Got up and fixed oatmeal for breakfast, rather than wait for the store to open at 8:00.   We were supposed to get a shuttle back up to the trail, but the owners of Mountain Mama's, John and Carolyn Thigpen, left for an appointment and there was no one to take us.   No way was I walking back up that steep, windy road, just to turn around and walk back down to the river again.  As a section hiker this summer, there's not as much pressure to be a "purist" about white blazes.  Since the road in front of Mountain Mama's follows the river and intersects the trail at I-40 in about the same distance (only flat), we opted for the road.  It was a beautiful morning, so the walk was pleasant.

Normally, I-40 would have traffic whipping by, but not today.  Last week a rockslide closed down a short section of the freeway.  It's been under repair, but the job turned out to be much larger than first anticipated, and there's no telling when it will re-open.  The closure has caused major traffic hassles for the locals, and rerouted trips for the tourists.  However, for us, it meant a quiet trail.

Our flat walking ended abruptly after entering the woods beyond I-40.  We had a 3,000 foot climb up to the top of Snowbird Mtn.  It was over 6 miles,  but it was also one of those mountains with saddle after saddle, and it seemed to go on forever.   We kept expecting the top to be just after the next climb, then after the next climb... By mid morning the humidity was on the rise, which only made it worse.  We knew there was an FCC VOR transmitter for air traffic control on the summit, so figured we were finally getting close when we could hear the electronic hum.  Just before the top, a truck roared by on a parallel road.  When we got up to the transmitter, a grandfather was up there showing his grandson around.  It hardly seems fair that we worked so hard to struggle up to the top, and they just hopped in the truck and drove up.

It was only a couple miles further to Groundhog Creek Shelter, so we headed down there for a long lunch break.  Cooked our big meal there and rested a bit, since we knew we'd probably have to dry camp tonight.  Our destination was Max Patch Mtn, and it was unlikely we'd have a nearby water source.

The afternoon was mostly a long gradual climb up to the next ridge leading to Max Patch, with an up and over Hawk's Roost, down to Brown's Gap, then up and up and up.   The afternoon was wonderful.  It was humid, but not too hot, and the trail was beautiful.  There were no water sources along the way, so we had to watch how much we drank, but figured we'd find a place to stock up before the night.

About 4:30, we met two older men sitting on a rock, looking very hot and tired.   They'd been hiking since 7:00 this morning, and had planned to stop and fix a big meal, but alas - no water.  They were hiking with a third, younger man who had gone on ahead to scout out the water situation.  By now, they were ready to string him up in a tree for dragging them out here.  They told us (only half joking), that if we saw him, to smack him with our hiking sticks for them.  We caught up to the friend in just a few minutes, but since his friends were so close behind, we figured we wouldn't smack him.  Just wouldn't have seemed neighborly.  There were several campsites nearby, so they shouldn't have too far to go.

Just past Max Patch Road we crossed a lovely rhododendron lined stream.  Stopped and drank our fill, then loaded up the water bottles and bag.  The summit of Max Patch was less than a mile further, so we strolled on up, enjoying the trail along the way.

This evening turned out to be one of the most memorable highlights of our trip.   Max Patch Mtn is one of the few remaining true balds on the southern AT.  And it's not even called a bald.  Go figure... This sharply contrasts the trail further south, where every other mountain is called a bald, and most of them haven't been bald in 20 to 50 years.  Max Patch is an expansive grass and wildflower covered open knob. It seems to roll on for miles with unobstructed vistas of the surrounding mountains in all directions.  It was truly breathtaking.  We pitched the tarp in the tall grass of the summit, and settled in for the evening.  After a brief rest and a snack, we ventured out again to explore.  Ronald's legs were a bit stiff, and my blisters were making their presence known, so we ambled slowly over the grassy trails.  Brandon had gone off exploring on his own, and when we met up with him again, he presented me with a bouquet of wildflowers.  He had carefully chosen one of every variety he found - daisies, buttercups, clover, dandelions, Queen Anne's lace, wild grasses, and several varieties I couldn't identify.  The scene was so picture perfect, I fully expected Julie Andrews to come running over the mountaintop at any moment, arms outstretched, singing "The hills are alive with the sound of music...".  She didn't, of course, but the feeling of elation was still unmistakable.

We discovered that this was a popular spot for evening walks and contemplating the sunset.  Several families and couples came by during the evening.  There is a parking area within .4 miles from the top, and several loop trails around the bald make it very accessible.

The sun set around 9:00, and we stood and watched the spectacular display of oranges, pinks and reds, as the glowing ball slowly descended behind a distant mountain, streaking the clouds with brilliant colors.  We crawled back in our sleeping bas which were softly cushioned by the grass, and fell asleep with a great feeling of satisfaction and contentment.

We awoke this morning to clear skies for the second morning in a row. I knew that generally meant warmer temperatures and was concerned about how it would affect us on the climb up Snowbird Mountain. With no one available at the store we proceed to the trailhead and off into the forest. At the crossing of I40 this morning it felt strange. A recent rock fall had closed the Interstate and there was no traffic traveling over it. Overhead ran four lanes of quite concrete.

Passed the interstate the trail was far better than I expected and significantly better than the Southern Smokies. The long beautifully graded trail was easy to traverse. There were occasional blow downs from the resent storms. Even they were easy to bypass. After one short break, we quickly passed the viewless summit and headed to Groundhog Shelter for lunch.

Today was not originally planned to be a long one. Since we lost a day on the 4^th and we wanted to camp somewhere with a good view, I figured Max Patch was our best shot. At sixteen plus miles, with two long climbs, I knew it would be ambushes. The last two days told us we were getting into shape. It would also get us into the position to make a possible run into Hot Springs tomorrow. I have vivid memories (and pictures) of our camp on Hump Mountain twenty years ago and I figured that with the right conditions, Max Patch would offer a similar experience.

A long big lunch gave us the rest needed to complete the hike to Max Patch. Our only difficulty was the climb out of Brown Gap. The profile indicated a steep climb. So we stopped in the gap for a candy bar. The punch from the candy did not last long, around two thirds way up I was dragging. After grinding in low gear for awhile, I made the ridge and the rest of the hike was fine.

A top the bald the views are beyond my expectation. Three hundred and sixty degree views in all directions looking on layers of ridges trailing off into the distance. Unlike most views like this, it is difficult to see any sign of civilization. Only one small house and a couple of clear cuts mar the view. This place gives me the greatest sense of wilderness on the trail so far. The bald is amazing. Covered in grass 18" tall and peppered with thousands of flowers in white, yellows, reds and blues. It extends down off the summit in all directions for at least a half-mile.

We had our tarp up by 6:00 and crawled in to grab some snacks and a bit of rest before the sunset. And what a sunset it was. I almost cried when I thought of how dumb I was by not carrying an extra battery for the camera. Such beauty surrounds us and I only my inadequate words to capture it.

As the sun began to settle the few clouds in the sky above turned bright orange. The ridges before us were bathed in shades gray as they stretched out before us. Almost as if it was as sea of mountains marching after the sun. After the sun sank beyond the last ridge, we crawled into our small world to prepare for tomorrow. This is truly a remarkable conclusion to a day on the trail.

We started off today with a two-mile road walk, which almost killed me. I was so tired at the end of that. It's so hard to walk on pavement because it gives no padding as your foot lands. It hurts your feet. After we got off the road it was better and I was not as tired. We had a lot of blowdowns to cross. My knee started to hurt on one of the downhills. The uphill was no very steep but extremely tiring. I had to stop a few times to catch my breath. I was overjoyed when we started walking along flat ground. We stopped to have a snack while it was flat. We thought we were about a mile from the top. It turned out to be further than expected. We just kept on hiking and finally got to the top where we looked at the view (it was a FCC VOR Transmitter in the middle of the trees). From there we headed down to Groundhog Creek Shelter where we had lunch. We had candy with lunch because we got some at Mountain Mama's.

After Lunch we continued on. This time up a six-mile climb to the top of Max Patch. We climbed then dropped then climbed then dropped into Brown Gap. We had expected water and camping there but we found neither. We stopped for a water and candy bar break, then headed on. The climb out of the gap was nice and gradual. About a mile past Brown Gap we passed two older guys sitting on a log and taking a break. They said there was water at Max Patch road. So we hike on to the water. We reached the road, found water and pumped three quarts plus more into our water bag. We had seen a sign that said eight tenths of a mile to the summit. We packed up and climbed to the top. From the summit was a 360-degree view of the mountains around. We pitched our tarp and watched the beautiful sunset. We walked around awhile and looked at the wild flowers before going to bed.