Backpacking the AT - Day Five

 Day 5: Peter’s Mountain Trailhead mile 657.3 to War Spur Shelter mile 669.7

After the most amazing sleep I have ever had in a bunk bed, Misty and I were up early for coffee and breakfast. The rest of the hostel was awake, too, with everyone packing their gear and readying everything for more time on the trail. We had a lovely stay, but it was time to say goodbye to the hostel life!  After much deliberation, we opted to pay a small fee to have our driver take us a little bit further north on the trail.  By skipping a small section at this point, we'd have much more manageable mileage for the rest of our trip.  Our shuttle driver was ready to go at 9am, and we were on trail by 9:30. 

The trail started out with an uphill climb to Bailey Gap Shelter.

 We started at a lower elevation, which meant we were among the green rhododendrons again, along with several small stream crossings and a couple bridges.  

There were also quite a few downed trees in this section, and I did not really enjoy crawling under them with my pack on.  

As we climbed in elevation, we stopped to take off several layers of clothing. After arriving at the shelter and taking a snack break, though, we were chilled and put most of our gear back on. 

I'd like to talk about the blazes on this trail for a minute.  I am well-versed in the trail markings of the North Country Trail.  Those blue blazes have stared at me for many, many miles.  Here are the rules for that trail's blazes: One blue blaze means go straight ahead; If there are two blue blazes, the top one will be offset to the left or to the right, indicating that you should turn in that direction.  Easy!  Well, the AT is a little different.  One white blaze means go straight ahead; If there are two white blazes, there's always one directly above the other.  What does this mean?  We found it to mean that the trail is about to make a major change in direction, generally including a turn with a steep uphill climb, or a steep downhill climb.  The double white blaze marking is a warning. (As you can see by the little note written on that bottom white blaze, others are also not fond of the ominous double blazes.)

We still had a bit of uphill climbing to go, and as we went, the temperature dropped, and snow started to fly. 

The trail remained at about 4,000 feet for a couple miles as we traversed the ridge line.  The snow was really coming down now and it was ridiculously windy.  We decided we should fill our water bottles, as we were quite far from the next stream being so high up in the mountains.

When we stopped to check out the views from Wind Rock, we were able to send quick messages to our families, which would be the last cell service we’d have for the day.  Check out that view!  I mean, nothing to see here!

Our plan was to make it to a campsite just a mile away, but it was just after 3pm when we arrived and the weather up there was scaring us a little. The snow was still falling, the wind was severe, and it was very cold.  The thought of having to sit there from 3pm until dark, and then sleeping high up on that mountain was not our idea of fun.  My stomach was in knots-I did not feel good about this.  I was getting tired, and Misty had one of her famous falls during this time!  She was a good sport and always waited to get up until after I'd gotten a picture.

We made the decision to press on another three miles to War Spur Shelter which would be a downhill hike, 1500 feet below. As we came down in elevation, the snow and wind slowly eased up and we were both feeling really good. We were so thankful we had made the choice to get down off that mountain and out of the weather!

And then we were at War Spur Shelter!

 We had the place to ourselves, and decided the first order of business was to gather wood and make a fire. It took a little coaxing, but finally we had a good burn going. 

Due to predicted temperatures in the low 20’s overnight, and seeing a mouse almost immediately upon arrival, we opted to set up one tent in the shelter again and share it. Next up was dinner. We both opted for instant mashed potatoes and packets of tuna fish.

 We stayed warm enough by the fire, but after our meal we made quick work of stashing our bear canisters and crawling into our cozy tent. We stayed up chatting and giggling and Misty made the comment that it felt like a slumber party. Sometime after 10pm we drifted off to sleep.