9/9/24
I am awake at 5:30 am and start packing up right away, hoping to get as far as possible today. I slept really well last night, only waking once last night to water the leaves. My down under quilt is a little light for the low temperatures last night, but I had on my thick socks and put on my down coat backwards with my arms in the sleeves like a wearable down quilt for my upper body.
I retrieve my food bag from the bear box, startling the shelter inhabitant; an older woman with white hair that stands up in all directions from sleep. She smiles and introduces herself, and I am charmed right away by her kind and affable nature. I sit at the picnic table and chat while I pack my belongings.
She is a retired schoolteacher and announces this is her third (and last) attempt at thru hiking. She was hiking the trail with a friend Southbound last year and made it more than halfway when he had to get off trail for surgery and then passed away unexpectedly. She starts to cry while she tells me this and I feel the tears welling up; I am so sorry for the pain she feels from her loss.
There is something profoundly healing and liberating about being in nature, but on the flipside the feelings of crushing loneliness can be overpowering. I wish I were going Southbound, because I would be very happy to hike with her. I encourage her to stay on the trail. The Sobo hikers who started in Katahdin in June should be hitting this area soon, so hopefully she will have some more company.
She tells me that the next water source at Lambert's Meadow is nothing more than a mud puddle, so as she departs the shelter, I decide to go top off my water back down the hill. I will think of her a lot today and send lots of good vibes her way.
I was planning on camping somewhere between Lambert's Meadow and BeeCh Hill Hostel in Daleville, but that was before I found out about the dearth of water on this section. Today is going to be hot, so I am fully loaded with four liters, which adds 9 pounds to my pack. The good news is that as I hike, my food carry and water weight will both go down throughout the day. I am thinking I will try and make it to BeeCh Hill tonight, but 16 miles is a lot when I haven't been on the trail with a fully laden pack in months. I'm not the tigress that I used to be, after all...
I am down the trail a couple of miles before I spy lots of grapes growing from vines easily reachable from the trail. I grab handfuls as I walk, and the grapes are small, but the taste is bursting with tart sweetness. I am reaching for another handful when I feel cold water trickling down the back of my leg, which means my water bladder is leaking!
I whip off my pack and jettison the contents, trying to avert catastrophe. If I can't make it to Daleville but lose my water, tonight is going to be rough indeed. I hold up the bladder and survey the damage. The cap wasn't twisted on all the way. I caught it early and only lost a cup at most. Crisis everted for now. I know a lot of other hikers would call me foolish for refusing to carry Smartwater bottles (a mainstay of the trail), but I am unequivocally, absolutely, better hydrated when I have a bladder at my disposal. My Platypus bladder has hiked with me over 1,000 miles, and it hasn't failed me yet. Although when it does, it will probably go out in epic fashion. Like when my life depends upon it working.
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| Wild Grapes |
The views from the ridge are stunning. I have views off both sides during my hike, and I am admiring the sun sparkling off a body of water down the hill to east. I take out my maps and see it's a reservoir. I am admiring the view when a man comes running down the trail from the north. He has the lanky cachectic appearance of a thru hiker, replete with Dirty Girl gaiters covering his ankles, with the exception of his pack, which is a running vest. He introduces himself as Sparkle. Of course it is. I ask if he is thru hiking, and he states the affirmative. I ask about his pack. He said he left Katahdin 39 days ago and has an RV and he has been slackpacking the entire trail. I am absolutely speechless!
THIRTY-NINE DAYS to go 1400 miles!! This maniac is trail running an average of 36 miles a day and he is HAPPY! WTF!? I say goodbye, asking him to say "Hi" to my white-haired friend down the trail, and explain that she is lonely. He promises to do so, and we continue on our respective ways.
I reach Tinker Cliffs an hour later, and the views are absolutely wonderful. Today is a bluebird day with not a cloud in the sky. The last time I was here was in the late fall, and the frigid winds made lingering tortuous. I take some time to enjoy the sublime views from the last of the Triple Crown.
On a more somber note, just past Tinker Cliffs I pass the Andy Layne Trail junction, where a hiker was found deceased just two days ago. No foul play is suspected; it appears the hiker died from natural causes, and no further investigation is ongoing. My heart is heavy with the thought of someone dying out here all alone, and only hope he died doing what made him happy.
I see this theme developing today: a juxtaposition between liberation through living life to the fullest, and the loneliness and sadness from loss. We all must live life and process trauma in our own ways, but jeez, it can be hard.
I arrive at the Lambert's Meadow Shelter and decide to stop and have a stretch in the shelter and then lay on my back on the floor with my legs in the air against the side wall. My legs love being elevated, but my back doesn't like the hard wood floor, so I get up and eat lunch at the picnic table. Where I watch some crazy squirrels run after each other, up and down the trees, wishing I could channel some of their energy. There are so many squirrels that when I hear something moving in the trees, I am nonplussed about the possibility of a bear. I need to be more alert, because so few people are out here that the possibility of a bear encounter is pretty high.
When I leave the shelter, I pass by the campsite, and I wish I had stopped here for lunch instead!! Out of curiosity, I go down and survey the creek. There is indeed a muddy puddle here, but when I walk downstream a little way, I see some decent sized pools of water. I am feeling so defeated, because I didn't need to carry so much water from the last shelter. I make sure to leave a comment in the FarOut app, so the next hiker doesn't carry so much water for so far. I contemplate soaking my tired feet in the stream, but I still have 10 miles to go so I carry on.
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| Lambert's Meadow Campsite |
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The View Toward Daleville to the North
I am enjoying the smooth, soft, pine straw covered trail for a couple miles after I leave Lambert's meadow, but it's short lived. The trail turns into a hot mess of rocks that I have to step over and around, which really slows down my forward progress. I am hot, and I am tired, and I am having quite the pity party despite the beautiful views of the valley from the ridge.
I am pulled from my misery by a commotion just over the hill in front of me. I have been listening to the squirrels all day, but this is a whole different level of racket. There are only two other animals that will cause this level of disturbance in the woods: bear or turkey. I cautiously step forward; the hill is only maybe 10 feet high. I peer over the edge to see a large bear about 25 feet beneath me. I can hear a loud buzzing and realize the bear is shoulder deep in a beehive and there are a lot of really pissed off bees buzzing about the bear's body. I then see another smaller black shape. A cub!! Then another. Wow!! I am standing very still, not sure if I should retreat down the hill, but I have no way of knowing which way the bears will head. I figure I am safest here, because if the momma turns and sees me, I can make a huge racket, and she will turn away from me to herd her cubs to safety. Not even a minute later, she decides she has had enough and walks slowly the five yards to the trail and turns north, away from me. One cub, then the other, follows closely behind, turning to look at me for a minute.
I am thrilled at this fortuitous encounter with the bruins, and my mood does a complete 360-degree turn as I watch the bears walk up the hill away from me, then turn to the left off the trail, back into the woods. I then see what made the bears go into the woods. A woman with a hot pink running vest and long dark braids is picking her way quickly down the trail towards me. She pauses for a second when she sees me. I call out to her that there are three bears that just went in the woods where she is standing. She continues down the hill, with another woman following. They near and she says she just saw a bear. I told her there were three, a mom and two cubs. I tell them to be careful because they were stirring up a bee hive. The woman behind her says she knows, because she got stung on her face.
A few months later, I was watching Tara Dower's videos on YouTube documenting her FKT on the Appalachian Trail. I realize that it was she who was stung, and you can hear my voice telling her to be careful on her video! |
The rest of the day continued without incident, and I am so excited to get off for the day! I still have two miles to go when I cross a stream and I take off my shoes and socks and stand in the water until my toes are numb. I need to get going, or I won't ever get to the hostel.
I emerge onto US Route 220, a major road crossing with cars whizzing by; a shock to the senses after being in the woods all day. I stop and pop some ibuprofen for my aching feet. A gas is next to the road, so I go in and grab a cold IPA to enjoy later today at the hostel.
The remaining mile to the BeeCh Hill Hostel is grassy and relatively level, which is wonderful because I am so tired!! I see some water and a note under a tree directing hikers to the hostel. I turn off and approach the large, two-story white house where I left my resupply box a couple days ago. A man in overalls and long white hair and beard is mowing the yard. He stops when he sees me and gives me a big warm, welcoming smile. His name is Yeehaw and he is one of the hostel owners. He shows me into the house, where Beth welcomes me back.
I am checked in and shown to my lodging for the night; a shed with three single beds in it, complete with lights, electrical outlets, and a fan. Unless anyone else comes in tonight, I will have it all to myself! I jump into the shower next to the garage, which is one of the best outdoor showers yet on the trail; the hot water felt so good, and the crazy water pressure gave my head the most amazing massage!
Feeling wonderfully clean and energized after hiking almost 17 miles in the hot sun, I put on my sleeping clothes and give my dirty and stinky hiking clothes to Beth to clean for me. I am out by 9 pm!
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| A tricked out sleeping shed |
Today's Stats: 16.7 Miles, 2428 feet elevation gain, 4009 feet loss
Trail Stats: 731 Miles; 165,155 feet elevation gain; 169, 274 feet loss
