Friday, May 3rd, 2024, 0706-1600
Fall Branch Falls to Indian Rock Shelter, mm 52.4
12 miles, Gain: 1940′, Loss: 2360′, elevation 1770′
I knew I was in store for a period of wet days, all the way through Monday. But the rain wasn’t supposed to start until Friday afternoon. Well, those forecasters were off by 12 hours, because I woke to rain at 4 am. My tent stayed dry for one whole day, at least. I didn’t have any condensation, so only the outside was wet when I packed it. My plan was to do a short day to the one and only purpose built shelter on the BMT so that I’d have one guaranteed dry night, plus I could dry my tent.
The rain actually stopped as soon as I got out of my tent and continued to hold off until late afternoon, so that was nice. First thing, I began a 1k’ climb over Rocky Mountain (not a very original name) and for the most part, found it easy. I barely saw any rocks. I was pretty sore from the previous 3 days but felt refreshed from a good night of sleep. Still, I knew I needed a shorter day. This day was also my first resupply. Mando dropped off a box for me on his drive north, since he was passing right through Blue Ridge. I planned ahead, contacting a business that was within walking distance on hwy 78, the Expedition Bigfoot museum. They were very agreeable to holding a box, especially since I promised to buy a ticket to the museum. After all, I hiked the actual Bigfoot Trail the year before, so I just had to follow up by seeing a Bigfoot museum along the BMT…the Bigfoot Museum Trail. Haha.
Just as I started descending from the ridge, a shiny black ball of fur went tumbling down the mountain, full speed away from me. It could have been a Bigfoot, but I was more inclined to believe it was a bear. I had no reaction other than amusement and awe, grateful for the sighting. I wondered if something was broken inside me that I felt no fear at seeing a bear (running away from me). Yet every dog I came across on trail caused me to tense up, especially the giant doberman I saw at one of the road crossings days before. Our bearanoia was pretty misplaced in my experience… only once or twice had I ever been a little concerned about bears but I’d been chased and stared down aggressively by dogs numerous times. They were the main reason to carry pepper spray… especially on road walks.
I reached the end of the trail over the mountain and the route passed through a lovely field and onto a series of old and quiet roads. I didn’t mind the road walking on this trail since I got to look at all the cute cabins and farm houses along the way. But the gravel did bite into my feet and my body was feeling pretty wrecked by the time I reached the highway. I sucked it up for 1 more mile on the side detour to the museum, walking as fast as I could in the swale on the side of the busy 4 lane highway. It was not pleasant but passed quickly. I was so happy to see the flags of the attraction in the distance.
All the employees immediately recognized me as ‘the hiker ‘, come to claim my box. It seems no one else had ever had the same idea about dropping a resupply package there, but they were at least familiar with the BMT and AT. They even had maps of the 2 trails on the museum walls. For $9, I got to tour the very fun Bigfoot museum. It was the perfect hiker stop and my disheveled look and hiker gear fit right in with the theme. I think a few visitors reported seeing a smelly hikertrash figure wearing a dress, repackaging food, eating lunch, and drying a weird camo tent on the lawn. But at least I refrained from doing sink laundry. I couldn’t believe that they even had a charging station set up… like they were ready to become a full-service hiker stop. The museum also had several movies playing and seats for watching, so I took my time lingering.
To top off the hospitality, the manager offered to drive me back to the trailhead at the hwy crossing. It was so kind of her. I got back on trail around 3 pm and had a short walk to the shelter. The trail wove in and out of the backyards of vacation rentals and cabins, along railroad tracks, up a creek, along the dock on a lake, and a network of small roads. It was a really fun Hodge-podge of a trail, but also well marked. I had thus far been really impressed with the management and care for this trail. I’d heard others complain about the road walking but I didn’t mind it and thought the trail designers got very creative with this section, in a great way!
The shelter was amidst a bunch of cabins and also built on private land. How generous of the property owner to gift the trail and hikers such a prize. I would have otherwise needed to hike another 5 miles or so to camp on public space. It was only 4 pm but the rain was just starting again and the radar showed a lot coming for the night. To my surprise, there were 2 other hikers already there. I didn’t do a good job of hiding my disappointment at having to share but quickly dispelled the negative attitude when I realized that it would be nice to have some company. The 2 guys, Dr Pepper and Scuba Steve, were immediately fun to talk to and very nice.
Worries over snoring and smells quickly turned to the shared happiness of talking trail. How quickly complete strangers could find ways to commune and sleep right next to each other in a cabin in the woods. Everyone’s common denominator was avoiding the rain, which shortly began to hammer. I ate an early dinner, blogged and went to bed. We all had an early morning planned to make big miles the next day. The other 2 were SOBO section hikers looking to finish 22 miles for their last day and I hoped for the same going north. I had at least 3 more days of rain to look forward to but at least I’d be starting out dry in the morning. I never feared rain as much with the umbrella anymore, but drying the tent through such a stretch always proved to be a challenge.
A bear and bigfoot day…score.