Author: Rob Duncan

Trails Traveled: Little Cataloochee Trail, Pretty Hollow Gap Trail, Balsam Mtn. Rd., Balsam Mtn. Trail, Mount Sterling Ridge Trail, Mount Sterling Trail, Long Bunk Trail, Little Cataloochee Trail.

Day 1: 6.8 miles, 1,358 ft elevation gain

This week we completed a trip that I had planned for a few weeks ago, but it was postponed because of single-digit temperatures, snow, and rain. I’m glad we waited. Our original plan had been for a four-day, three-night trip to help us test out our gear for cold weather. I’d have to rate the trip as an unqualified success on many levels.

The first day we didn’t get away from home until around noon, which put us at the trailhead around 3:00. I don’t know what it is about getting our stuff together, but that is one area we have for improvement. I had planned to experiment with an ultralight pack I borrowed from my friend Paul. Unfortunately, Paul’s pack is a 58-liter bag and apparently, I have 65L worth of bulk and gear. As I’ve mentioned before, pack weight is of primary concern when planning a long-distance hike and I’m exploring all options to get my weight down. This is going to get a little geeky, but my current pack, an Osprey Atmos 65AG weighs 4lb-10oz. The pack I’m researching weighs in at just two pounds. That is a significant savings, but I really wanted to test one before dropping the cash for a new pack.

I realize that I successfully escaped from my original topic sentence: we left late. Our trip to the GSMNP was two hours down I-40 and then 45 minutes (12 miles???) on narrow, winding one to one-and-a-half lane roads. Silly me, but I was expecting a parking lot at the trailhead. NOT. We were greeted with a wide spot in the road and a sign admonishing us to not block the gate. I let Gavin out and I pulled the truck up with the passenger side as close to the side of the shoulder of the road as I could. On the way into the park, we noticed a dusting of snow on the roads and the ground nearby and I hoped we hadn’t gotten in over our heads. The night before our trip, the forecast for Mount Sterling was for 4°F temperatures with a wind chill warning. It was probably in the mid-30’s when we set out on the trail and we expected it to dip into the low 20’s the first night out. The two redeeming highlights of our trip to the trailhead were finding Bigfoot (you’re welcome, Josh), and seeing an elk! You must check out the video to see this beautiful creature. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one before and he cooperated by just grazing along while we pulled the truck up alongside. We must have sat there gawking and videoing for 5 minutes before driving on to the trailhead.

Before continuing, allow me to tell you a few things about the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park. First, I’ve read that it is the most visited National Park in the US, but we only saw three people on our 3-day trip. I guess we should have come in warmer weather. Miles and miles of trails crisscross the park, and the Appalachian Trail traverses 71 miles through the GSMNP. The park is truly kept as a wilderness area and to this end, camping is only allowed at designated campsites and shelters, and only then by reservation. Before heading out, we visited the GSMNP website and planned out our trip for three nights: campsite 39, Laurel Gap Shelter, and finally at campsite 38 on top of Mount Spencer. The camping restriction means that no matter how tired you get along the trail, you must press on to get to your scheduled site or risk being ticketed and put out of the park. Another important fact about GSMNP is that it is home to a huge population of black bears, which Gavin and I have already experienced one too many times. Fortunately, all of the campsites and shelters in the park are rigged with ¼ inch steel cables on pulley systems to hoist your food and other smellables out of reach of hungry bears. These contraptions certainly take the guesswork out of having to hang a bear bag and take the weight out of having to carry a bear canister.

For our first afternoon, we had planned a hike of a little less than seven miles to campsite 39. At a 30-minute mile pace, it would put us pushing 7:00 to get there. Our late start lead me to think about bunking in Asheville and pushing the trip off for a day, but alas, our reservation at campsite 39 was for Wednesday night so we had to make the best of it.

The trail today was truly beautiful. We started off walking up a gravel road, which was slightly graded. The only real obstacle was a 3-foot tree that had blown down. The trunk and giant tangle of limbs made it quite difficult to traverse, especially for Gavin. All afternoon we crossed back and forth over and then paralleled streams and creaks. In looking over my video footage this afternoon, it looks like the only thing I recorded was streams and ice. About two miles in, we came to an old log cabin. We both went in and looked around a bit, but I don’t think either of us went upstairs. I was slightly worried that my weight and the stability of the floor might not jive. A bit later on up the trail, we unexpectedly came to a second cabin that was surrounded by a split-rail fence. If the chinking in the logs had been kept up and if it were a little closer to Walmart, I could have lived there. Unfortunately, we didn’t explore this one because it was getting a bit late and I felt it necessary move farther along before darkness fell.

And darkness did fall. I have read about AT hikers voluntarily night-hiking to catch up with friends or to make it to a certain place to view a nice sunrise (i.e. Max Patch or Roan Mtn.), but I have read nothing about having to night hike because you’re not allowed to just drop a tent wherever you want before darkness sets in. I must say, though, we did pretty well with it. My headlamp was buried in the depths of my pack, but Gavin’s was on top, so he donned his and lead the way. Maybe his trail name will be Rudolph! With me close on his heels, paying careful attention to the rocks he was tripping over in order to avoid the same peril, we plowed on. Until, that is, we reached a stream crossing with 3-ft stumps creating a parkour-like, hoppity-skip across. Did I mention that most of my videos were about streams and the ice therein? Usually I wouldn’t have worried about this crossing, which was, in fact, one of the best I’ve seen, but the only thing I could think of in approaching it was the skim of ice on the logs, the dusk, and how cold the water would be when one of us landed on our butts in it and froze off some valuable appendages. Needless to say, since I’m typing this with a full compliment of fingers, we made it across.

The first day’s hike was a 3-mile up followed by a 1.75-mile down, and ending at the campsite with a slight uphill climb. After nearly 7 miles, the final climb was arduous and we like to never have found the campsite, but eventually, we did. We had plenty of water to make supper (Idahoan Loaded Mashed Potato Soup and Spam – we recommend it) and brush our teeth (or at least I did) before settling down to bed. One of the goals of this trip was to be sure we had the gear to hike and sleep warmly. For hiking, I donned a long-sleeved Capilene base layer topped with my rain shell and my convertible hiking pants (legs off.) I had no problems at all with this setup. When we got to camp, though, I switched to my woolen long johns and dry wool socks. I topped this off with a down jacket for warmth and my rain shell to block the wind. Gavin dressed similarly, except that he hiked in nylon sweat pants. It is important to have dry clothing in camp after hiking because even in winter one will sweat and you don’t want to be sitting still in wet clothing or hypothermia will set in. This was our first experience with winter backpacking, and I believe we passed the test.

The temperature dropped to the low-20’s Wednesday night and we both slept warmly. We both have sleeping bag liners which are supposed to add 10-15° of warmth to the temperature rating of the bag. I loaded up my bag with my damp hiking socks and shirt, water bottle, electronics, and most importantly, our water filter to keep each item from being frozen solid in the morning. Unfortunately, I neglected to tell Gavin that is was supposed to be as cold as a witches protuberance in a brass foundation garment, so what was left of his water froze. Fortunately, we were camped right next to one of the many creeks we saw, so getting and filtering water was not an issue.

Warning: This paragraph is not for the feint of heart. A lesson that one has to learn when embarking on a trip into the wilderness is how to responsibly answer the call of nature. For this part of my hiking experience, I still need to do a bit of research. I understand the part about digging the 6-8” deep cathole into which one deposits and buries one’s waste, but the directions I’ve read are a bit unclear about how one should manage this when dealing with frozen soil and roots that won’t give in to the 0.6-ounce, aluminum deuce of spades (seriously, that is the name of the piece of gear.) I will say that some duct tape wrapping on the handle of this lightweight tool is necessary to prevent blisters of the palm created by digging. I’ll keep you posted on this front. I must also remark that I didn’t think about the wet wipes in the top of my pack freezing during the night, but they did. Thankfully, they were packed in a plastic bag, so I was able to boil a little water and soak them enough to get one loose. Happy Day! Even when they were babies, Gavin and Griffin didn’t get warmed baby wipes!

Day 2: 8.8 miles, 3,038 ft. elevation gain

I knew that day two would be our most difficult day of hiking. Looking at the elevation profile of the trail, it was nearly all uphill for 8+ miles. To put it bluntly, I have discovered that I suck at uphills. Literally. I walk 30 feet, pause for a minute or two leaning on my trekking poles and suck wind! Holy cow, I had no idea I was in such bad shape. I’m aware that I have gained back more than twenty pounds in the past year or so, but I had no idea that it would affect my hiking in this way. As poorly as I hiked today, I see now that I have no choice other than to go to the basement and go to town on the step-mutha and treadmill housed there. I’ll probably even have to start hiking the horrendous vertical mile trail at Rocky Face. I really don’t want to do either of those things, but unfortunately, I believe they’re necessary. Mamaaaaa!

As has become our unfortunate habit, we slept in. Remarkably, Gavin was up before I was. He was in the process of making his breakfast when I rolled out (embarrassingly) at 9:45. We ate, organized, and packed and got on the trail about noon. Seriously, we’ve got to work on this or we’ll never make it out of Tennessee before late summer. The most remarkable thing about Thursday’s hike is that it started raining about 30 minutes after we started hiking. Thankfully, it never rained hard and it was much warmer than Wednesday so I was able to go in shorts, long sleeves, and my rain shell. This was the first real test of my new rain shell and it passed with flying colors.

After miles of uphills that nearly brought me to tears, our second day ended, finally, at the Laurel Gap Shelter. I have walked past many and have stayed in a few AT shelters and this one put them to shame. I guess GSMNP puts the money from hiking/camping permits back into the amenities of the park. This shelter was a 3-sided rock structure measuring about 10’ x 20’ or so. Over on one side, there was a fireplace, and the front was covered by a huge plastic tarp to block the wind. Inside there were two levels of sleeping platforms as well as some benches for sitting. Outside was a covered porch area that had benches to sit on and tables to cook/eat on. It was by far the nicest shelter I’ve ever seen. Gavin and I had the whole place to ourselves. Unbeknownst to me, Gavin had hoped that I would sleep on the top-level sleeping platform so he’d have some plywood blocking him from my snoring. Oops. I cannot overstate how glad we were to be in a shelter Thursday night. As the night wound on, the misty mess we’d hiked in all day turned into a full-fledged rainstorm that continued on all night. Though I’m confident that I’d be dry in my tent, it was really great not to have to mess with packing up wet in the morning. It was also much easier to get situated for the next day’s hike sitting on a nice dry platform to dress for the day.

Day 3: 14.4 miles, 1,378 ft. elevation gain

Friday was to be our easiest day of hiking. According to the map, we’d have a fairly flat trek of only 5.7 miles along the Mount Sterling Ridge Trail to campsite 38. Knowing this, and again, because we’re not morning people, we didn’t rush to leave the shelter. Gavin had a dry breakfast of something, but I took time to boil water for coffee and oatmeal. Folgers makes these little coffee teabags that taste remarkably like brewed coffee. I did splurge and bring some single-serve creamers, but I didn’t bring sugar. Hoping for a little more protein than is offered up by oatmeal, I wound up mixing some chocolate instant breakfast mix with my coffee and it was remarkably good. Caffeine and protein are incredibly important for hiking.

We set out from the shelter around our normal time of noonish, knowing that we didn’t have far to go to our campsite for the evening. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t stop to accommodate us. We departed in our hiking clothes covered up in rain pants and shells. One of the things I’ve read about rainwear is that nothing is waterproof for more than 30 minutes or so. Even though most “waterproof” fabrics claim to be breathable, they don’t breathe as hard or fast as I do on an uphill section. Thus, even though you may not get wet from the rain, you will be doused from the inside with sweat. Truthfully though, I stayed comfortable and warm. I’m not even sure I was aware I was wet except for the times when we stopped for a few minutes and I began to feel cold.

As I mentioned above, this nearly 6-mile ridge walk was to be our easiest day of hiking, which got me to thinking. For me, thinking is often dangerous. According to our map, the final day of hiking on Saturday was going to be almost all downhill with sections of flat. Humm… wouldn’t it be great to sleep indoors tonight? I figured we could get to the car a little after dark and head into the Hampton Inn in Asheville for the night. I already had visions of setting my tent up on the bed and FaceTiming Beth and Griffin from inside and then unzipping the tent and stepping out into a hotel room. On our way across the ridge, actually, it was on one of the few uphills of the day when Gavin and I were leaning on our poles panting, a young couple passed us. They were headed to campsite 39, and Gavin wanted to camp there and visit with them overnight. I told him that we’d make the final decision when we reached the trail crossing that would take us back to the truck. When we finally reached the crossing about 0.5 miles from the campsite, I used fatherly coercion to convince Gavin that warm bed wins over wet tent every time. Though he was against it, he grudgingly agreed to hike on down to the car. When I say he hiked, he really hiked. He took the lead and set the pace for sub-30 minute miles for most of the way down. I am so proud of him! He is a strong hiker and an encouraging partner and I look forward to our 2,200-mile journey together.

That is how our 6-mile hike turned into 14.4 miles. The rains didn’t let up, but we were spurred on by the thought of a warm shower and a comfy bed. Fortunately, the trail cooperated with us. As promised, the trail was nearly all downhill, wrapping back and forth around the bases of mountains. The most difficult part of the hike was crossing the many streams, strengthened by the rains that formed anywhere two mountains came together. Many would have been intermittent streams in dryer weather, so there weren’t carefully placed rocks in most places to step over. In the end, though, it didn’t matter much. Much of the day’s hiking had been over a trail that crossed through tons of swampy, sloggy, muddy muck. Early in the day, I gave up on trying to keep my shoes dry. Thankfully, the waterproof lining in my shoes held up pretty well so we plowed on.

I say the stream crossings were the most difficult part of the day’s hike, but actually, I believe the trail stretched on us as we hiked. What I calculated to be nearly 12 miles turned into 14.4 by the GPS. I’m not sure how that happened because I know that we didn’t wander around in circles for nearly 2.5 miles. Needless to say, we wound up night-hiking again. Finally, right at 7:00 we reached the truck. Glory Be! After loading up and getting out of our rain gear, I calculated that it would be around 8:30 before we could make it to the hotel in Asheville. That time wouldn’t factor in showering and going to eat. More calculation showed that we could be home by 10:30-11:00, and that would include a hamburger supper somewhere along the way. This was the option we chose, and Beth and Griffin even waited up on us (we sent a selfie from Burger King to alert them of our coming.) If you know Beth, staying up until 11:00 was an even greater accomplishment than our long day of hiking.

In closing, there were several goals that we hoped to accomplish with this trip. Cold-weather camping: check – Put the water and filter in your sleeping bag, and you’re good. Hiking in the rain: check – Our rain shells keep most of the weather at bay, or at least they kept us warm. Unintended goal of night-hiking: check – “Rudolph” is on it. Second unintended goal of long-distance hiking: check – as long as it is downhill. The final goal of setting/packing a tent in the rain: okay, I wimped out on this one, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future!

Congratulations on making it to the bottom of this post! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you for reading our blog and sending comments. I know that when we start the trail in February, it will be the kind words and encouragement from family and friends that will keep us going. If you’re interested, please subscribe to our blog and/or YouTube channel to get email updates of our travels. Several folks have asked how to find the YouTube channel and truthfully, the simplest way is to follow a link out from here and then subscribe. Apparently, there is a popular dance group or TV show by the name of “Next Step,” so we’re dang near impossible to find by searching from within YouTube. Again, thanks for reading and check back soon!

In my last video/blog, I mentioned that our dog Joy had officially earned her trail name. This is an alias that one goes by on the trail. Sometimes one shows up to the trail with his or her trail name already figured out, as was the case for Mighty Blue (aka Steve Adams, whose books and podcast I’ve recommended.) More often than not, though, a trail name is bestowed on its recipient by other hikers based on some action performed, a particular character trait, or the hiker’s appearance. For example, Joy’s trail name, Zig-Zag, was given to her because of her propensity to zig and zag from side to side along the trail instead of walking straight ahead. By walking so many “hypotenuses,” she winds up covering more distance than either Gavin or I.

The reason I mention trail names is that I’ve been thinking about whether or not I would rather show up with a name or take my chances on being given one. Beth suggested that I call myself “Skunk Butt.” I have been led to believe she is less than enamored by my beard and this name is a jab at the significant grey stripe down its front. I told her I could stick my tongue out a little and be called “Skunk Butt Hemorrhoid.” For some reason, she didn’t think that was funny.

When I was naming this blog I decided to call it “The Next Step” because that is what it represents. This website is the narrative of what comes next after my retirement from teaching. Lately I have been thinking about the name in another way. Certainly, the AT is the next step along my journey, but it is also a reminder that all I have to do to be successful in my trip is just take the next step, and the next, and so forth.

So many successful thru-hikers whose stories I’ve read or have watched on YouTube emphasize the importance of setting small goals. To start the AT in north Georgia with only the goal being summiting Katahdin seems insurmountable; the goals need to be smaller and achieved more frequently to provide encouragement along the way. For many hikers, reaching each of the 14 state lines crossed by the trail represents the accomplishment of a goal. I guess this is why Virginia becomes such a slog for many hikers that they refer to the “Virginia Blues.” This is because about one-fourth of the total miles of the AT are contained within this state. The trail through Virginia goes on and on, following the Blue Ridge Parkway, then Skyline Drive, and finally heading through the Shenandoahs. Because of the trail’s length in this state, the attainment of these mini-goals that pass more quickly when traveling in other states is slowed dramatically. Especially in Virginia, smaller goals are necessary to provide the encouragement needed to continue the journey.

Hikers rejoice at reaching 100-mile marks along the trail. Generally, these are marked along the trail with sticks or rocks spelling out 3-0-0 or 1-2-0-0. Northbound (NOBO) hikers get really excited when they start running into the SOBO’s mile markers because they start counting down the distance remaining to Katahdin. There will be plenty of such markers throughout Virginia to keep things moving up the trail.

Breaking it down even further, most hikers travel with The Appalachian Trail Guide by David Miller and/or the Guthooks trail app, both of which cite trail landmarks every few tenths of a mile or so. These may be side trails, water sources, shelters, campsites, or road crossings. These resources, rather than map and compass, are the navigation tools of thru-hikers. Most spend time in the evenings looking at the trail ahead to plan out the next day’s miles. To decide that I’m going to end the day at such and such a shelter, and making it there by dark, represents the satisfaction of another, though smaller, goal. Smaller still is the task of reaching the particular fire tower, shelter, or overlook where one plans to have lunch or a snack. Thus, reaching Katahdin is only accomplished by first meeting each of the innumerable small goals set in place that are the stepping stones toward the final objective.

To be truthful, I have actually been looking forward to seeing what trail name might be hung on me. I certainly make plenty of bonehead mistakes, I am tall, and I’ll be hiking at the age of 52. Each of these characteristics leaves the door wide open for numerous possible names which would at the very least make some people laugh, even if I was not among those seeing the humor. Here lately, though, I have given serious consideration to adopting the name “Next Step.” It is the smallest goal of all, and hearing it daily should prod me along the way toward reaching the final summit. Most certainly, when the weather is rain for a week with barely above freezing temperatures, and the trail is thousands of feet of incline, I will need all the encouragement I can get. The good news is, I still have a few months to ruminate over this decision.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

It is Wednesday evening and Gavin, Joy, and I have made camp. Our hike today was short (1.5 mi/302 ft. elevation gain) because we didn’t leave until 4:00. We are staying at the Shinny Creek Campsite tonight, which is only a little over a mile from the parking area. Our trip into the campsite was a gradual uphill and I was pleased that I only had to stop once or twice to get my breath. I weighed this week and I was not happy with the result. I am really going to need to do some walking before we set out on the trail for real. I have watched video after video about how tough the 600+ stairs up Amicalola falls are, and for that matter, the whole of Georgia seems to be more mountainous than on would expect.

As we came into the parking lot we observed a couple of folks who had been trout fishing in the streams here, and as we got underway we saw a couple of guys that were still in the river. For about half our trip today we followed along a creek that had several waterfalls. It was really nice. I’ve only been here once, so I’m not sure what to expect in the way of views on our trip tomorrow. I am hopeful that we’ll be able to see the waterfall. I’ll have to check our map again and see if that trail is the one we’re following tomorrow.

Speaking of maps, I had a devil of a time following the map today, and I recall having the same difficulty the last time I was here. I’m not sure what to make of that. Maybe we just wound up going a different way than I had planned to reach this campsite. I’m going to sit down in the morning and study over that a bit more carefully. 

On our Black Balsam Knob hike, I had plotted our route methodically on AllTrails.com. I tried to do the same here, but not all the park’s trails are identified by the AllTrails website. I’ll have to give that another look when I get home. It was nice, however, to get a fairly large map at the Visitor’s Center when we registered. The one I printed off the website was a bit small and difficult to read. Neither is topographic, and that would be a nice feature.

It is now 8:30, and it has been dark for 45 minutes or so. Gavin and Joy are in their tent a few feet away from mine. He turned in at 8:00, but I suspect he is playing games on his phone. I think I will do the same. Thanks for joining us.

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Today was a personal best for Gav and me. We did 8 miles and climbed 1,729 feet. I am pleased that our average pace was 25:33/mile, so we’re beating the 2mph mark. I was afraid that as out of shape as I am that this would be tough to do. 

We didn’t pass many views today, but the ones we did have were pretty nice. There was one where we could see Table Rock off in the distance. We all hiked pretty well today, but on the uphill sections I slowed miserably. I cut my stride to a heel-to-toe and plodded along. I finally put into practice today a tip that I’ve seen on some of the hiking videos I’ve spent hours watching: set mini-goals for yourself. Today our trail was along a roadbed and every 50-100 feet or so, there was a water break cut into the trail. This is a semi-flat, lipped section that catches water coming down the trail and diverts it off to the side to prevent erosion. There were times today when each of these water breaks was a mini-goal. When I’d reach the next one, I’d lean over on my trekking poles and catch my breath. Then I’d eye the next one and head off uphill. I remarked to Gavin several times today that I can do level and reasonable downhill trail all day long, but the uphill sections get me every time. I guess I need to start hiking the Duncan Death Hill, as Beth and the Mitchells call it, to get in better hiking shape.

I slept really well last night, too well, in fact. Even though I had lights out by 9:00 or thereabouts, I still didn’t respond well to my 8:00 alarm this morning. I believe it was after 10:00 before either of us got up. (I’m sure Beth isn’t surprised to hear this.) We didn’t start hiking until a little after 12:00. We are going to have to get better at this before the trail or we’ll never make it to Maine.

I am impressed at how well Joy did today. We’ve had issues before with her hiking boots slipping under her dewclaw and rubbing on her forelegs. To combat that, we got some of that stretchy tape that looked like crepe paper to wrap her lower legs and it seemed to do the trick, or so we thought. When we got to camp this evening, I noticed that the tape had pulled down on one paw and she had a pretty bad rub. We’ll have to give her some extra TLC tomorrow, and we’ll have to tape a little higher up. Even though Joy isn’t going to get to come with us on the AT, she does now have an official trail name— Zig Zag. I mentioned above that Gavin and I did 8 miles today. I’m sure Joy did closer to 9-10 because she kept swerving from one side of the trail to the other. It was a rare occurrence for her to just walk straight up the trail. Her hiking leash is pretty cool. It is about 8’ long and has elastic sewn into the lower part of the leash. That way when she pulls on it, it doesn’t jerk her or whomever is leading her. The upper end of the leash has an adjustable loop. It can be as small as a regular dog leash loop, but you can make the loop bigger and snap it around your waist. Hands-free dog walking! The down side to having her attached to you in this way is that she likes to pull when going downhill. If we can just get her trained to switch to pulling on uphills, then I’d think we’d have something!

The campsites at South Mountains State Park are pretty cool. The two we’ve stayed at have been grassy areas about the size of a football field. Each has 4 designated campsite areas with a picnic table and a fire ring. They also have privies. It is a great relief (no pun intended) to not have to dig a “cat hole” for doing your business. In addition, they have bear boxes. These are big, locking metal containers for storing your food and other “smellables.” If you followed us on our last hike, then you know we had a bit of difficulty with a bear whose parents I’m sure never married. I’m definitely going to ask in the ranger station how many people can camp up here because I think it would be a great place for our troop to backpack.

It seems odd to say that I’m sleepy at only 7:45, but I believe I’m going to sign off and retire to the warmth of my sleeping bag. I didn’t check the weather the day or two immediately before this trip, but the last time I checked, the low tonight was supposed to be around 40°. That is likely going to make it quite difficult to get up out of my bag in the morning, but I’ll do the best I can.

Friday, October 19, 2018

I’d like to say we were up and at ‘em this morning, but that is not the case. We got up around 10:00 and had our usual breakfast of oatmeal and coffee/hot chocolate. I noticed later in the morning as I was running out of gas that we really need to add some protein into this meal to give us the extra umph we need to get up and over climbs. I’ve heard of people stirring a spoonful or two of peanut butter into their oatmeal and I’m not really sure what I think about this. I’ll have to give it a try at home first in case I create a concoction that turns out to be inedible. 

We had a pretty easy hike out this morning, but once again we got a bit turned around on the trails. Based on signs, the quickest way out is to backtrack about 0.2 to the Chestnut Overlook Trail, which we did, but the trail signs there didn’t mention the parking area. Soooo… we turned around and went back the way we came. Our hike out was a pretty easy 4.5 miles out with only 443’ of elevation gain.

I didn’t take many videos or photos today because we were really interested in getting back to the parking lot. A teacher friend of mine had her elementary school class at South Mountains on a field trip and I was hoping we could meet her, but alas, because of our late start we didn’t get back to the car until around 1:30. All in all, I think Gavin and I both would classify this trip as a success.

When I got home, I started comparing the park map with AllTrails and REI’s Hiking Project. Many of the trails are missing on AllTrails which lead to much of the directional confusion. They seem to be there on Hiking Project, so maybe I need to be looking at that app a bit more. The one advantage of AllTrails is that it has point-to-point mileages listed on its maps. The park map has overall trail mileage for each trail, but not junction to junction mileage. Because we were hopping off one trail and onto another, it was really difficult to plan. Thankfully, when we get on the AT, we’ll have the Guthook’s App which shows everything in great detail. We’ll also have the advantage of not having to switch trails.

I appreciate you for following along. I hope you’ll check out our video of this trip on YouTube. Before this trip I purchased Luma-Fusion which is supposed to be a more full-featured video editing program than iMovie. It has taken me several hours to figure out the software, but I believe this video is much better than any of our previous ones.