Date: 2007-06-18
From: Big Meadows Campground

To: Pinnacles Picnic Ground
Miles today: 12.3

I didn't leave my campsite and hit the trail until nearly noon today. The morning was spent taking a shower and doing laundry at the camp store, after eating a huge breakfast at the lodge. I also bought a few more supplies at the store, repacked my gear, completed and uploaded a few entries to my trail journal, then headed on up the trail.The day was clear and hot, but not too humid, so the views were better than previous days. Unfortunately, as happened along much of the trail in SNP, the AT contoured below the Skyline Drive overlooks that were past and few vistas were available from the trail. Over the course of the day I detoured several times to go up to the road overlooks to get a view, then went back to where I had left the trail and continued on up the AT. It made for a fairly dissappointing stretch of trail due to the loss of many fine views that the trail designers decided not to allow AT hikers to easily see. Early on I stopped for a brief rest and snack stop at Rock Spring Cabin, the PATC cabin. Like most days in SNP so far, I saw a large number of deer along and near the trail, some very close by (within 15 ft).When I arrived at Skyland I remembered having walked this short section of the AT last November and found the shortcut I had scouted from the water tank down to the resort dining room. Late in the afternoon I had a great dinner and several beers in the bar, topped off with two servings of ice cream. But, there were still more miles to do before dark. As I was leaving, I met Mama Hen, Seuss, and Peter who had just arrived. Mama Hen wanted to eat dinner so I continued on with Seuss and Peter. About a quarter mile up the trail towards Stony Man, Seuss spotted a very large bear lying down about 50 yards off the trail. As we were watching him several families joined us and we all got a great look at a very healthy looking bear. It was very black in color, and when it finally ambled off out of sight I could see it had a large pot belly that jiggled from side to side as it walked. This guy was in great shape!After stopping briefly for a great view on Little Stony Man we continued on in the evening light. We didn't quite know where we were going to spend the night because it was too far to the next hut to make it before dark and I had no interest in hiking by headlamp. So, when we got to Pinnacle Picnic Ground we set our packs down on the tables and tried to decide where we might camp without being too obvious to patrolling park rangers. It is illegal to camp at picnic areas in SNP so we wanted to find a place where we would be hidden. After about an hour of snooping around, I found a great campsite that was well hidden from the trail and from the picnic grounds, but was only about two hundred yards from it. So, Seuss, Peter and I set up our tents and hammocks and cooked dinner. Just as it was getting dark I heard Mama Hen calling from the trail. We called back and she joined us at our campsite. She had gotten to the picnic ground and figured we must be camped nearby but couldn't find us so she began calling hoping we were close enough to hear her. It was the perfect campsite with water and privys close by. We even had a large snag from which to hang our bear bags for the night. What more could a thru-hiker ask for in a stealth campsite? It was another fine evening on the AT.