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Re: [at-l] Trip Report, Max Patch to Hot Springs (Part one)
This goes to show you, never trust another hiker. Sam, I gave you
directions to Max Patch. Didn't you trust me? Trust me! Ha! You were
probably wise!!
The Highlander
PS. enjoyed your colorful report. I am suppose to hike some of that same
section next week.
----------
> From: Sam Teel <steel@sfwmd.gov>
> To: at-l@backcountry.net
> Subject: [at-l] Trip Report, Max Patch to Hot Springs (Part one)
> Date: Thursday, July 15, 1999 9:50 AM
>
> Thursday, July 7th, 1999
>
> We arrived in Hot Springs around 8:00 am. I needed to stop by the
> outfitters to get another AT map of this section, Max Patch to Hot
> Springs because I left mine back in Florida. I also wanted to get
> driving directions to the summit. Bluff Mountain Outfitters did not
> open until nine so we drove around the town to see where the Duckett
> House was and where the AT comes into town. At 8:05, having driven from
> one end of town to the other, (very small exaggeration, Hot Springs is
> really small) we went to the diner for breakfast. At nine we went to
> the outfitter and got the directions. As someone else already posted,
> Bluff Mountain Outfitters is a great store. The guy there was very
> helpful and had directions to just about everywhere on his computer
> ready to print out with a map.
>
> We arrived at Max Patch around 10 am. My first glimpse of the summit
> was as I drove up the steep switch backed gravel road. Looking up
> through the trees it seemed as if the sky had turned green! When we
> came around the last switch back the view was awesome. Max Patch is
> huge! The sky had these low, wispy clouds passing all around us. As
> clouds passed under the sun it caused the grass to seem to change
> colors, from bright green to nearly yellow and orange. It was a bit
> windy and cool, around seventy. Very nice hiking weather. We parked at
> the Pisgah National Forest parking lot and started up the official trail
> to the summit, not the bootleg one that goes straight up. A little over
> a half mile and about twenty minutes later we were at the top. WOW!
> 360 degree views with the sides of Max Patch sloping steeply downward
> all around. It was one of the coolest places I've ever been. We stopped
> at the summit and took pictures. There was a small American flag near
> the marker, left over from the July 4th celebration I'd guess. My wife
> and son headed back to the car and drove back to Hot Springs to stay at
> the Bed and Breakfast and I headed on down the Appalachian Trail.
>
> Confusion in the first five minutes. I had seen the AT blaze with the
> "A" and the "T" under the "A" and I thought all the AT trail blazes were
> like that. I figured they had a stencil or something. So what were
> these single white rectangular blazes? What trail is this? Hmmm. Maybe
> it leads to the AT. The sign had said the Appalachian Trail, this way,
> and it seemed to be going in the right direction. So down it I went.
>
> There was a nice campsite just north of Max right at the tree line.
> Some other time I plan to camp there. The area was denuded of dead wood
> though and I had a hard time finding a hiking stick. I had left my
> handmade, bamboo stick back at the cabin. After about fifteen minutes
> of hiking I came to a wooden sign that said "Appalachian Trail" and had
> arrows pointing to Max Patch and one pointed the other way that said
> Lemon Gap. I knew that was the right direction and so off I went. I
> soon came to the "green tunnels". Dark and cool and maybe even a bit
> claustrophobic for those sensitive to that, which I'm not, having been
> on lots of submarines. (Hey, I'm a dog fighting alpha male that swims in
> a sea of testosterone, don't cha know?) The trail sloped gently
> downward and I was making good time, stopping often and taking pictures.
> (which will on a web page next week) The Mountain Laurel was blooming
> all around, pink and white.
>
> Around 1 pm I came to Roaring Fork shelter and stopped for a lunch
> break. What a nice shelter. It even had a skylight! I sat around
> reading the register and eating gorp. I was so sleepy I decided to take
> a nap, so I got my pad off my pack, took my boots off and crashed out.
> I woke up around two, wrote something really banal in the register and
> was on my way again. Someone had written in the register that Walnut
> Mountain shelter was open and about two miles further. I did not
> realize they meant two miles straight up.
>
> Geez Louise! Up. Up. Up. Up. For awhile there I had two speeds.
> Stopped and nearly stopped. The damned GPS (government piece of s**t)
> was reading 0.0 mph. I had to rest and drink water several times. It
> was nice at the top even though there was no view. Walnut Mountain
> shelter was in bad shape. The register was full with the last entry
> sometime in June. I set my pack inside and walked a short distance away
> to take a picture. When I came back to get my pack the damned mice were
> already trying to get inside! I guess they don't get many customers and
> pride themselves on quick service!
>
> Down, Down, Down I went through Kale Gap and Catrap Gap. I called those
> Rabbit Gaps because of all the large reddish rabbits on the trail. Up,
> up, up, the side of Bluff Mountain. Near the summit I could see a small
> pasture or bald off to the right so I stopped for a break. While there
> I heard voices (not the one that tells me to wear a pink tutu while
> hiking) It sounded like a man and at least one child. I never saw them
> though and kept walking. At the summit there was a group of large rocks
> and I sat down to rest. In a minute, I lay down to rest. In just a
> bit, a HUGE red hawk (probably from all those red rabbits) comes
> swooping in from outside the trees and flies right over me! Startled
> the devil out of me and him too I think. He landed in the trees on the
> other side of the summit.
>
> I had drank a quart of water back at Max Patch before I started (I'll
> skip over how many times I had to stop, but it was alot!) and had drank
> most of the two quarts I was carrying. I had crossed about twenty
> streams and creeks up to this point so I figured there was plenty of
> water on the trail. (There had been a flood on Laurel Creek two days
> prior that had washed away a church and some pickups.) So down I
> started on the North side of Bluff Mountain thinking that I would stop
> and camp when I found a nice spot with water. It was around 5:30 by now
> and I was starting to get tired and my legs hurt a bit. Many switch
> backs and about an hour and a half later I heard water running. From
> the map I guessed that I was near or at Big Rock Springs.
>
> I came to the big rock just off the trail near the waterfall and set up
> camp. It was really pretty with the waterfall on my left and the rock
> cliff in front with the trail off on the right. There was only a small
> trail leading to the top of this rock which was about the size of an
> average living room.
>
> Before I get on with this next section I wonder if anyone has ever heard
> of the "random printer" theory. This is the belief that if you take a
> huge printer, say one that could print 999 million characters per
> second, and send it totally random text, it would eventually print out a
> perfect copy of "War and Peace" or the bible or any published work. So
> maybe sounds can do a similar thing.
>
> After I had performed all my evening chores and lay down I started
> listening to the waterfall. There were several levels of sound, a sort
> of high hiss, "Psssssssssttttt" with a "Clopp, Clopp" along side it. As
> I was drifting off to sleep I heard a voice in the waterfall. It said,
> "Now, more hits from the 60's, 70's, and 80's" I think to my surprised
> self, "Way Cool!, ha, ha" and started to drift off again. Again, I
> hear the voice, except this time it said, "Hey! You have a big ass!" I
> did not think this was so funny or cool. Especially as I have a rather
> small ass. You know, now that I think back on it, maybe the waterfall
> said "are" instead of "have". I guess that makes more sense. I went to
> sleep pondering.
>
> About 3:30 am I awake from a sound, deep sleep hearing a LOUD crash in
> the woods behind me and up the hill. It sounded like a 700 pound log
> had been tossed into the forest. I went from dreamland to absolute,
> heart pounding wakefulness in less than a second. The woods
> reverberated with the sound. Optimistic thoughts of a graceful deer
> floated away like smoke. Terrifying thoughts of a big, clumsy bear
> formed and congealed. Oh shit. Oh Lord. I wait, breathing only about
> twice each minute that crawls by. No sound. At all. Even the normal
> night noises were now absent. Just the sound of the waterfall. (which
> now was saying nothing) It was more than an hour before I went back to
> sleep.
>
> End of Part One
> *************************************
>
> I will type up part two this weekend and post it on Monday. My wife is
> having minor surgery tomorrow so I'll be busy.
>
> Hope it didn't bore you guys to death.
>
> Sam
>
>
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