Bambi on the Bald

Day 22 - 5/2/10
A great hiking day. The weather was pretty much perfect for it,
overcast in the morning with blue skies poking through here and there.
It stayed that way until early afternoon when the sun came out, but
within a few hours it clouded over again. Nice breezes all day too.
Those really help cool you down.

I forgot to mention a couple new hikers I met at Flint Shelter last
night. One old guy, didn't catch his name, actually lives in Sterling,
MA. Small world, eh Jen? Another was from Jersey, his name was Baldy,
and he had massive dreadlocks. I asked him how long he'd had them and
he said, "I haven't cut my hair in 7 years." Whoa.

So this morning I got a good jump on the day and made it out by 7:45.
The first half of the day wasn't very exciting. No views, no one to
hike with, just stale. I made it to Hogback Shelter at 11:45, good
time for the distance. I went to go fill my water, but it was so far
away I ended up turning back before I got down there. I had no water,
but it was just too far. I decided to hold out for another 3 miles,
hoping my guidebook would be accurate.

I did eventually get water, and took a good size break so my water
drops could set in and I could cool off. After that is when things got
more interesting. By then I was in some higher elevations, above 4000,
so it was getting much more windy. About halfway up to Big Bald I saw
something move in the woods, what I first took to be a large wild
boar. As I got closer I realized it was a deer, a buck no less, with
big nub antlers already. It was 15 ft off the trail chomping on some
plants. It wasn't even fazed by me. There was another that was much
more skiddish, so it stayed higher up the hill. I stayed there about
10 min watching and snapping pictures. Very cool.

Less than an hour later I was up on Big Bald, now at 5500 ft. up. I
thought it was windy before, but man was I wrong. Big Bald is wide
open, so wind just whips around up there. It was so strong I was
staggering along the trail like a drunk. It was really fun actually.
Unfortunately the clouds had come back by then, so the photo ops
weren't too great. When I made my way down off the bald I hit the next
shelter at 5:20. I'd already done an 18.9 day, but it still felt
early. The guy from Sterling was there so I talked with him for a bit,
then decided to do another couple miles to a campsite with water.

When I was about 2.5 miles in I was walking along and suddenly came
upon a bear on the trail! As soon as he saw me he bolted down the
hillside, very different from the one in the Smokies who just
sauntered off slowly. I was a little shaken up by how fast it ran off,
but also very impressed. Bears are much faster and stronger than their
bodies make it seem. It's unfortuante that yet again I was unable to
get a picture before it disappeared. I made it to the Whistling Gap
campsite at 7:10, but sadly no one was here so I'm doing my first
night out solo. It's very different, somewhat lonely, a little scary,
but exciting. I had two cups of coffee and some Lipton soup with
chicken for dinner, then hung up my food bag before dark. My total
miles for the day came to 22.3, which is now my longest day. I really
wanted to have a short distance into Erwin so I wouldn't get there too
late in the day. It's about 13 miles from Whistling Gap, so I should
get there about 3 or so. I'll probably zero the next day too. I've
heard there's a great hostel called Uncle Johnny's, and it's right
next to the trail, so I'll be checking that out. Gonna go to bed now,
getting late.

One more thing. Mom, the scotch-brite cloth you gave me is great. I
wish I had it sooner, it makes cleaning my pots so much better. Thanks!

Total miles: 326.4