Date: Summer, 1998
Where: NW of Asheville, NC, near Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Weather: Night one, calm then stormy; Day one, misty to clearing; Night two, cool and clear, Day two, clear and warm.
Length: 20.6 m
Elevation change: Max Patch summit - 4629, Lemon Gap - 3550, Bluff Mountain - 4686, Hot Springs, NC - 1326
Duration: 48 hours (two nights and two days)
Imagine an overnight hike with all your grown children in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina. Maybe this does not set your heart on fire, but for me this is close to heaven. All my children (S, W & C) appreciate and enjoy the out-of-doors and a bit of arduous backpacking is on their list of desirable adventures. Imagine now that you take your children on a 20-mile overnight hike on the AT and you subject them to the some of the perils of our natural world. This combination makes for a memorable story. This was the first overnight AT hike with all the kids.
We began our hike with an evening picnic near the access road to Max Patch, with Grandma and others who lived in Hot Springs at the time. After a hearty meal we hoofed it up to the top of this bald escape to set up our tent for the night and commune with nature (deer roaming, birds nestling, breezes abundant, and a beautiful night sky, but clouds moving in). The weather was so fine some of us choose to sleep under the stars while others reclined in tent. Like I said, near heaven until, after we were all asleep, the clouds started to misbehave and the sky began to flash, not specific lightning strikes but more like what we call "heat lightning". So here I am with the most precious creatures on earth poised on a completely exposed bald mountain with stormy skies. I'm now terrified, feeling so irresponsible, and completely immobilized (what am I going to do?) It is dark (except for those blasted flashes) and I am not sure how to descend to the trail we will be joining tomorrow (or is it today?). Is lightning going to strike? Lord, we were so exposed. I am close to panic. The boy wakes up and tells to me to chill, there is no problem; if things get dicey we'll just move on. I am still terrified, so the girls invite me into the two-man tent, not as if I were protecting them, but more for them to construct a sleeping bag sandwich with me in the middle. My shaking began to subside with their words of comfort and physical presence, the skies eased and we slept. I will never forget that night. The rest was anticlimactic by comparison.
The morning brought a dawn rain, so we broke camp quickly, headed down to an evergreen grove for breakfast. We set out for Bluff Mountain, 10 m away, in light drizzle. Typical of the AT, we hiked a ridge and saddle that at times gave us views and at times the mountain laurel was so thick we felt like we were tunneling. The skies cleared and the summer warmth arrived. We camped near Bluff Mountain, again some sleeping under stars, with the remnants of a campfire and the lingering odor of smores.
Early up and then we began our long descent into Hot Springs; another 10 m but a beautiful part of the trail, with magnificent rock outcroppings. Into town in the later afternoon, we took our time and just enjoyed being together out-of-doors. Spending this quality time with the offspring was balm to my soul after the fearful first night.
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