Looking back from Max Patch

I told Althea that treachery was tearing me limb from limb

Day 21, Groundhog Creek Shelter to Kale Gap

Monday, May 1, 2017

Today was only my second day back on the trail after being off for eight days.

I could have expected it would take time to readjust to trail life. I should have known it would be hard to return to a hiking routine. But I would never have predicted I'd question why I was hiking this trail.

I did, and that worried me.

Weather Rain with gusty wind, then sunny late in the day
Trail Conditions Nearly perfect, with only a few steep ascents
Today's Miles 13.9 miles
Trip Miles 261.1 miles

Rain pelted the tent a couple of brief times overnight, but I got a good night's sleep. The temperature remained warm, probably in the upper 60s. I slept only in my 50-degree quilt and not my 30-degree sleeping bag. It was comfortable.

I woke up just before 6:30 a.m. and immediately started packing, hoping to beat the morning rain that was in the forecast.

Though it started to rain again before I finished packing, I didn't start the day in a foul mood.

Groundhog Creek Shelter

Nevertheless, as soon as I left Groundhog Creek Shelter, I began to question what I was doing, wondering if it was what I wanted to do.

Appalachian Trail

From the day I left Springer Mountain, I've asked myself every day, "Are you enjoying this?" And every day the answer has been, "Yes."

Until today.

My answer wasn't specifically "No," yet still, I didn't have a quick, affirmative answer as I always had before.
Maybe I was just in a funk because I had recently spent time enjoying the comforts and conveniences of home, but this was a new emotion for me.

Pink trillium

Seeing blooming trillium didn't brighten my mood as I continued on the trail.

I wasn't sure I enjoyed this hike anymore. I wasn't ready to quit, but I had a hard time seeing myself continuing for several more months.

Maine seemed so far away. Was it worth all of this effort to walk there?

Step cut in log

Little, normal things began to annoy me. Why did the trail maintainers cut a step in this blowdown? Why couldn't they just cut it completely to keep the trail clear?

Wet trail with a modest climb

The hiking wasn't difficult in this section. Ascents and descents were gradual, but everything was wet from the off-and-on rain.

Empty trail magic box

Most annoying to me was an empty box I found sitting near a road crossing. Trail magic for hikers had been in it at some point, but now it was just trash on the trail.

"How can people be so thoughtless?" I grumbled.

The trail over Max Patch

Then everything changed.

As the trail began to climb over the top of Max Patch, the rain began to fall harder. A gusty wind began to blow when I reached the open bald.

Rain blowing sideways

Views from Max Patch can be a wonderful 360-degree panorama of mountains, but not today. The trail up the 4,629-foot mountain was muddy and slippery. Walking became difficult as wind gusts reached up to 40 miles an hour, blowing the rain sideways.

I loved this moment! The views, the challenges, the experience, all of it.

"This was why I was hiking the Appalachian Trail," I joyfully said to myself.

A post wet on one side

Instead of annoyances, I was now seeing things I appreciated, like how the blowing rain made trail markers wet only on one side.

Max Patch has been one of my long-time favorite spots on the trail. The bald was originally cleared for grazing livestock. In the 1920s it was kept clear so that planes could land on the mountain. The National Forest Service now mows the peak in the summer so that it doesn’t become overgrown with shrubs and trees.

Tunnel of rhododendrons

On the other side of Max Patch, the trail entered a long tunnel of rhododendrons. By this time, the rain was tapering off.

The trail begins to dry out

Soon the sky was clearing and the sun quickly dried out the trail.

Then as the trail followed a stream, I noticed a scent I had never smelled in the forest before. It was spicy and fragrant, smelling like I had just walked into the cosmetics aisle of a department store. The scent would come and go, and I needed a few minutes to identify it.

Sassafras!

The rain and sun had brought out this amazing smell.

Walnut Mountain

Late in the day, the trail went over Walnut Mountain where there was a small meadow. Not far on the other side was Walnut Mountain Shelter. I arrived there at 4:30 p.m.

One Pole

One Pole was at the shelter. I had met him a couple weeks ago at Rock Gap Shelter on Day 9. It was fun to meet someone I first met before leaving the trail to go to a conference, though I was a little surprised that I did.

Walnut Mountain Shelter

The weather was cold and blustery at the shelter. With the days growing longer and plenty of daylight still remaining, I decided to get water and cook dinner at the shelter, then push on. I figured a more comfortable place to camp could be found ahead.

Kale Gap

After hiking for less than a mile I found a campsite at Kale Gap. It was a nice, flat place to pitch my tent.

Leaning tree

The first spot I chose to pitch my tent seemed ideal until I happened to notice a large tree leaning over the spot. Not wishing to be crushed in the middle of the night, I selected another spot.

Zpacks Duplex tent

I didn't add much to my mileage for the day by leaving the shelter after dinner, but the location was more pleasant because it was out of the wind.

All of my doubts about wanting to hike were washed away by the rain. I was now in this thing for the long haul.

I told Althea I was feeling lost
Lacking in some direction
Althea told me upon scrutiny
That my back might need protection
I told Althea that treachery
Was tearing me limb from limb
Althea told me, now cool down boy
Settle back easy, Jim

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