A few days on The Appalachain Trail for 2015

Dudes and dudettes! What a pleasant surprise this 4 day section; July 14-17th, of the AT proved to be! And I should not be surprised as any part of middle and southern Appalachia that I have visited in it's natural state has been beautiful. The next several entries will cover the duration of the excursion.

The Mysterious One and I began this northbound walk from Brown's Grocery in Hampton TN, where we were able to park the car and hike the 1/4 mile or so up the paved road (left out of the parking lot), to the Laurel Falls Trailhead (on the right), which takes you into the forest and provides access to the AT in about a mile.

Having reached the AT late in the afternoon we hiked in 4+mls and set up our tent in the Pond Flats Vicinity. Shortly after darkness fell we were greeted with some tremendous rains which continued for what seemed like several hours, stopped and began again just before daylight. The rain stopped again as we were waking which was a blessing. The tent held up fairly well with only minor seepage in the door/zipper seams and some condensation dripping from the rain-fly, yet with all the moisture it was keeping out I was pleased. The next day was warm and muggy.