Bama to Baxter, Day 25: A nice day of walking on the BMT

Since I couldn’t fall asleep last night, I didn’t turn off the lights until almost midnight, which meant I didn’t get enough sleep because Kelley was scheduled to pick me up at the hotel at 5:15 to take me back to the trailhead where I left off yesterday. Lihat juga cvzd. I slept well during the time I had and was able to easily wake up to the alarm and finish packing my gear and filling water bottles and all those morning tasks. Kelley arrived at the motel promptly at 5:15. As seems to be the case with these momentary encounters, we exchange biographical information, and I always ask how long they have been in the part of the country we are in. Kelley was more or less a local, running a sort of unofficial taxi service for friends and family. He got up very early because he had to take his sister to work before coming to pick me up. Just my good luck, darling.

I was on the trail around 5:45 am. My route for the day included 15 1/2 miles of hiking and 3,800 feet of climbing. A couple of the climbs seem steep in FarOut. The first mile was a road hike with a slight elevation gain, so it allowed me to loosen up my legs before jumping onto the proper trail and, of course, starting to climb. I think that climb lasted about an hour. At no point did I feel bad, but I do have to moderate my speed on hard slopes. I’m trying to accept the fact that I’m not a young man. Some days I do better than others. Anyway, I made it to the top and as has been the case on most of the BMT, there isn’t much walking along the ridge after a climb. Boom, I started a descent, but it was an easy pitch and the trail quality was good, so I was able to get down the hill. I ate and drank well and didn’t need a water source until the beginning of the fifth hour.

By this time I had reached the Iron Bridge Café and General Store at the end of a couple mile road walk, so I went in and ordered a breakfast sandwich and drank a couple of sodas. According to Yappy’s report, it was true that they no longer allowed hikers to camp there. However, I disagree with Yappy’s assessment of the viability of a replenishment there. He could have easily gathered enough food to get to Springer Mountain. No, they wouldn’t have been my desired food choices, but I could have. While I was at the cafe, they filled my water bottles and I used the bathroom. I’m not sure what’s going on in this part of the state, but it was a beautiful area with a lot of great houses along the road, which was along the Toccoa River. There seemed to be river gear floating in tubes in the store, although that outfitter didn’t appear to be open yet.

After lunch, I returned to the trail and immediately crossed the river on some kind of iconic steel bridge. I had never seen one like this before. More walking along the road on the other side of the river led to a magical trail, a sort of trail side stuff kiosk. No water was needed (the river was right there, but there was a container with books and another with snacks and a trail log that I signed). Shortly after, the route went off the road and . . . It started climbing: 1,300 feet in 3.2 miles. Luckily for me, there were no major climbs after this one for the rest of the day. And so, I was at my designated campsite for the night.

Since I arrived relatively early, I took the time to rinse my sweaty clothes in the stream and hang them on the clothesline to dry before closing up for the night. So far, the Benton Mackay, like the Pinhoti, is largely an experience for solo hikers. I’m not complaining; I’m just describing. The night passed in a typical manner for me, and by the time it got dark, I was already feeling tired. Once I was snuggled up in my bag, I was ready to sleep.

Happy trails. . .

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