Crossing the Kimberling Creek Bridge

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

I want to toughen up, now is my chance. I continue to walk in wet conditions and my feet take the brunt of the damage. I find motivation in the afternoon.

Morning cushion

Yo I woke up to a wet and dripping morning, although it wasn’t actively raining. After packing a bit, I unzipped my tent to check the status of my socks. They had been wet all day yesterday and I wasn’t looking forward to walking in them today. I drained them and let them dry in my hallway. To my surprise, they were soaked! They had absorbed every last drop of humid air within a half-mile radius. The humidity was probably close to 100% overnight. The air was heavy and smelled of rotting wood throughout the previous day’s walk. Camping in a low area next to a sizable stream probably didn’t help. My shoes weren’t much drier.

I had the vents in my tent open, but all the air was humid. As a result, water stuck to the inside of my rain fly. The inner mesh stuck to the wet rain like a magnet. Fortunately, no water had actually dripped inside.

Since both the rain tarp and the ground were wet, I decided to remove the inside of the tent and pack it separately inside my tent bag. I did all this while my water filter slowly processed 1 liter of water. I felt like I was in a race with a backpacking hourglass.

Almost Famous

On the way I met many hikers. A surprising number of them had heard about my unique hike. I think One Gallon and perhaps a few other hikers in this area are sharing my exploits. It definitely makes me smile when I start to describe my hike to someone and they stop me and say «Oh wait, I heard about you!»

The Kimberling Creek Suspension Bridge

About 5 miles into the first leg of my hike, I crossed a road and then quickly found a large suspension bridge. I couldn’t help but admire this important engineering feat that was part of the AT. The bridge was built to span the Kimberling Creek. The stream was wider than some rivers I had seen and flowed quickly. There were some camps on the bank on the other side of the creek. They looked fine, but the traffic noise from the nearby highway probably made them difficult places to get a good night’s sleep.

The Kimberling Creek Suspension Bridge.

The Kimberling Creek Suspension Bridge.

Coverall

How far would you go for your favorite hat? That’s a question that might be difficult to answer for one of my favorite trail personalities. The diver, formerly known as Papa Smurf, was continuing his walk along the trail today and we both lit up when we saw each other coming down the trail. He was excited to see me and tell me the story of his name change. He had been at the Partnership shelter and accidentally left his trademark red hat in the shower. He heard that one of the visitors center employees had found the hat and thrown it away. Therefore, he took it upon himself to get into the nearby dumpster to try to retrieve it.

After 15 minutes, he succeeded. The ordeal caused him to change his name to Diver. I was told it took two days and a variety of methods to remove the smell from the fabric. In particular, he wore a different hat on the road. Maybe the red one still needs a few more runs through the washing machine. Or maybe the act of retrieving it made it no longer relevant to your trail name. Either way, I can’t fault his actions, I would do the same with my hat. I’m sure he took at least one or two more showers himself after his foray, right buddy?

We chatted about the «monsoon» conditions we faced over the past week. He shared that he had stayed in shelters to mitigate the impact of the conditions. Today he was relaxing packing, just as I had been doing to avoid walking in the rain with a heavy backpack. Diver is a delight, he always has a smile on his face and a fun story to tell.

my right foot

Getting my feet back into the soaked wool socks was an abject process at the start of the day. Shortly after starting the hike, I developed an annoying sore on my right heel. I tried my best to patch it with a band-aid, but it didn’t hold for long. I could feel more irritation on the top of my right toes and more on my left as well. I walked through the pain knowing there wasn’t much I could do until I got back to my truck…the next day. A rain shower around midday did little to brighten my mood, although it left a new layer of moisture over everything. My shoes would surely pick up the water and deposit it directly into my socks. Waterproof shoes are moving up the list of potential gear purchases.

View from a pasture south of Kimberling Creek.

Narrative change

When I left camp this morning I was far from the van and much-needed foot remedies. Once I reached Route 608 and started heading back toward the van in the early afternoon, my motivation changed. I wanted to do as many miles as possible today to reduce the time before getting back to the van tomorrow. Pain schmainI walked like it was good for my feet, although the increasing pain told a different story. Not even a fallen tree that had completely blocked the path could stop me, although it did slow me down as I ducked between a group of trees to get my bearings. He left his mark on my hoodie and shorts. I spent my

The Wapiti Shelter is located at the bottom of a 1200 foot climb. If I passed by the shelter I would have no choice but to go up. At the top of the mountain, there was no water for about 7 miles. So I had to refuel at Dismal Creek, near the shelter, and carry water uphill. I finished the steep climb, but still had to struggle up the gentle slope to the overlook where some tents could be found. I arrived at them a little after 7:00 pm, but decided I wanted to do tomorrow’s hike under 15 miles. That meant 2 more miles along mostly flat terrain to Sugar Run Mountain. There I found a great tent site just after 8:00 pm, but now I had to deal with light rain while setting up camp. It had been a wet and painful, yet productive, 29-mile day.

A fallen tree and a rhododendron block the AT.

Fighting my way through a tree left its mark on my shorts.

Dismal Creek, looking not at all depressing as always.

View of Walker Valley from the trail.

View of Walker Valley from the trail.

Resource

I plopped down in my tent just as the rain began to pour down. My tent is a one-person model that is about 32 inches wide. Since my 25-inch wide sleeping pad took up most of the space, I squeezed into the remaining space. I was finally able to take off my shoes and socks and check the condition of my feet. They were raw. The abrasion they had faced from my wet socks was worse than I had thought based on my previous experience walking in the rain. My toes were slightly swollen and most of the skin was red and irritated. There were sores on almost every finger. It looked like poison ivy. It may as well have been, there was a lot around and I suppose all the water that poured into my shoes could have carried it to my feet. With nothing that could really help them, I cleaned them up and went to bed.

The good news was that I only had 14.4 miles to walk tomorrow. He would get back to the truck in time to drive to the store and get what he needed most. That is, of course, the magical healing power of junk food. Remind me to schedule a dentist appointment at the end of my walk.

-See you tomorrow

Total: 47.1 miles, 61,904 steps

• Hike type: Backpacking
• Campground: Tent, Tent site near Sugar Run Mountain

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