The first climb of the day came immediately out of camp – Big Butt Mountain. I realized after talking about Firescald Knob that I haven’t mentioned too many places by name. There are certainly a lot of unique names along the AT. Another memorable one was Chunky Gal Trail somewhere back near Georgia. Big Butt was pretty average and lacked any kind of views. Coming down from there the trail joined up to a gravel road for a mile and a half making for some quick walking. After a small hill there was about three miles of relatively flat, smooth ground – I flew through that part moving about as quick as I have the whole trail. The last big section of the day was a three mile long climb to Frozen Knob. Basically, the day began at about 4200 feet and ended at about 4200 feet, but dipped down to 2900 feet. One big day of PUD (pointless up and downs).
Near the end of the day, back in the lush high-elevation vegetation the trail was almost thick with butterflies. Blue and black, they would stay in the same general area even as I passed through, flying in groups of two or three straight up then returning downward. Other than the butterflies there wasn’t much to see again today. I saw only one southbound hiker today in almost 15 miles. At Hogback theres a total of four people, myself, Strider, Sir Stooge, and an older guy camping a ways away. Feet still feeling better than they have, but I’m still looking forward to Erwin. Still two more days to get there, luckily the foodbag and backpack are getting lighter every day.