Twig Adventures

Sunday, May 5th, 2024, 0715-1930Lost Cove Camp to no name site, mm 10327 miles, Gain: 5060′, Loss: 6400′, elevation 1650′ A thunderstorm hit around midnight but thankfully the bulk of it skirted me. I saw a lot of lightning as it approached but none hit nearby. Whew. In preparation, I got out to tighten all my lines and sink my stakes real good, but there was very little wind. The rain was moderate and all my stuff stayed dry, which is more than I could say for the shelter the night before. Go figure. The morning held mist and the trees continued to weep for hours, but I could see blue skies at sunrise. A USFS campground was only 15[…]

Saturday, May 4th, 2024, 0510-1800Indian Rock Shelter to Lost Cove Camp, mm 78.431 miles, Gain: 6230′, Loss: 5020′, elevation 2980′ What should have been a really nice night in the shelter wasn’t so much. We all went to bed early and the drum of the rain lulled me to sleep quickly. It rained really hard for awhile and I was so glad to be under a roof. But I woke to some noises around 2 pm. One was someone’s water bottle tipping over. I sat up to check on things and noticed that there was water on my quilt. Upon further investigation, it was all under my pad and ground tarp. I thought the water bottle must have spilled, but[…]

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, 0710-1930Wallalah Mt. to Fall Branch Falls, mm 4221.5 miles, Gain: 4600′, Loss: 5500′, elevation 2190′ It was such a wonderful night on top my little mountain. There were some distant farm sounds like dogs barking, but I felt so far above everything else. In the middle of the night, I heard something crashing through the forest below, snorting as it went … probably a deer. But I felt like I was at the top of a castle and that nothing could get me. I woke to watch a beautiful sunrise while packing, then started down the trail. It followed a series of ridges to another mountaintop: Lick Log. Then more ridges which seemed to go on[…]

The Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) is named after a visionary, who, in 1921, was the first to propose the idea of a continuous footpath running from Maine to Georgia…the Appalachian Trail. Incidentally, his New England roots are the reason original AT signage says “Maine to Georgia”, rather than the other way around, which is typically the direction the trail is hiked. (I, of course, followed historical protocols and hiked the AT southbound in 2021.) The BMT was officially opened on July 16, 2005 and is maintained by the BMT Association. Description from the Benton MacKaye Trail Association website: With its glorious ridgeline views and the innumerable crossings of mountain streams, the almost 300 mile long Benton MacKaye Trail comes by its reputation[…]