Monday, May 24, 2021

Smokies 900 Round 2: Big Creek Base Camp - Day 3

Big Creek Base Camp With Carol – Walnut Bottom Campsite #37 to Big Creek Parking
5.2 Miles – 6/27/20

Our last day of the trip started the way our first day started, with pack covers on in a light drizzle. The Great Smoky Mountains is a rain forest. Carol and I were taking the easy way out via Big Creek Trail today anyway, so we didn’t mind.

Friday’s slight uphill was today’s slight downhill, a leisurely walk considering I had 25+ pounds on my back. I was glad I wasn’t carrying the borrowed backpack up a mountain today. Loaded or unloaded, the fit was wrong for me. This shakedown weekend was a great success in gear testing and evaluating physical capacity (or lack of it). Many tweaks and adjustments to be made, but we have more training weekends planned before our John Muir Trail hike.

We met lots of folks hiking up to the waterfalls and swimming holes. Kids were skipping along.  Cute young couples were holding hands and carrying floaties. Some parents looked a little less thrilled with the rain. Making memories.

Let's stop at Dairy Queen…

“Backpacking:  An extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take.” ~Author Unknown



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