Day 30 – Trail Detour and the end of a streak

Last night I camped just off the top of Unaka Mountain, about a half mile down. It had a fairly secluded stealth spot, which I couldn’t enjoy until I arrived at dusk. Yesterday I went a little further than I had originally planned, but there was a lack of good tent sites in the last two kilometres. Being near the top of the mountain, it was quite windy, which caused my tent to flap around for most of the night.

Unaka Mountain and a detour

This morning started with a short climb, half a mile up Unaka Mountain. At the top there was a pleasant fir forest, which invited a pleasant walk. Soften the soil with a bed of pine needles.

After that I had a couple of miles of downhill, although the terrain was quite rocky and full of roots, which slowed progress a bit. After about 3 miles, I reached the Iron Mountain Gap bypass of Hurricane Helene. There are about 6 miles of trail that are still closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene, so there is an official detour that goes around it and connects you back to the trail in about 6 miles.

Helene damage near the detour

The first half of the detour is quite easy, walking slightly downhill along a forest road. It’s easy to have a good time and be in cruise control. After that, you’re greeted with a section that basically goes up a mountain and then down the other side. That section sucked! Next was another short road walk, followed by about a mile along a forestry road. Finally, the last detour was up a mountain, which was quite unpleasant. But that completed the detour and the rest of the day was back on the official Appalachian Trail.

Detour, straight to the mountain (the image doesn’t do it justice)

Shortly after returning to the trail, I took a brief blue blaze to a spring where I filled up on water and had lunch.

Spring is in the air.

The green is coming

After lunch, the trail was much more moderate in gradient and difficulty. The most formal signs of spring become evident every day. The mountainsides are now more consistently green than brown and more and more flowers are starting to bloom. At lower elevations trees sprout and leaves emerge. One thing that has remained consistent today, as it has been this past week, is seeing a lot of downed trees and damage from Hurricane Helene. Obviously, that should be evident with today’s trail detour, but the damage is in pockets everywhere. I finished the day with one last climb, which I stopped midway when I found a nice stealthy spot to set up my tent.

The end of a streak…

Quieter day on the trail today, not many people seen on the trail. Although I did meet several people who coincided with their time at Uncle Johnny’s house with me. In general a calmer day, without major milestones. Unless you count the end of my DSLC streak (days since last cathole)… This part of the trail, and it appears until you get to Virginia, the shelters don’t have toilets… Damn…

Statistics for the 30th:

18.2 miles

4,032′ ascent, 4,167′ descent

Hidden site to hidden site

0 DSLC…

Stove use times: 5

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