourselves and savoured it.
With our spirits high we began the six-mile-long descent to the highway and the hostel where we had a basic room booked. It was going to be a welcome short day, though the first couple of miles of the descent were on very technical rocky trail which was slow and ankle- and knee-threatening. However, the weather was perfect and we were soon past the toughest bits and enjoying better trail as the AT followed a pretty steep-sided valley downwards. Along the way, we left North Carolina for the last time, another milestone.
We reached the hostel, which was a few hundred metres along the busy highway from the trailhead, soon after 1:00pm, checked in, and bought some microwaveable lunch from the tiny camp store, which we ate on the hostel’s outside deck in the sun. Afterwards, we erected our tent on a nearby grass patch and dried it as well as packs and other gear while we showered. The hostel is rustic, but has everything we need and is famous for its breakfasts.
As the afternoon wore on more hikers turned up, though most seem to be camping rather than staying in the hostel. A food truck turned up at 5:00pm and we bought our dinner there. It has been a good day. Amazing what difference a change in the weather can make. Dave was pretty miserable yesterday.
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