Date: 2005-05-15
From: Loft Mountain Campground

To: Bearfence Mountain Hut
Miles today: 30.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Miles hiked today : 30.226.4 AT miles + 3.8 miles of side trailI woke up this morning at 7:15 a.m., packed, ate breakfast, and was hiking at 7:55 a.m. Litttle did I know, but today was going to be a good day for spotting wildlife. At 8:34 a.m., just after the Frasier Discovery Trail, I spotted a black bear cub running up the hill away from me. I couldn't have been any closer tha 200 feet and wasn't quick enough to get a picture. One thing is for sure, my heart received a healthy dose of adrenaline when I realized what I was looking at.Moving along, I crossed Ivy Creek at 9:30 a.m. and reached Pinefield Hut at 10:35 a.m. There were four day hikers at the hut, including a couple, Nate and Sam, from Portland! When this realization was made, one of the other day hikers made the comment "And the world just got a little smaller." Indeed. One of the non-Portlanders, Chad, took my photo and said he'd e-mail it to me.I stayed for a 45 minute snack and rest break, then headed out at 11:20 a.m. I covered 2.1 miles to Simmons Gap in 45 minutes and another 3.3 miles to Powell Gap in 1 hour, 5 minutes. I took a 10 minute rest break, then pushed on for another 2.8 miles to Hightop Hut, arriving at 2:25 p.m.I stayed for a 55 minute lunch break, during which I spotted a beautiful red and black bird. The shade of red was the most vibrant color I'd ever seen on a non-tropical bird. After my lunch, I headed out at 3:20 p.m., planning to camp somewhere near the South River Falls Trail.At 4:25 p.m., I was extremely startled to see a huge black snake, at least 4 feet in length and 1 inch in diameter, laying across the path. An expletive escaped my mouth and I fumbled for my camera as the snake slithered away. I only managed to capture a picture of the back half of the snake as it crawled under a log. 10 minutes later, I stopped for a 20 minute water filtering break, and then reached Swift Run Gap at 4:55 p.m.0.2 mile after Swift Run Gap, there was supposed to be a trail to an old cemetery, though I missed it. I arrived at the trail to South River Falls at 6:00 p.m. and took a 3.2 mile round trip side trip to see the falls. I had a steep descent of 700 feet and I actually passed the observation point because the falls was rather small. With a name like "South River Falls," I'd been expected a cascading beauty, especially with the length of the trail. On the climb back up, at 6:45 p.m., I spotted another snake in the trail. This one, however, was grey with orange and yellow markings on its head and was only about 1 foot long. I snapped a picture and kept moving.At 7:15 p.m., I was back at the AT. I'd been sweating fiercely all day, even though the temperature never broke 70 degrees F. While drinking water, I realized that I'd already hiked more than 24 miles, a new personal best, and considered hiking to the next hut, which would put me over 30 miles. It was still light out, though I knew I'd probably have to do a little bit of night hiking. Throwing caution to the wind, I set out.There wasn't much to observe during this leg of my hike and I was well aware of the facts that I was becoming fatigued and that my feet were sore. As I reached Pocosin Fire Road at 8:25 p.m., I spotted the movement of a large animal. It was nearing dusk at this point, so visibility wasn't the greatest and I thought it might be a bear. It turned out to be a deer and it didn't run until I was about 10 feet away. Interestingly, it only ran 15 feet down the fire road and then turned to watch me. I was in a hurry, so I didn't take a picture, though I did greet the deer in a friendly manner. 0.5 mile after passing the Pocosin Fire Road, I hit the 900 mile mark of the AT.At 9:00 p.m., I reached the Lewis Mountain Campground, which was open, evidenced by the many tents and campfires. I was very tempted to ask one of the campers if I could pitch my tent on their site, though I knew I had less than a mile to the hut, so I kept moving.Light rain had been falling off and on for the last hour. It wasn't enough to warrant a rain jacket or even enough to wash off my sweaty face. It was, however, enough to make the rocks in the last section of trail very slippery, so I turned on my headlamp and stepped carefully. I reached Bearfence Mountain Hut at 9:25 p.m., glad that my hike was done for the day.I'm not sure who is is here tonight, as everybody was asleep upon my arrival. Chances are that I don't know anybody here, especially after having done such a long day and jumping ahead of the hikers I'd previously met. One thing is for sure, I don't plan on repeating a 30+ mile hike in a single day in the near future. It's nice to know that I can do it, but I am extremely beat. I barely had enough energy to set up my sleeping gear, pop some vitamin I, eat a snack, and mix and drink half of a 32 ounce Emergen-C drink to replace all the electrolytes I'd sweated today, before crawling into bed to journal.Tomorrow should be a much easier day.Bedtime at 11:15 p.m.