As the days become essentially repetitive hiking days (not much happening), it seems best to combine them into single posts.
This next batch of photos were captured along this 63 mile section.
I found this trail marker photo worthy for the sheer amount of information it conveyed.
We cross many hand made bridges, but this is the first I’ve seen that has a little history engraved. Daniel Sprinkle built this as his Eagle Scout project in 1994. Let’s say he was 17 at the time. That was 30 yrs ago, so he would now be roughly 47. I’m curious if he ever comes back to visit his bridge, and who maintains this bridge and the others. They are very much appreciated.
Because I’m managing the car, I have the luxury to hike pretty much anywhere I want to hike, as long as there’s a parking space. Today I drove back to Devils Fork gap (m 311) to hike a section that interested me, up to Big Butt peak. As I was heading out, I came across this group of hikers. Super friendly, and gracious when accepting our trail magic. Their trail names from left to right are Red Maple from Canada, Peanut butter Giant from NH, Squeeze Cheese from Pennsylvania and Martian Mcfly from Maine. They told me there’s another Waterboy on the trail, just a couple days behind our Waterboy. What will happen when they meet? I’m not sure what trail etiquette is when there are multiple hikers with the same trail name. A dual, perhaps?
A descriptor given to the AT is “The Green Tunnel”. We came across this a few times in researching the trail. A example, “The Appalachian Trail is a green tunnel from beginning to end”. Today was the first time it really seemed like a tunnel, as the trail was densely covered for a long section. Or I just noticed it more today. I think it’s mostly azaleas, and I can’t wait to see what this will all look like when blooming commences. I found this excellent article about Appalachian azaleas, (by Charles Andrews).
Coming across one of these occasionally is a good reminder we’re in bear country, so be cautious with your food.
