Day Two on the Appalachian Trail - July 30, 2019

We were up with the sun on Tuesday morning, the second day on the trail. However, we didn’t break camp until 9:30 am. Being the first time RB has backpacked, we were a little slow in the morning. All the morning chores took time, from changing clothes in the tent, getting our bear bags down, taking a short walk into the woods for a morning pit stop, fetching water from the spring about 200 yards away, taking turns cooking and eating our morning oatmeal, and packing up all of our gear.

From our campsite, it was only a couple of miles to the Wayah Bald stone tower and not much elevation gain. Just before reaching the tower are vault toilets near the parking lot for the tower. We didn’t miss the restroom this time! We also didn’t miss the views this time either. The views from the tower were fantastic. Finally some great views! It was a little foggy and hazy, but these are the Smokey Mountains, right?

While we were taking our time relaxing and grabbing a bite to eat as we enjoyed the views, Kristine and Karen showed up. They had camped less than a mile behind us the night before. Again we spent about an hour chatting. We had heard about the great camaraderie among hikers along the Appalachian Trail and we were experiencing it. Was it due to not seeing many other people on the trail, sharing a similar, somewhat challenging experience, or repeatedly seeing the same people again? Who knows? What we do know is that we felt a bond forming with the other backpackers that we were sharing the trail with.

As we were leaving the Wayah Bald tower, Bruce showed up. Duct Tape was not with him. Steve had left the trail since he had finished the section he planned on hiking. Bruce’s plan was to make it to Fontana Dam.

Our goal for the second day was to make it to the Big Branch Campsite at mile marker 127.3. The trail descended from the Wayah Bald tower about 900 feet to Licklog Gap. We started down the side trail to Licklog Gap to replenish our water, until we realized that it was half a mile to the water source. No thanks, we have plenty of water to last until the next water source which was two miles further down the main trail. However, we did take advantage of the side trail as a good place for a bathroom break.

The trail went up and down several times during the second day. During the last climb of the day, we reached the Cold Spring Shelter at mile marker 125.2. The shelter was right along the main trail. A spring was right next to the shelter and there was a privy across the trail and down a small slope. Our pace was slower than the first day. It was very enticing to change our plans and spend the night at the shelter. There were comfortable places to sit. The spring was flowing strong and replenishing our water was fast and easy. RB liked the thought of having a privy close by, as primitive as it was, instead of having to squat in the woods. As we sat in the shelter contemplating whether to stay for the night, Bruce caught up with us. He was planning on staying in the shelter. It would be nice to experience what it is like to stay in an Appalachian Trail shelter. However, that would mean the hike out on the third day would be twelve miles instead of ten. There’s a big difference between hiking twelve instead of ten miles, especially when there is quite a bit of elevation change involved. We decided to stick to our original plan and push on another two miles to the Big Branch Campsite.

However, before we left the shelter, we did take advantage of the privy. It was a little interesting to say the least. It was a toilet seat elevated off the ground in a wooden structure that had walls for some partial privacy. “Stuff” just fell on top of a pile under the toilet seat on top of the ground. There were instructions posted to take a handful of the leaves that were in a bucket next the toilet and drop them on top of the pile when you were done. Very primitive, but surprisingly not that smelly, probably due to the small number of people who use the privy. It is definitely easier on the legs and beats having to dig a hole.

The last two miles seemed really long, probably because we were thinking of the nice shelter we were leaving behind. It was about half a mile to the Copper Ridge Bald at about 5000 feet elevation which had some views out over the mountains. Just before we reached the Big Branch Campsite, was the side trail to Rocky Bald which is supposed to have some nice views. However, we were tired and just wanted to get to camp, so we did not venture down the short side trail. Reaching the campsite did not lift our spirits much. It was very unlevel and wet ground, it was hard to fill our water at the spring due to how it flowed over the rocks, and squatting in the woods was hard on our tired legs on the steep slope. We were starting to regret not staying at the Cold Spring Shelter. However, we felt a little better after getting some hot food in our bellies, wiping the grime off our bodies, putting on our dry bed clothes, and crawling into our beds. Our tent was pitched on a pretty steep slope, but we positioned it so our heads were on the uphill side. Despite the slope, we managed to sleep OK.

The second day of hiking was complete. Just like the first day, it was filled with ferns, fungus, wild flowers and butterflies. The largest wildlife we saw was a large turtle right next to the trail. Unlike the first day, we had some spectacular views of the mountain from the stone tower. It had rained a little during the day, but because of the dense tree canopy, not much of the rain reached us. We didn’t even bother putting on our rain jackets. Our clothes were already soaked with sweat, so a little rain wasn’t going to hurt anything and even felt kind of good.

Check out our related YouTube video: Three Days on the Appalachian Trail 2019.

(RB)