Appalachian Trail - Day 045 - Dismal Branch to Keffer Oak

Day: 045

Date: Thursday, 08 June 2023

Start:  Dismal Branch (AT Mile 657.5)

Finish:  Keffer Oak (AT Mile 678.9)

Daily Kilometres:  37.4 (Ascent 4928', Descent 5010')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  1144.4

Weather:  Cold early then mild and sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Trail mix 

  Dinner:  Noodles & chicken 

Aches:  Dave - some niggles; Julie - nothing to report 

Highlight:  After a day containing two arduous ascents and descents, it was lovely to emerge into farmland for the last few miles of the day on a beautiful sunlit evening.

Lowlight:  Mid-morning, there were about four miles of very rocky and difficult terrain that wore us down.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were away as usual around 6:30am, but what was not usual was how cold it was, and we both had frozen hands after packing up the tent and were keen to get walking and generate some heat.  We had been camped in a valley and it was some time before we saw the rising sun.

It wasn't long before we crossed Stony Creek and began the first of our two big climbs of the day.  It was very steep on sections and seemed to go on forever, but at least it was cool and there were plenty of wildflowers.

At the top of the climb the trail seemed to follow the contour around the side of the mountain but it was a very rocky route and tiring, given that every step had to be taken with care.

We were very happy when we reached the end of that section where, coincidentally, we met Phoenix, a fellow hiker with whom we have crossed paths a few times in the last couple of weeks.  She and Julie hiked together for a while as Dave tried to keep up.  We took a small detour off the trail at one point to Wind Rock which have some good views, though still hazy despite the low humidity.

There followed a very long descent, then across the valley floor before beginning our second climb for the day.  It was in two parts with the first being a relatively gentle grade and the second quite steep.  Both parts seemed interminable, though the first at least had some beautiful avenues of mountain laurel blossoms.  It seemed incongruous to have Dave plodding, sweating, grunting, gasping and cursing as he climbed past these collonades of exquisite intricate graceful blossoms.

At the top of the climb we were rewarded with a lovely section of open woodland as the trail followed a broad ridge seemingly in another world.  Then it was another big descent followed by a lovely section of farmland to finish the day.

We found a tentsite literally beneath the branches of the Keffer Oak, a 300 year old oak and the oldest tree along the Appalachian Trail.  Some of the branches look a little dodgy so we hope they last another day.  There are also a lot of cowpats around our tentsite which somewhat detracts from the charm of the location and requires careful walking.