Benton MacKaye Trail, tenting on the trail at mile mark 71.9

We were up at 6 am and had our usual coffee and oatmeal. It was so-so, but bound to get better with hunger and fatigue. We were all packed up and on trail just after 8 am and the black flies are already out in force. Then we had to rehike the downhill bit I did yesterday to fetch water. Karen appreciated how steep the last .7 mile was to the saddle, especially since we’ll have to do the ascent in a couple days. The saddle also happens to be the Georgia/Tennessee border. 

We got a little more water before we headed on to climb Hemp Top Mountain, which was not too long or steep, but still made our legs ache. The next several miles were nice though, mostly downhill ridge-walking. Once, when the trail dipped down below the ridge, we spooked a bear that was on the ridge only a few feet above us. We didn’t see it through the brush but it sounded big. We stopped for lunch at a water source at the 7.5 mile mark. We were hungrier today and more sore. But with more water, we’re hydrating better. 

After lunch, we were no longer on the ridge, the trail had more ups and downs. Karen is tired and after one of the longer climbs had her first sit-down-cry. But she always gets up and hikes on. I love her for that.

Then it was just a couple miles downhill mostly to the junction where the BMT meets up with the Appalachian Trail. (Last year we hiked from that junction to the southern terminus of the BMT and then to the AT approach trail.) Just past the junction, there was supposed to be a tentsite where we planned to spend the night, but we couldn’t find it. It was most likely old info and now overgrown. Karen waited for me while I scouted down the trail a ways but I couldn’t find it. Then the thunder started. We hurriedly put up our tent in the middle of the trail, which had a steep slope above and a stream below. I went to fetch water and the deluge began. I got back before it was raining too hard and we cooked under the tent’s vestibule. We settled in as best we could. It was a long night as the rain poured down the mountain and we had a few damp spots on the tent floor, but we finally got some sleep.