Date: 2017-09-01
From: Hawksbill Gap

To: Hightop Mountain Overlook, Skyline Drive
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: clear sky

One reason you go on a long hike is because you value seclusion. I¢ve had plenty of time in The Green Tunnel alone. So, would you have planned to traverse one of America¢s most popular National Parks on a big holiday weekend?It¢s Friday of Labor Day Weekend. Campgrounds are filling up. My god, what have we gotten ourselves into?I set out early, 6:40 am, not long after there¢s barely enough light to hike. What will it be like a month from now, or when I¢m hiking deep into October? How much daylight will I have left?I have 23 miles planned. The weather is supposed to be rotten tomorrow with rain all day. But today should just be overcast, with a much lower chance of rain.Franky is hiking well ahead, but I take a break 5 miles along as the trail goes by Big Meadows Lodge, and I join Frodo and Dot for a very nice breakfast. Then Dot and I hike together for 7 miles before lunch.BEAR! Dot¢s pointing like a bird dog. She¢d heard a twig snap. There¢s the black form, the unmistakable ears and face. She and Franky saw two bears yesterday and now it was finally my turn after 1,270 AT miles. Forty feet away, grubbing for food to put on some winter fat. Bless him, he even gave me time to shoot a video. http://www.trailjournals.com/j... I told Dot, ¢You¢re the Bear Whisperer.¢BEAR! This time I was the bird dog pointing. Straight ahead. Jet black. He froze on the trail and then scampered off. He bounded more like a deer than a bear. I have a question for you. Here I am in lush country, dense and leafy growth that must be abundant with grubs and berries. Bears here should grow to enormous size. In California¢s Sierra Nevada, spare country with a short growing season, I¢ve seen male bears easily topping 500 pounds, VW-bug-size bears that might take on a tank. But the bears here, why, they¢re small, barely the size of a large dog. And they look like a small gang of koalas would give them a good fight.So why?Soon after we sighted the two bears, not even 11:00 am, it started to rain. My umbrella unfurled, we both put on pack covers and Dot donned her rain jacket. It¢s a whole different dynamic from 10 or 20 years ago. Out on a trek of a week or more, we learned to read the sky. We closely watched portents, hints of rain in the offing. Today on the AT, hikers access Doppler radar websites, look ahead to the weather hour-by-hour, not just for this day but even for days ahead.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j... The predictions change, sometimes swinging wildly, and I¢ve seen it drive some folks crazy. Why mention it now? Because it rained all day.  That¢s just the way it is. I¢ve seen hikers spend an extra half day or full day in a shelter or in town because rain is predicted. Playing the weather game. Sometimes they¢ve missed out on good hiking conditions. It¢s different and at times odd to have so much weather info if you want it.The park may be filling with campers, but the rain is keeping them off the trails. I had a pretty solitary day except for Dot. But I did see Janine from Germany again, with her Boyfriend Mark.  If you recall, Janine abandoned her SOBO thru-hike, mostly due to loneliness.  Her boyfriend Mark joined her and they're now doing sightseeing in a car and cherry-picking some of the prettiest areas to hike.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...They say rain all day tomorrow. I¢ll be out hiking, regardless, and I¢ll give you a full report.