Day 12, Locust Tree Gap to Jarrett Bald

The gusty winds that howled above our campsite overnight had mostly diminished by this morning when Polecat and I woke up and prepared to leave. Our spot tucked at least 50 yards below Locust Tree Gap was protected enough to keep the temperature mild and comfortable.

We were packed and climbing the faint path back to the gap by 8 a.m.

After leaving Wallace Branch Trailhead yesterday afternoon, we climbed 1,200 feet to Locust Tree Gap. There was much more climbing in store for us today. The trail started going up as soon as we got back to it, but this was a short ascent compared to what we would soon face. The climb lasted for less than a mile before we descended and lost all of that elevation gain and 200 feet more.

This was the first of several short ups and downs the trail would follow in the first 4.7 miles. And like nearly all trails in the southern Appalachians, the descents dropped into named gaps. We passed through Poplar Cove Gap and Harrison Gap before completing the first 4.7 miles.

At the end was another Locust Tree Gap. Unlike the Locust Tree Gap where we stopped last night, this one had a sign to identify it by name and the number 2.

This was also the start of a much longer climb. The next two miles would steadily go up 1,300 feet.

I assumed this climb would take us all the way to Wayah Bald, but that was wrong. When I got near what I thought was the top, I discovered I'd reached a false summit. The trail then dropped about 100 feet before making a final climb to the top.

I was worn out when I reached the top of the false summit. I needed to stop a couple of times for a breather, and that is something I rarely needed to do on this hike. I was grateful for an excuse to stop when I found a view in a gap of trees. I stopped to eat an energy bar while looking across a range of mountains.

Though disappointed I wasn't yet at Wayah Bald, I could tell I was closing in on it when I saw it ahead. A notch could be seen in the trees at the top of the mountain, and I knew that's where a tower stood.

Shortly before the final climb to the top of the bald, I came to a trail junction. This is where the Bartram Trail joined the Appalachian Trail. I remembered seeing this sign when I hiked north on the AT in 2017.

From the junction, the AT made a turn and continued for a short distance to Wayah Shelter. I camped there on Day 11 of that hike.

More memories came back to me as soon as I saw the top of the tower. When I was here the last time, the tower didn't have a roof. A wildfire swept across the mountain in November 2016, destroying the tower's wood roof. Work was begun a few months later to rebuild and restore the tower to its previous condition.

When I climbed to the top of the tower today, I could see the scars from the 2016 fire were not fully healed. More than five years later, large gashes of charred trees showed where the fire cut across the ridge.

I recalled that the sight of burnt trees in 2017 was sad, but at that moment, hiking here also triggered a happy memory I had forgotten about until my thru-hike. It reminded me that I had been here about 20 years earlier. My wife and our two sons visited the bald while on a day hike. It was the first time I stepped on the AT.

I won't claim that moment made me want to thru-hike the whole trail, but it was the first time I gave much thought about the AT. I pointed to a sign about the trail and remarked how a continuous footpath stretched from Georgia to Maine.

Except for the burnt patches of forest and a few distant areas of cleared farmland, this view was much like the one Willam Bartram saw. Historians say he crossed Wayah Bald in 1775, and the words I quoted here are the ones he used to describe this spot.

I confess that my reaction today was less rapturous than how he saw these mountains. Perhaps a lack of solitude detracted from my feelings. Dozens of tourists wandered about the tower and bald while Polecat and I were there.

We ate lunch near the tower, then followed an asphalt footpath toward a parking lot where the tourists had come from. We went there to drop off trash in bins near the parking lot, then backtracked to follow the trail shared by the AT and Bartram.

Polecat and I stopped at a small campsite to collect water, which was just a few yards away from where the AT and the Bartram split to go their separate directions. It was a pleasant spot, and I checked with him to see if he wanted to stay there for the night. He said he felt strong enough to continue, which I was glad to hear because the time was just 3:30 p.m.

We each collected three liters before continuing. We knew there wouldn't be another water source before we needed to stop for the night.

In all, we walked less than 2.5 miles on the AT today, but it wouldn't be the last time on this hike that we were on that trail. The Bartram Trail ends at the top of Cheoah Bald where it connects again to the AT. We will finish our hike by following the AT down from the bald to Nantahala Outdoor Center.

Past the campsite and trail junction, the Bartram continued along McDonald Ridge, making a gradual descent for the next 1.5 miles down to, yes, another gap. This one was called Sawmill Gap.

One section of the trail before the gap was overgrown. It was marked well, however, so we didn't have difficulty finding our way.

Closer to the gap, the trail was easier to follow as it descended an old logging road.