Greetings fellow primers, we finally made it to the Appalachian Trail. We took a lovely route on the edge of the NC/TN border from Sam's Gap (elevation 3600ft.) to Big Bald Mountain (elevation 5700ft.) We had a great time out on the trail and were reminded of the complexity of nature and beauty of untamed earth. The hike to our base camp was just under six miles and put us at the foot of Big Bald. Our 7.5 mile trek out took us along the ridge to the crest of the mountain which features some of the best views in all of the Blue Ridge. A clear sky and bright sun cleared the air for some wonderful scenes. The trail was a fun challenge too. There are plenty of places to set-up your camp, which is nice if you want to venture past Big Bald on into Spivey's Gap. The rolling terrain and varying landscape highlights the complexity and wonder that can be found in the Eastern US.
For us, we found the cool air and clear skies to be a perfect relief from our everyday hustle and bustle. The stars were very bright and the night sky was anything but dim. The temperature dropped quite a bit but our mummy bags kept us warm--sort of. We had a nice meal with potatoes, onions, sheep's milk cheese, olives, crusty bread and fruit. Unfortunately, our tent was on a bit of an incline. So we were continually sliding during the night. Other than the sliding sleeping bags, our trip was a great success and lots of fun. I have put together a short video and added some photos to show you a little bit of our adventure.
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| At-top Big Bald Mountain |
Check back soon for more great stories from the crew at The First Campfire.
And remember, the best way to relive our stories is to create stories of your own!
Your friend and fellow Primer,
Andrew
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