Date: 2016-04-11
From: Sams Gap

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: broken clouds

After staying our first night this year at the Cantarroso Farm, it¢s even better than we remembered. Peggy & Mike have a beautiful house and grounds, right on the banks of the Nolichucky River. The huge windows on the front of their house face the rapids at a turn of the river. Once again, we were lucky enough to get their upstairs room. They also have accommodations on the ground floor, and added a second cabin this year. Peggy would like to hike the JMT this year, but has conflicts and we hope that she may be able to join us for some sections of the VA AT when we return in the fall. Mike has expanded his apiaries and knows everything beewise. He almost got us into suits to help him with the hives this afternoon. So if you¢re headed to Erwin, TN and looking for a really nice place to stay, check out Cantarroso. About the only thing different in our stay this year is that we¢re doing most of our own transportation. Having our car has given us more flexibility to find out what¢s in town, try out the local restaurants, visit the coffeeshop, etc. We¢ll be hiking here for two more days, then on Thursday we have to head back to Norfolk for several appointments. Today seemed like a lot of uphill for both of us, even though we did a key swap and hiked the same section in opposite directions. For me, the first 6 or 7 miles seemed like a continuous climb, although it wasn¢t quite. But the features and views from the top of the climbs were well worth the effort. I really enjoyed the view from the first meadow with the AT winding around in front of me and heading up another hill (including 2 hikers for perspective). The long-range views from the balds were amazing. It¢s too bad that I don¢t know how to capture the incredible sense of distance that I feel when I see range after range of mountains, each one farther away, stretching to the horizon. The valley views are great too, the hillsides are closer and it¢s much easier to see their contours - especially early in the day when the sun angle is low and the shadows accent the shapes. And when it¢s a partly cloudy day, the cloud shadows play over the mountainsides drifting in and out of the draws and hollows. This is the third year that I¢ve tried to capture all of this in photos and it¢s still not working. I guess that¢s part of why I keep coming back. The photos trigger memories, but I think you have to be there to really feel it. Another feature today was High Rocks. It¢s near the north end of the section. It¢s a smaller peak that¢s sandwiched between Spivey Gap and Little Bald. The last few feet of the climb are rocky and there is a massive rock or cluster of rocks at the very top. We remember it because it¢s one of the few places where we were able to get cell reception to call as shuttle driver in past years. The upper part of the descent from High Rock is pretty steep, with a lot of rock steps and log steps. Mud would be a real problem here in the rain. I talk a lot about weather, but it¢s pretty important to us, and the forecast of rain for tomorrow is not pleasant. Rain isn¢t a show-stopper (like high winds or lots of ice), and we have gear for it - but hiking in the rain isn¢t the most fun thing for us. Ziplock bags are life savers and we can keep the critical stuff dry. But after hours in rain, most of what you¢re wearing ends up wet. I¢ve tried different approaches, but my Zpack poncho seems to work best for me. I¢m tall, so I¢ve ordered a poncho that¢s extra long and that helps somewhat. The concept behind the poncho is that it keeps the rain out, but it provides enough air circulation underneath the poncho so that you don¢t end up soaked with sweat (that¢s what happened when I wore a rain jacket and rain pants). Simply put, if I¢m hiking uphill for any length of time, I¢m going to sweat a lot. I also got the Zpack kilt to try to stay dry down to my knees. That didn¢t do much for me, it cut down the air circulation into the poncho. Ultimately, I don¢t know how to keep dry in an all-day rain. But if the rain is light or intermittent, the poncho works pretty well. And it covers my pack so that stays dry.Over and above the personal comfort, rain can make parts of the trail more dangerous. Mud can make a steep incline treacherous, especially the downhill direction. And wet rocks cab be as slippery as ice if moss or leaves are involved. I get virtually no traction on wet roots and I won¢t put my foot on a log step if it¢s not cross-cut or roughened. So I¢m not looking forward to tomorrow, at least we have a short day. I¢ll let you know how it goes.