Day 6, Porter’s Gap to Talladega Mountain

We were loaded in Nancy's car and on our way back to the trailhead by 7:30 a.m. The trip took 15 minutes.

After thanking her again, Tengo and I started our way up the trail. The temperature this morning was a little cooler than the last few days. Although rain was in the forecast, seeing patches of blue in the sky made me think today's weather would be drier than yesterday.

The first 2.5 miles from Porter’s Gap made a gradual climb, going up less than 500 feet. The climbing didn’t start right away. For the first half-mile down the trail, the footpath made a series of back-and-forth turns, much like switchbacks on a climb, yet it wasn’t climbing. It was only following folds in the topography.

The bottoms of the trees in this section were scorched. Most likely, this was the result of a controlled burn.

When the trail began a climb up a ridge, it took us up to a large outcropping of rocks. The ascent wasn’t steep.

As I neared the top of the ridge, I noticed the hints of sunlight I saw earlier were quickly disappearing. A thick layer of clouds was forming overhead.

At the top, trees obscured much of the view. I could see far enough, however, to know rain was falling on hills to the north. I felt certain I would be getting wet any minute from now.

After cresting the rocky top of the ridge, the trail took us on a descent that was shorter and steeper than the climb. The trail connected with a narrow road when we reached the bottom, and we followed that for about a half-mile.

The short road walk went across a bridge over Talladega Creek. On the other side, the trail left the road to begin another climb. Now we had to regain all of the elevation we lost in the previous descent.

The forest was a mix of deciduous and conifer trees. That was more diverse than where timber harvesting takes place in this part of Alabama. There, the trees are typically fast-growing pines, usually loblolly pines.

We stopped for a short rest when we came upon a narrow stream. I still had plenty of water, but remembering two days ago when I ran out on a dry ridge, I decided I should refill here while I could.

Until now, my amateur weather forecasting had been wrong. I thought for sure rain would fall soon, and yet we remained dry.

That changed as soon as we were done with our break and began walking again. The raindrops that fell were light, but seeing the clouds and rain earlier made me think a downpour was about to start. Tengo must have not made the same assumption because he kept walking. I stopped to put on my rain gear.

As soon as I zipped up my rain jacket and started walking again, the rain stopped. I stubbornly decided to leave on my rain gear, however. I figured the rain would start falling again at any minute.

For the next several minutes, I sweated, grumbled, and even hoped the rain would start again. Then I gave up and stopped to take off my rain jacket.

Almost on cue, rain began to fall as soon as I removed my jacket.

A layer of clouds hung low long after the rain had stopped. The trail was now climbing to a higher point on the ridge, and eventually, I entered those clouds. They reduced visibility to about a quarter-mile.

Continuing upward, I walked above the cloud layer, and now I could see much farther. It seemed like the threat of rain had passed, though I wasn't going to make any more predictions. For a long time, I didn’t stop to take off my rain jacket.

I kept expecting I would catch up to Tengo when he stopped for lunch, but eventually, I got too hungry to wait until then to eat. The trail at that point was too exposed and breezy for stopping, so I backtracked a short distance to a rock I just passed that was out of the wind.

Even in my protected lunch spot, I was cold, so I didn't stay there long. After I finished eating, I walked only about ten more minutes before finding Tengo. He was sitting at the side of the trail and just finishing his lunch. He told me he had been there for about 25 minutes. In other words, he probably stopped about the same time I did.

The weather began to improve after lunch. There wasn't any blue in the sky yet, but the clouds were much brighter.

The rocks remained wet, however, and when I slipped on one I fell hard on my hip. Not long after that, I tripped on a rock and skinned my leg on a log.

At last, large patches of blue reappeared in the sky at 3:30 p.m. The weather remained pleasant for the rest of the afternoon, and the ground began to dry. My mood improved with the changing conditions.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Tengo and I arrived where a campsite was marked in the FarOut app. The ground at this spot was a little sloped, so it wasn’t ideal for tents. Also, the time was a little early. We felt like we could have walked a little farther.

A tiny stream flowed nearby, so we had plenty of water, and FarOut didn't show any more camping spots close by. That convinced us to stop here for the night.

Even though we stopped early, we still managed to walk 14 miles today. Some of those miles were in less-than-ideal conditions. Better yet, my feet didn’t get nearly as sore as they had been the last couple of days. I felt satisfied with the way the day turned out.

A light rain started to fall at 8 p.m., but I was in my tent long before that. Though that shower lasted only a few minutes, a thunderstorm began to rumble in the distance about an hour later. It was going to be another wet night.