Date: 2004-09-06
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: scattered clouds

After a full day of hiking you try to see the roof of the shelter somewhere in the trees and know your day of hiking is over. The shape of the shelter is different from anything natural in the woods. But, there are times that there will be a tree that is down or some other thing that from a distance looks like the shelter. You feel relief. You are finally there. And then you get closer and see that it is only a tree and not a metal roof that you thought. Hogback Shelter is one of those that sit off the trail. This was a good place to spend the night. Once again I was alone. I had a good nights sleep and was hungry. My usual breakfast consists of poptarts and sometimes Carnation Instant Breakfast with powdered milk. Today I decided to fry up some Spam and wrap the fried slices in tortilla bread. I should have tried that earlier. It was really good. I filled up with lemonade and then packed up for a day of hiking. I started out about 8 AM. Soon I came to Sams Gap and was able to get rid of my garbage there. It is really good when they put garbage cans at the highway crossings. From Sams Gap it is uphill for quite a while. The weather was good and even though the hike was uphill all was going well. A few older hikers with light backpacks were passing me. Before long we came to bald are and some of the other hikers had gathered there. Of course we got to chatting. They were part of the AppyHikers. It seems their group started about 12 years ago and you had to be 65 to get in the group. They were all very friendly and having a great time. Helga pointed out a bald over in the distance and said I would soon be there and it was a great place. We took some photos and Helga said she would email my wife to tell her the hurricane may keep me on the trail a few extra days and not to worry. She did. Thank you Helga. I hiked on and by the time I got to Big Bald the storm was getting to me. Rain was falling. The wind was blowing. I removed my glasses so I could see. The wind almost had enough strength to send you rolling. This was a huge bald area and I was happy when I got through it and reached the safety of the woods on the other side, but sorry that there was no view. This was just like my visit to Max Patch. This type of open are seems to attract bad weather when I am there. Ab 3:30 PM I reached Bald Mountain Shelter. This was the shelter that Paul had told me about. Where the cloud of moisture blew into the shelter and got everything wet. I checked out the lower level and it was damp. The upper level seemed dry and I decided to spread out my sleeping bag and pad there. There was a light rain falling. There was a good supply of water. I fixed supper and when it got dark climbed into the sleeping bag to listen to the radio and check out the weather. I could not pick up NOAA. When it got dark I turned on my headlight to read and saw the cloud of moisture floating everywhere. I covered my stuff with my Tyvek ground cloth and that seemed to help keep things dry. Off to sleep now. We will see what tomorrow brings. The wind and rain seem to be getting stronger.