Day 11, Franklin to Locust Tree Gap

Our waitress at breakfast was wearing a bracelet that said "FJB.". It must be her way of signaling to Joe Biden-hating customers that she is one of them. Sentiments like that run strong in this part of Western North Carolina, even if Election Day is two years away.

After Polecat and I checked out of our motel, we walked to Three Eagles Outfitters, which was conveniently located just a block away. We got there 10 minutes early. The owner showed up 10 minutes late to open the store.

Our remaining errands – mailing extra food home and doing laundry – took the remainder of the morning. When those were done, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch instead of fast food before heading out of town.

We didn't begin hiking until nearly 2 p.m. but felt no regrets about that. We were still ahead of schedule.

We had to walk on the shoulder of rural roads for the next hour. There weren't any trail signs to guide us, and there was just enough room to walk without feeling uncomfortably close to traffic.

While planning our hike, I contacted the executive director of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy to get some information about the trail. He told me plans were underway to re-route the trail through Franklin's downtown business district. It would then exit town through a residential area before entering public land. Although the new route wouldn't necessarily reduce much of the road walking, a lot of it would be on sidewalks. The section will be more enjoyable to walk when that happens.

Wallace Branch Trailhead was at the end of the road-walking section. This is where the Bartram continued as a single-track footpath. Polecat and I chatted with a few day hikers before starting up the trail.

I didn't mind answering their questions, but I lost track of the time. This went unnoticed until I reached a spot called William's Pulpit at 4:30 p.m. Since leaving Wallace Branch Trailhead, I walked only two miles in 90 minutes. Polecat was now several minutes ahead of me.

William’s Pulpit was a viewpoint where the trail crossed a rock shelf. The spot was named to honor William Hazelton, a retired minister who served as president of the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society, the former name of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy, and was one of the organization's founding members.

From the Pulpit's ledge, I could see Standing Indian and other mountains on the other side of a wide valley. The Appalachian Trail crossed those mountains. Polecat and I will walk on the AT tomorrow where it briefly joins the Bartram for a short section.

After stopping just long enough to snap a photo, I hurriedly continued the climb for another quarter mile before the trail made a short descent to Locust Tree Gap. A sign that said "Water" was nailed to a tree at the gap. There wasn't a direction arrow on the sign, but without a doubt, the water was somewhere down a steep slope.

There was no way to know how far we'd have to go to find it. Indeed, there was no guarantee water would be flowing at all. Still, the couple I talked to earlier lived in the area and felt confident we could find water.

Polecat had already gone to look for it. I knew that because his pack was leaning next to the tree with the sign and he was nowhere nearby. I decided to wait for him to return, and he was back in a few minutes.

He told me he found a trickle flowing from a spring, but it wasn't easy to find. Only the faintest of trails led down to it. I then headed that way to get my water while Polecat searched for a spot to set up tents.

Just as Polecat told me, I had to follow the faint path a long distance before I found some water. In truth, I first found myself walking in wet mud. Water didn't flow so much as it oozed from the ground. I had to continue down the slope before finding some that flowed clear enough to collect.

I hauled three liters back to the top. I knew I needed extra for tomorrow morning because the next seven miles of the trail would be along a dry ridge.

In the meantime, Polecat picked out a spot for our tents that was about 50 yards below the trail at the gap. It appeared to be the only flat spot near Locust Tree Gap, so we were fortunate to find it. The space wasn't large but was surprisingly flat. It must have been part of an old logging road.

We didn't discover how fortunate we were to find this spot until later in the evening. That was when the wind picked up. A gusty wind began to howl, causing tree limbs above us to shake and sway.

We remained comfortably out of the wind. The air above us was turbulent, yet where we were at ground level, everything was peaceful. Our tent flaps didn't even rustle in the wind.