Day 12: April 15, 2021
Betty Creek Gap to 1.5 miles past Rock Gap - 9 miles
Surprise, a Sunday post!
A few announcements before I get into today’s post. I am shifting back to a Sunday publishing schedule once again. I’ll still be posting every other week for the time being, but I have some fun ideas which leads me into my second announcement. I wanted to write a shoutout to my paid subscribers. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. To have this much support early on in my writing journey means a lot. As a way to thank you all, I have started experimenting with making content only for my paid subscribers, but to be clear my journal posts will always be free to all subscribers. Bonus posts like my AT Dictionary, and a few other ideas I have, will be for my paid subscribers to give them an inside look into the different parts of my thru hike.
Thank you again so much! Now, let’s get to Day 12!
My tent was soaking wet from the rain overnight but everything inside was dry. I grabbed my clothes and put them on while I was still lying in my sleeping bag, trying to warm everything up before getting out of my tent. The rain made it a chilly morning, so I layered up and put everything I had on. Thimble has packed his tent up and left by the time I walked over to his camp site. I found my food bag on the ground by where he had hung it the night before and I took it back to my tent for breakfast.
The first couple miles of the day were relatively easy. I enjoyed coasty trail with breathtaking scenery as I warmed up my legs. Gradually the trail got steeper and before long, it became quite the climb. Once again, I was baffled at the lack of switchbacks. The only way up the mountain ahead was straight up and over. I climbed steps two feet tall, I traversed miniature rock walls, and I complained the whole time. Funnily enough, when I started the AT, I had a hotshot mentality. I hike in the Rocky Mountains; these are just hills. How hard could it be? The AT humbled me quickly. I took lots of videos trying to explain the conditions of the trail.
As exhausting as this climb was, it was no ordinary mountain. The top marked a landmark I had been eager to get to. I climbed, determined to complete this challenge. One foot in front of the other, that’s all I had to do to summit Albert Mountain.
Eventually, I made it; I was at mile 100 of the Appalachian Trail. The fire tower that stood atop the mountain had a small 100 drawn into it in white marker. There were 360-degree views all around the fire tower, although it was locked so I couldn’t climb it. I walked a little way down trail and saw a 100 drawn in sticks laying to the side of the trail. I celebrated my accomplishment, took my picture, and hiked on.
I had planned to hike to Rock Gap so I could hitch a ride to Franklin, NC to get the supplies I desperately needed. The towel that saved me and my clothes from the day before was holding up nicely, but I was ready to have a real pad.
On the final descent to Rock Gap, I saw two men hiking southbound towards me. They were both Asian and had very thick accents.
“You hungry?” One asked me.
Of course, I thought. “Oh, no I’m OK,” I answered back. I figured they were offering me a snack, and I really didn’t want to carry any more food. I had overdone it on my last resupply. My pack was incredibly heavy, and my legs were suffering because of it.
“Food at parking lot,” the other man said with a smile.
“There’s food down there?” I asked pointing towards Rock Gap.
The men nodded. I thanked them and hiked down the hill as fast as I could without falling down. Trail magic, trail magic, trail magic!
As I emerged from the trees, I saw a whole spread laid out in front of me. There were three people hosting the trail magic cooking tacos and hot dogs. The food looked and smelled delicious, and I was eager to eat some, but there was a table that caught my eye first. Sitting on a folding table right in front of me were boxes of pads, tampons, and toilet paper. After greeting everyone and introducing myself, I grabbed a few handfuls of feminine hygiene supplies and a new roll of toilet paper. Now that I had everything I needed, I didn’t have to hitch a ride to Franklin. There is a saying about the AT, “The trail provides.” I never really knew what the saying meant until that day. The trail listens to its hikers and provides what they need.
I wasn’t the only one the trail provided for at trail magic. When Stache showed up, he told us all he was going to hitch to town because he ran out of cigarettes. One of the trail angels heard Stache and grabbed a big Tupperware from a shopping bag. She walked over to him and handed him the container full of hand-rolled cigarettes.
“Take as many as you want, sweetie,” she told him. Stache’s face lit up, it almost looked like he had tears in his eyes.
I was hesitant to start hiking again; my feet were hurting so much. Mike said my shoes were probably the cause. I was hiking in Altra Lone Peaks which, like all my gear, I had done copious amounts of research on. These shoes are called zero drop shoes which means the heel of your foot is at the same height as the ball of your foot. It may not seem like a big deal, but usually we wear shoes where the heel is higher than the rest of the foot. Even a small change to heel height takes a lot of time to adjust to so I made sure to wear these shoes at home to help acclimate my body to the change. I must not have conditioned myself enough though because my feet were killing me. The trail angels said there was a second Outdoor 76 location in Franklin that had a lot of shoes to pick from. Looks like I’m going into Franklin after all. I studied the map and saw another road a few miles ahead that we could use to get to Franklin. I checked Guthook, my navigation app, and saw a note saying there was a campsite 0.4 miles away. I convinced Cowboy and Stache to hike with me to the campsite.
The trail climbed steeply out of Rock Gap. I was still recovering from the hike up Albert Mountain, and my aching feet didn’t help one bit. We hiked on and on and on without seeing the campsite I had read about. I checked the map again and smacked my forehead.
“Shit, guys I read the map wrong. The campsite isn’t .4 miles from Rock Gap, it’s 1.4 miles away.”
“Oh shit…well…that sucks. I’ll text everyone and tell them to stay at Rock Gap because this climb is terrible.”
We hiked on because turning around it just never an option. When you have to hike 2,200 miles, going backwards is the last thing you want to do.
Shortly after Freshly Baked texted Stache back. All he said was “you motherfucker.” Stache laughed. “Seems like they’re already started hiking, but Sweet Water, Ken, and Yogi are staying at Rock Gap.”
One mile into our hike, we passed a piped spring, an underground spring with a pipe directing the water to the surface. According to the map, the campsite was .4 miles away. We hiked another quarter mile before realizing there would likely be no water at the campsite since it was a stealth spot. Stache and I dropped our packs and grabbed our filters. Begrudgingly we broke the rule of “never hike backwards” so we could fill up on water.
The “campsite” was horrendous; there were no obvious tent spots. The three of us walked around trying to find anything that resembled the aforementioned campsites. We found an East facing shelf on the side of the mountain that was flat enough to pitch a few tents. The only other option besides camping here was to hike two more miles and hitch a ride into Franklin. The day had kicked my ass, and I was exhausted; the three of us decided to stay and call it a night.
Freshly Baked, Pickles, and Mike hiked up together a little bit later, saw our shitty campsite, and said hell no! They hiked the two more miles to Winding Stair Gap. Later in the night, they sent us a picture of the three of them drinking margaritas in a bar in Franklin.
The mountain was buffeted by freezing wind all night long. As long as I didn’t move in my sleeping bag and fluff all the warm air out, I was OK. I did, however, learn that it is important to go to the bathroom before sleeping on a cold night. Your body will work hard to keep your urine warm but in doing so, it won’t be able to keep you warm too. I woke up shivering often, but I wasn’t brave enough to get out of my tent to go to the bathroom. I just laid in my sleeping bag, eager for the sun to rise.
Next time on Packing it in: The tramily goes to Franklin, NC for the day. We take advantage of Outdoor 76 and a local brewery, The Lazy Hiker.
Did you see a word you didn’t know? Check out my Appalachian Trail Thru Hiker Dictionary for a list of hiker terminology. If you don’t see the word on this list, comment below and I’ll add it!
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