McAffee Knob

I am off the trail this week and it will be a couple of weeks before I can get back on. My art shows are taking me to the midwest for now. I miss the trail already and can’t wait to get back on. I was just getting my hiking legs for the season and I know it will be tough again when I visit the whites soon. The good news is I can finally post some more pictures and update my journal. I enjoyed the photography so much the first time at McAffee Knob that I had to go back for more. The birds were not as cooperative for pictures as before but still quite abundant. This week I finally got to try out my hammock. I got a hennessy hyperlite hammock and I really love it. I hung it a little low the first night but it was still much more comfortable than the shelter. The first night was beautiful. I enjoyed watching the fireflies flicker through the woods. It was a mild night and it was much cooler sleeping in the hammock and not having to worry about the bugs. It also saves me about a pound of pack weight compared with my tent and packs to less than half the size. I don’t think that it will be warm enough to use the first 6 weeks on the trail next year but it is wonderful for the summer. I am not sure if the rain fly that comes with it will suffice. It seems a little skimpy. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. If not I’ll add a couple of ounces with a more substantial fly. When I got to McAffee Knob, I just missed a group of 6th graders. Finally trail magic I can enjoy as a vegetarian. Unfortunately I missed the oranges and pb&j sandwiches,but they had made plenty of rice crispies treats to go around. I made sure the thruhikers got their share first. It was a treat to get fresh vegetables too. It is often hard to get suitable portions of these while in town. Then there was an assortment of breakfast bars. I was well fed for this section. The weather in the afternoon was iffy and a few of us had a friendly wager on what time the rain would hit. It didn’t last long, just a few sprinkles, but it was earlier than I had hoped. This compelled me to pitch my hammock near the next shelter so that I could enjoy a dry dinner. There were some rumbles, but the storm skirted around us and it ended up being a beautiful night. I retired early so that I could get up at 5am to hike the .7 miles back up the mountain for sunrise on McAffee Knob. Just when I thought that I was going to be alone for the night, a few thruhikers came in after dark. I tried not to disturb them too much in the morning when I got up. The early morning was really worth it. There was mist down in the valleys and the sunrise was really quite beautiful. There were wispy pink clouds and I was able to get a spectacular new panoramic at dawn. Much to my surprise, a large group of thruhikers had overnighted it on McAffee Knob. If the weather hadn’t been so fickle, I might have considered joining them. You are technically not supposed to camp up there. I am not sure why there isn’t closer camping. Hiking up alone in the dark would not have been my first choice; especially since it turned out that a mama bear and two cubs were sighted just off the trail. I probably walked right by them in the dark and didn’t even notice them. I will have to be more vigilant with my food. I didn’t have any problems, but you never know when they may take advantage of unattended food. The thruhiker who saw them just had his 25th birthday (Sorry I forgot his trail name). What a great place to spend your birthday. Enjoy the Walk