Day 8, Bly Gap to Beech Gap

I wasn't the last to leave the campsite at Bly Gap, but I wasn't the first. A short distance from the campsite stood a twisted old tree. It looked like it had suffered years of abuse. Even though it was doubled over, it continued to stand strong.

Almost every AT hiker photographs it, and I had to as well.

The climb out of Bly Gap was steep and long, as I had expected yesterday it would be. There were, in fact, two more climbs just as steep and long on the way to Muskrat Creek Shelter. That was one of the reasons I decided to stay at the gap last night instead of continuing another 2.8 miles to the shelter.

It was a warm day, but there were occasional green tunnels of rhododendrons and mountain laurels to walk through, and they provided some cooling relief.

A spring was conveniently located a short distance from Muskrat Creek Shelter. Also convenient was a rhododendron leaf with a rock, which funneled the spring's flow like a spout. This made collecting water to filter much easier.

I then walked to Muskrat Creek Shelter, where I intended to stop for a snack. A hiker was inside, and as I approached, I quickly realized he was writing on the shelter wall.

Even though I'm much older than most of the hikers on the trail, I try not to be their nagging dad. In this case, however, I had to say something to him. Shelter graffiti severely detracts from the enjoyment of a stay.

I said to him, "You know, it's not cool to write on shelter walls."

He muttered something like, "Well, everybody does it," then left before he finished.

I felt like stopping "Greg" from finishing his message to the world was a win and a way for me to give a little something back to the trail.

A mile up the trail from the shelter was the junction of the Chunky Gal Trail. Many people claim the trail's name comes from a story about a chubby Cherokee girl who didn't want to be married.

However, some researchers say the name probably isn’t from a story about a girl. They think the name was a poorly anglicized version of a Cherokee word like many place names are around here.

For much of the day, I hiked with Bluestem. I first met him on Day 3 when we got off the trail at Neel Gap because of a storm.

We chatted as we hiked, and along the way found that we had several things in common. We hiked at about the same pace. The trail for a few miles wasn't difficult, and our conversation made the hiking go quickly.

We were heading to Deep Gap, a spot I had hiked to twice before. Because of that, I knew the climb from the gap to Standing Indian Mountain was a long one. Seeing the mountain come into view confirmed my memory wasn't faulty.

Bluestem and I stopped at Deep Gap for a short break before starting the climb.

As soon as the trail began to ascend from the gap, we began to see severe damage from a fire. Although the forest didn't look this way when I was here before, I knew what had happened. The slope of Standing Indian Mountain was one of several areas hit by wildfires last fall. This one and others were possibly set intentionally.

I didn't know until now the damage had been so extensive. The entire mountain had been turned into blackened rubble.

Admittedly, at this elevation, no trees had any leaves yet. Still, the trail looked bleak as I climbed the mountain.

Thankfully, the path up wasn't strenuously steep. From Deep Gap, it went up more than 1,100 feet in 2.5 miles.

Small signs posted on trees by the state wildlife agency said this area was designated as a bear sanctuary. Sadly, I doubt many bears want to live here right now. There was so much fire damage, bears wouldn't be able to find any food to survive.

A small patch of snow was on the trail near the top of the mountain. It must have been here since Day 4.

No snow accumulated where I was that day, but the elevation here was much higher. The top of Standing Indian Mountain is 5,499 feet above sea level, and where I saw the snow on the trail today wasn't much below that.

The AT didn't go directly over the mountain, but I remembered there was a short side trail that went to the top. Although I had already walked to the top twice before, I went up there again.

The weather was nice, and I knew the view would be worth a few extra steps. The general rule about hiking the AT is to take advantage of views when you can because you never know when they will be available.

While I was standing at the top, I noticed smoke rising from a distant ridge. After all this area had gone through just a few months ago, I hope no one was trying to start another disaster.

Leaving the summit, the trail dropped gradually to a long ridge. From there, the next mile or so was nearly flat.