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Hershel started out on the Appalachian Trail two days before the rest of us. |  |
Off he goes. He had to hike 5 extra miles the first day because the forest road was blocked below the trail head. |
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Don and Billy going over our trail route. |  |
Here is out hiking crew. Daniel, Michael, Curt, David, Michael, Don, and Hershel. How come Don and I are the only ones smiling? What's up with teenage boys anyway? |
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There was a lot of clear water along the trail. |
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This was the first of two snakes I saw along the trail. He was bigger in the middle then the ends. He was probably sunning after a meal. |
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The wild flowers along the trail were beautiful. This is a Spiderwort. |  |
Trillium is one of my favorite wild flowers. |
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The Flame Azalea were also beautiful. |  |
This sign points the way to the first shelter. |
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This is Siler Bald Shelter. Captain Blood has his back to us. He is a Fireman in Alabama when not on the trail. |  |
Supper at the shelter. At the table are Michael and David, Don, Curt, and Daniel. Other tents can be seen in the background. |
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This plaque shows the elevation of Siler Bald. We should have been able to see for miles from here. |  |
Because of the fog, we could only see a few yards. |
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This was taken from the Wayah Bald fire tower el. 5,342. Daniel is eating lunch in the fog and rain. |  |
After walking most of the day in the rain, the sky began to clear in the late afternoon. |
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Even clearer a little later. |  |
This is Cold Springs Shelter, our second shelter. |
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Here we did most of our cooking on a ledge at the end of the shelter. |  |
Hershel shares his vittles. One of his trail friends taught him now to make a mean opossum. |
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Hershel's trail friend also told him these mushrooms went well with opossum. |  |
It seemed like this salamander was standing guard over the water hole at Cold Springs Shelter. |
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This is a picture of our fire. I took it with no flash. |  |
I prefer my tent to shelters because I do not like sleeping with mice. This is my tent above Cold Sprint Shelter. |
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Daniel is walking into the sun from a Mountain Laurel tree tunnel. |  |
The Appalachian Trail wore out my new boots. |