Foggy Days

It should read: "Welcome to the Fog Trail. No trace of you will be found in this fog if you get lost. Have a nice day."

There wasn't very much to see on our 12 mile hike today, not because we weren't paying attention or because it was uninteresting, but because we literally couldn't see more than 20 yards around us for most of the day. A thick fog had set in by the time we started hiking today, and it didn't disperse the entire time we were out. The fog in the mountains always gives the forest a very eerie quality, which, along with the dark green forest and the huge, slick rocks all over the trail, made me feel like I was walking through a place Tolkein would've written about.

Climbing the magical rockpile. I really do need to invest in some rock climbing lessons. Preferably with someone who has experience with very wet, very slippery rocks.

This section included Humpback Mountain and Humpback Rocks, which are very popular with locals and day hikers for their amazing views. Unfortunately, we hit them on a day when the whole mountain was covered in fog, so the only view we had was of a blanket of white.

Foggy Rocks.

The Hunchback of Humpback Mountain?

After putting on my poncho, more to keep myself warm in the mist rather than to stay dry, and battling with some minor navigational discrepancies (the GPS we carry insisted we weren't on the AT...our guidebook insisted we were...hilarity ensued...), we finally made it to Humpback Gap on the northern side of Humpback Mountain. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as we made it to the gap, the fog started to clear. I wish we'd been able to see some of the views, but you can't win them all. I was just glad to make it down without breaking an ankle on one of the slicker-than-glass rocks we crawled over. The Professor and his Wife picked us up with the Trail Angel Mamma and we had some good local burgers and ice cream, so overall, another successful day on the AT.

Standing tall at Humpback Gap. With a little help from my friend concrete post.