Appalachian Trail: Day 31
Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. All the gear mentioned in this post was purchased by me at retail prices. I have no affiliations with any of the companies or brands mentioned.
I woke up to wind and cold. I had several layers on to keep warm until I started hiking. Shortly after I started hiking, I did warm up because I had a bunch of climbs.
Originally, my goal for yesterday was only the Groundhog Creek Shelter, but I pushed and did a couple more miles. Because of that, my original plan for Walnut Mountain for today was no longer sufficient. So, I figured I would keep hiking till around 6 PM and see where I was at.
However, the first goal of the day was Max Patch. There was a climb to get to the summit and it took a while, but did warm me up well enough.
The summit was amazing. Max Patch is a bald, so it was a big grassy top with a really nice 360 degree view. The downside is that there were no trees to block the wind and it was very windy up there. I snagged some photos and took a short break, but didn't stay too long since the wind made it cold again.
The next climb was up to Walnut Mountain. This was also a bald, but with taller grass and a bunch of trees surrounding it, so not much in the way of views, but less windy.
As this was my original destination for the day, I looked ahead to see what was in front of me and what I might be able to get to. I noticed that Bluff Mountain was only a few more miles and the last big climb before Hot Springs, so I decided to get up and over that.
And that is exactly what I did. The guide said there was some camp sites at the top of Bluff Mountain, and figured I might end up there for the night, but when I got up there, I saw a tent already setup up there. Usually, this isn't much of an issue, but due to some interactions with another hiker at Rube Rock, I decided I didn't want to risk it and hiked on.
I finally got to a tent site listed in Farout after Bluff Mountain, and it was around 6 when I got there, so I setup my tent, had dinner, and crawled into my tent.
From there I tried to reserve a bunk at a hostel in Hot Springs, but apparently they were fully booked for my planned zero day for some guided tour thing, so I was stuck trying to find somewhere else. I did try another hostel, but I never heard back from them.
About 10 miles, mostly downhill, hike to get into Hot Springs tomorrow.