Benton MacKaye Section Hike

In the Fall of 2020 after thru-hiking the Pinhoti Trail I continued on to Springer Mountain on the Benton MacKaye Trail. And since I have to finish every trail I start, I returned to the BMT in May of 2021 to finish her up. I got back on the trail at mile 74, just after the Pinhoti Trail Northern Terminus and headed North. I covered just over 180 miles in 10 days and got off trail in the Smokies due to foot problems with just 30 miles to go. I then was away for 5 months and on my way back South I stopped in the Smokies to finish the trail. I enjoyed being in the Smokies at different times this past year, getting to see it in both Spring and Fall. I didn’t care for the Smokies when I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, but the BMT through the Smokies along Fontana Lake and beyond was a completely different Smokies experience. For one, there’s so much water! I think I crossed more creeks in the Smokies on the BMT than I did on the whole AT! Plus, there is much more of a historical and cultural element to the BMT than on the AT. Early on in the hike along Fontana Lake there were rusted abandoned cars from the early 1900s along the trail. After walking 10 miles into the park I came across a full blown house, and here I thought I was deep in the park, deep in the woods but low and behold there’s a house. Built in 1928, Calhoun House is one of the only structures remaining from the town of Proctor that was located there before the Smokies was a national park. Now there is a campsite where there once was a mill town in the early 20th century. You could see remnants of the train and old roadbeds. Also, many of the bigger creeks had big steel bridges spanning them. It was such a sight to see when you are many miles in to what you think is a wilderness area.

Back in May on the second night in the Smokies I had the pleasure of camping near a group of women out for one night. I joined their group for conversation and was able to get the names for different plants and flowers I had taken pictures of along the way (check out this separate post with pics-Benton MacKaye Trail Flora). One of the ladies just so happened to be writing an article about Benton MacKaye for the Smoky Mountain News and asked to interview me about why I was hiking the trail. She included a picture of me in her write-up, which you can find here (The 100-Year Trail: A Century After Benton MacKaye Proposed It, Millions Enjoy the A.T. Each Year).

**AT THE NORTHERN TERMINUS OF THE BENTON MACKAYE TRAIL**

Another notable memory from hiking in the Smokies was the night I stayed at Campsite 57 Bryson Place. I met two other women there who were thru-hiking the BMT as well as a father and son duo starting out on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The ladies went to bed early and so when I heard one of them talking around 8:30 that night I peered out my tent. I could only catch the words “tree limb” so I assumed one must have fallen on her tent. Just moments later she came by to tell me that a bear had come into camp and swiped at her tent causing a hole in her rainfly. She said the bear was a juvenile and that she scared it off. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night due to trying to listen in case the bear came back. See, whenever I hear a noise that I think might be an animal, all I do is roll around on my sleeping pad which makes an obnoxious noise, to scare the animal away. I awoke with a start around 1:30 the next morning to the man shouting and immediately I knew the bear had come back in camp. After that I counted down the minutes until it was light enough so I could start hiking. In the morning, I talked to him and he verified that the bear had swiped at his tent. I tried to reassure him that this wasn’t a common occurrence since he was just starting his trek. Of all my times backpacking this was the first time there was a bear encounter at my campsite. Sure, I’ve scared bears away from shelters on the AT as a ridgerunner, but I’ve never had a first-hand account like this before.

MAY 2021

Day 1: 15.4miles to MM89.8

Day 2: 23.4 miles to MM 113.2

Day 3: 22.5 miles to MM135.7

Day 4: 20.8 miles to MM156.5

Day 5: 10.8 miles to 167.3 Resupply

Day 6: 17.8 miles to 185.1

Day 7: 22.6 miles to 207.6 Enter Smokies. Stay at Campsite 86 Proctor Field

Day 8: 21.6 miles to MM229.2 Campsite 74 Lower Forney Creek

Day 9: 17.2 miles to MM 246.4 Campsite 57 Bryson Place

Day 10: 12.2 miles to 258.5 (Newfound Gap Rd.) Got off trail

NOVEMBER 2021

Day 1: 19.17 miles to MM277.7 Laurel Gap Shelter

Day 2:12 miles to MM289.7 Baxter Creek Trailhead/Northern Terminus

BMT Profile written for The Trek, March 2022

“The Benton MacKaye Trail: 290 Secluded Miles in the Southern Appalachians”

With shorter days in November I was still able to push for a 19 mile day on my first day back in the Smokies. I had about 6000ft of elevation gain and 3000ft loss to reach Laurel Gap Shelter for the night. It was the first shelter I’ve stayed in since 2016 on the Long Trail in Vermont. After an unusually warm day in the lower 70s, the nightime low only reached about 40, but I was toasty in my Montbell zero degree bag. So toasty in fact, that I had to take my puffy off during the night and push down the hood on my sleeping bag leaving my head exposed to the cool night air.

The next morning I reached Mount Sterling, the high point on the BMT at 5829ft, and even climbed up the fire tower in windy conditions. Since there was rain moving in it was completely socked in and I couldn’t see any views from the top. Just north of the peak is probably my favorite section of the trail, truly magical moss covered boulders and evergreens, basically where woodland fairies live. It’s my favorite kind of forest to walk through. I had a long descent of 4000ft over six miles to reach Baxter Creek Trailhead.

While stomping through crunchy leaves about a mile before reaching the northern terminus I practiced intentional gratitude. It’s become somewhat of a tradition of late at the completion of a long hike to thank my body and go through everything that got me to be there for which I am grateful for. And per usual, the act overwhelmed me to tears as I relished in the glorious setting and felt perfectly in the present moment. How great is it that I get to do this! …There’s no sign indicating the northern terminus at the bridge so I plopped down right in front of the trail sign and watched as other hikers packed up their gear to go on their very own adventure.

MAY 2021

NOVEMBER 2021