[at-l] Trip report May 25 to June 20

[Eddy]

thanks for the trip report. I was a good read esp on a slow day at work. Made me wish I was back out there.
   
  Eddy
   
  
Arthur Gaudet <rockdancer97 at comcast.net> wrote:
  The trip covered from Hot Springs, NC to Springer Mountain, about 275 miles. I
took 2 zeroes in the 26 day trip, one at Fontana and the other at Hiawassee.

Bears, bears and more bears: This season was a completely unexpected "bear
hike". A hard freeze in April in the South froze lots of buds off the trees and
for whatever reason the bears had nothing to eat until the blackberries arrived.
(They were just still green on June 20). Literally every hiker, ridgerunner, and
ranger I met along the way had a bear story or bear warning for me. And every
shelter register was noting bear presence and activity. 

This was my first trip on the AT where I hung my foodbag _every_ night while on
the trail. I was even suspicious of going to get water at lunch time and even
occasionally hung my food bag if the trip was a long one. The bears were
suffering, poor guys, and they were displaying all sorts of weird behavior. At
Muskrat Shelter (just N of Dick's Creek Gap, Hiawassee) a bear moved towards us
as we were packing up gear in the morning. 4 of us rushed the bear making noise,
and the bear sort of moved off, but very reluctantly. About an hour later as I
walked South on the trail I was followed by a bear, possibly the same one. I
clacked my poles and shouted and he just moved slightly into the woods. As I
resumed hiking he resumed following me staying about 50 feet from me but staying
right on the trail. After about 100 yards he gave up. 

Going up Sassafras Mountain, the last climb before Hawk Mtn Shelter, I passed a
thick area of growth and heard a low huffing sound - sure enough a bear was
watching me as I passed on the trail. Same thing happened a day earlier but I
had a hard time figuring out what was huffing at me. Definitely not a deer
snort, the huff is deeper and louder.

8 bears sighted in all, a record for me for such a short hike. 3 of them were
sighted in the Smokies where I was expecting them, one walking around and
sniffing my tent since I was the 'overflow' guy for that shelter.

Water: Water may have been a factor for the bears as well since many creeks were
dried up. The bears can usually find water at the shelters since these springs
are more reliable. At least 80% of the time I was finding water only at the
shelters, and no where in between. Quite a change from the early Spring water
flow that I saw on my thruhike. I could still hike with only 1 liter at a time,
camelling-up whereever I found water for lunchtime.

Heat or rather no-Heat: I brought a 20 F down bag with me, just because it's
what I own, and slept under it - unzipped - for all nights except one. I had a
low-40's night at Carter Gap Shelter after I got rainsoaked in the Nantahala
Wilderness south of Mooney Gap. Days were pleasant in shorts & shirt, one
exception was the day I left Davenport Gap for the big 4000 foot ascent to Cosby
Knob - that was one day that was too hot for hiking! Of course what was helping
was the cooler weather at altitude; something I appreciated even more on the day
I went to Franklin for resupply. Standing on the roadside with my thumb out, sun
beating down on me with a full pack, whew! Only for 15 mins. before an angel
drove me back up to Winding Stair Gap.

Weather: Almost immediately on this trip I was into a cycle of regular afternoon
thunderstorms. The first few caught me by surprise and had me scurrying for
cover. Since most of these were very small storm cells I adopted a strategy of
holding up when it hit, usually by tucking myself under some thick rhododendrons
and sitting down with my pack in my lap, rainjacket over me. After about 15
mins. the rain would stop and then I could hike on with dry boots. The day I
left Wesser/NOC I came across 3 of these 15 min. T-storms, and as I hiked on
later talked to northbound hikers who were completely dry. Some of these storms
were only affecting 1/2 or 1/4 mile of the trail at a time. The day I got to
Carter Gap was an intense & long-duration T-storm. I hunkered down and when the
rain hit it came in buckets - very cold buckets of water. After 15 mins or so,
then came the hail covering the trail, making it white, to a depth of maybe an
inch. And then the winds... It was really a spectacular storm and after it was
over the water flow on the hillsides and down the trail lasted for a good while.

New animals: I hike mostly alone and get to see lots of neat animals but not
often ones I've never seen before. This trip I had great sightings of a river
otter & a barred owl, both doing their thing in nature. The river otter was at
the Nantahala. I had come down into NOC thinking it'd be refreshing down near
the water, it wasn't. The valley/gorge seemed to cover me in a blanket of heat &
humidity. Instead of taking a bunk space I wandered downstream along the banks
and about 1/2 mile found a previously used tentsite. A nice dispay of fireflies
along the river at night, but in the morning I looked through the netting and
watched the river otter play in a deep pool near me. It would jump in at either
end of the long pool and swim mostly underwater it's entire length - possibly
looking for fish. At the end it would jump out & sniff around on the banks and
then get back in. I watched it swim the length of this section about 8 times and
then I noticed it didn't reappear, possibly heading further up or down-stream
for better fishing. 

The Barred Owl came up to me while I was filling my water bottle, at a creek
near the Wasilik Poplar, about 6 PM the day I went to Franklin. It swooped onto
a tree branch about 30 feet away, holding a mouse in it's beak. I got to watch
while it had it's dinner, including the little tail disappearing down it's
throat! Then it looked directly at me & gave a little shake of surprise when it
realized I was so close. It flew off immediately but later at the shelter I
heard the telltale call as I went to sleep.

Lots more - the flowering azaleas (all 4 colors) and the rhododendrons &
mountain laurel were all along the trail but most spectacular along Standing
Indian Mountain. And I haven't even thought about writing about the characters I
met along the way. Enough for now. --RockDancer
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