Shady Valley, TN (USA)

In all my years of hiking the AT, I’ve usually stayed overnight in a hostel, lodge or motel. Based on experience, I’ve found that I get a better night sleep and feel fresher and almost pain free with this paradigm. And this has worked great because of the awesome trail towns and easy accessibility to the trail. But there are sections in the 700 remaining AT miles that can’t be “slack-packed” from town - some are in the Smokies and many more are in NE New England. To get ready for these, I decided to pick a difficult section in Tennessee and do a backpacking trip! This section was “marooned” in 2014 and 2017 - the 22 miles it would take me to finish the eight in the middle seemed like a good candidate for my dry-run (and had cell signal). Before leaving NoVA, I teleworked at my apartment for a few hours.  It took me a long time to get ready to leave: I had some difficulty fitting everything into my Osprey 50L (27 pounds when full) and I had to make the choice to leave behind my water reservoir, reasoning that I could refill water with my Sawyer Squeeze filter along the way.  Didn't get started on the road until almost 1130.  As a result, I was stuck in traffic almost all the way (grrr...).  Used I-81 (no stops) all the way to VA-91.  After getting off the Interstate, I took a break at a truck stop and then drove to Damascus.  Switched to TN-133 and then took TN-91 until reaching the AT Trailhead (1715).  The weather was very nice (temps in high 70s) but I felt a bit rushed/late by the time I started (SOBO) at 1730 (it was about an hour later than I’d wanted). Somehow, the additional weight and size of the backpack seemed OK. Temps were bearable and I had a full stomach. I had to climb up onto the high ridge of Iron Mountain to get back to the place where I’d turned around in 2014: the Nick Grindstaff Monument. From there, it was new trail! I’d seen huge piles of bear scat during the climb, so it wasn’t really surprising to run into a couple of cubs, just off the trail. They were terrified and raced up some trees - they glared at me for a few seconds but I couldn’t get my camera out in time (I was looking for Mama) before they scampered down and ran away. About 100 yards later, I encountered two more bears (older and less afraid). These guys looked at me from their berry-picking spots on the trail and didn’t appear to be planning to move. Thought for sure I’d get a photo this time but one ran away and the other scrambled up a tree and back down again (wow!) faster than I could react. Another 100 yards later, I found two humans (an older weekend hiking couple) “doing their business” right on the trail! They were completely out of water and reported that they planned to walk back to TN-91 (4 miles) to get some. At that point, I should have joined them... Nope - with almost three liters left, I continued.  The fire-red sunset was spectacular and almost made me forget that my dilemmas were increasing...  I met two hikers in the Iron Mountain Shelter who repeated the same message about water: all springs dry until the Watauga Dam (12 miles away). By then, it was dark and I knew the whole plan would collapse if I gave up. So I kept going. Passed three hikers in a campsite nearby but didn’t see anyone else for the rest of the night. Did I mention that I’d attached a bear bell to myself? Using a headlamp to hike the last hour - I was blessed by a bright moon, lights from town and along the lake. Found a campsite (at about 2030) just about where I’d expected it and set up my (one person) tent in the dark before going about 100 yards away to hang my bear bag. This was mistake number two (didn’t cook dinner). Read in my tent until around 2300.  At first, the temps were in the 80s but they soon dropped into the 50s so I layered up and burrowed into my sleeping bag. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep, despite a loud owl nearby and my alertness for bears. A few hours later, however, a heavy wind started and pine cones and twigs fell on my tent for the rest of the night. I dozed through a lot of it but became aware of the tent walls and the fact I’d set up on a slight incline.  Hoping for some luck (weather, water, etc.) in the morning!