It is the last day of SWP and we are hiking 7.4 miles on the AT, Sweat Heifer and Kephart Prong Trails. It takes a while to set up the shuttle but we are hiking fairly early in very cool temps. My car thermometer had it about 40 degrees. I had a spare pair of socks in the car which I wore as gloves.
To begin we have a 1.7 mile uphill climb on the AT. The AT is always busy with backpackers and a slew of day hikers starting at Newfound Gap. Spring Beauties and Trout Lilys are too cold be on display. The pace is slow and we are constantly stepping to the side for others to pass.
Once we are at the trail junction, we are alone on the Sweat Heifer Trail. Last year, just as we began heading down Sweat Heifer, I spotted a Ruffed Grouse. At almost the exact spot, I see another one this year. What a treat to watch it for a few minutes. With it finally out of sight, a few of us have to catch up the main group.
This is such a pretty trail. Large swathes are covered in Fringed Phacelia making it look like a dusting of snow.
Trout Lily
About 2 miles down the trail a young Florida couple overtakes us. I overhear them say something about a bunion. After a minute or two, I wonder if she means Charlie's Bunion on the AT, and not her bunion. I run ahead to ask and sure enough they think they are headed to Charlies Bunion. How they got here is beyond me. Roger gets out his map and we show them the error of their ways. They turn back but it is unlikely they will see a bunion today.
Spring Beauty
Our leader is Roger McCoy, whom I have hiked with before. Working for the State of Tennessee, overseeing rare plants, he is quite knowledgeable with what we are seeing today despite our hike being mostly in North Carolina.
In the past year, a landslide took out this section of trail. I hiked the same trail last year and this was not here. It caused quite a scar.
The creek crossings are easy today and the hiking is mostly downhill. We lunched beside a small waterfall. It was nice but a much more dramatic one was a 5 minute further walk.
Our final break was at the Kephart Shelter. There were a number of folks spending the night there. They were setting up as we arrived, probably relieved that we were just passing through.
The final 2 miles of this hike are along Kephart Prong. There are several log bridges for crossing. These are long and high and not recommended for you acrophobs.
One unsolved mystery of my hiking career occurred along this section of trail. Years ago, hiking here early one morning, I see a trailside rock with a pile of clothing. An undershirt, shirt, sweatshirt, and toboggan cap were all piled here. They were not wet from having spent the night. There were no cars at the trailhead before or after the hike. It was too cold to have taken your clothes off and leave them. I could tell there was no one nearby. Still unsolved.
Almost right at the trailhead, are the ruins of the CCC camp. Most folks do not know that when the camp closed in 1940, it lay idle for less than 2 years. It reopened in 1941 as a Conscientious Objector Camp. The COs did much the same work as the CCC boys.
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