Day 26: A Nice Day For a Walk

April 2: I woke up to mostly cloudy skies which turned into partly cloudy skies as the day progressed for a pleasant day of walking. Not much of a story to tell today, but here are the highlights:

* Met the first trail maintainers thus far who had a chainsaw and were taking out blowdowns from the trail.

* Broke my trekking pole. It had been damaged just prior to my arrival at Fontana Dam when I accidentally dropped a log on it leaving cracks in the carbon fiber, but the pole hadn’t broken completely, so I kept using it. Today, the bottom several inches snapped clean off. Only the bottom segment was broken, though, and I figured when time permitted, I’d look for a good stick that I could replace the broken part with and see if I could keep it working.

* Stopped at “Mom’s” for a Coke and a Klondike bar. It was at a road crossing and my AT guidebook said nothing about it. All I saw was a sad-looking sign pointing down the road a short ways. I went ahead and followed it to a structure that looked like it had been condemned with boarded up windows and all, but a sign on the front said it was open so in I walked. Inside, half the place felt like a flea market or maybe a storage unit with all sorts of junk (antiques) laying around, and the other half was a simple store with snacks and drinks for hikers. A boy was tending the store, who looked old enough to be in high school. He spoke with that thick, slow southern accent and fiddled with a cigarette as if waiting for me to leave before lighting it. He seemed nice and chatted a bit, but the conversation felt a little forced and I left after finishing my Coke and Klondike bar.

I finished the day at the Jerry Mountain Cabin Shelter, a forgettable shelter I shared with a few other hikers. For the most part, not an especially exciting day…

Rich Mountain Lookout Tower

Although it was still cloudy early in the morning, the clouds were high enough to still leave some views from the lookout tower.

Hiking back down the lookout tower.

You’d think this would be an exciting story!

But it was clear that the prescribed burns had already happened and were long over.

Memorial on the trail! Passed a few of them today! (Note the prescribed burn just behind it.)

Sounds… interesting…

Mom’s store was in this building that looked like it had been condemned!

The Coke and Klondike bar I had to snack on in Mom’s store. I rather liked the cigarette ads in the background. You don’t see those very much anymore!

Another mysterious pipe in the middle of nowhere.

Drats! Trekking pole gave up the ghost! I extended the rest of it as far as it would go and continued using it, broken tip and all until I could find a suitable stick to replace the broken part. The pole was, obviously, a little short for me after this mishap. I’d definitely need to do something about it.

View from Whiterock Cliff.

View from Blackstack Cliffs.

Oh, we’re totally taking the “exposed ridgeline trail”!

Yep, that’s definitely an exposed ridgeline!

And the views from it were great!

‘Tis the Jerry Cabin Shelter. Not much to look at!