OT Mile 223.2
Miles Hiked 197.7
Elevation 456 feet
Miles Hiked Today 13.0
The title “… The End” almost didn’t happen. A wild storm blew in at 3:30 a.m. It afforded me the opportunity to see a test of the Scott Tarvin Shelter, where I spent the night. Fortunately, I stayed dry. The shelters on the Appalachian Trail are three-sided like those on the Ouachita Trail, but they don’t have an extended roof like the shelters on the OT do. That extended roof last night kept rain from blowing into the shelter. That more than anything kept me dry.
There was no way I was going to start hiking in a driving rain. So I got up late, packed all my gear and just hung around the shelter. At 9:00 a.m., conditions were better to move on. The rain was more a drizzle than a storm, and I thought I could handle that. In preparation, I put on my long underwear. The expectation was that I would get wet no matter what, but the wool underwear would at least keep me warm.
In the previous day’s blog, I mentioned that the trail looked flat all the way to the end. Well, I was wrong. There were numerous gaps, which necessitated steep descents to the gap, and then a steep ascent out of the gap. A few of them were so steep that I kept sliding backwards on the leaves that were wet from the rain.
Once again, water and it’s availability are problem. The last water I got was yesterday, and the water sources today are limited. There was one pond, which I came upon, but there were so many leaves and mud around the edges, that I would have had to wade into the pond to get water. As luck would have it, there was about a liter of water in a jug sitting on the trail at noon just after my encounter with the aforementioned pond. I took the water and planned to stretch it out to the end of the trail.
Aside from the problem with water, the rocks have returned with a vengeance, again. This didn’t help my progress or speed as I moved down the trail. Everything is wet from the storm, and my feet kept slipping on the wet leaves and rocks.
The trail did flatten out eventually in the afternoon, and I picked up speed on the way to the end. About 4:00 p.m., I was about 1/2 mile from the eastern terminus of the trail. The last part of the trail went up a couple of hundred feet and was very steep. It was so steep in fact that the trail had steps in it rather than requiring a climb up through the rocks and dirt. That while strenuous, got me to the end finally.
So now I’m finished, and it’s about 4:30 p.m. imagine my shock when I reached the trailhead and it was practically deserted. There was a huge parking lot for cars, but there were only two cars. The visitor center was permanently closed, and it’s replacement was more than a 3 mile hike. Had I tried to undertake that hike I would certainly have arrived there well past dark and most likely after the visitor center closed.
I really didn’t have an exit strategy for when I complete the trail. The thought was I would just call an Uber and have them take me to a motel room I reserved last night. When my progress was slowed down by the trail conditions, my concern was that plan may not be feasible.
I started walking down the road from the trailhead parking lot. The nearest highway with any traffic at all was highway 300, which I had crossed several times during the day. However now it was miles away. The thought crossed my mind that I just might be sleeping tonight on the road leading up to the trailhead.
Continuing to walk down the trailhead road, I came upon another parking lot. This parking lot had one truck in it, and there was a bicycle leaning against the truck. Clearly, someone was loading the bicycle into the truck to leave since it was so late. Certainly they’re not going biking this late in the day when it turns dark in about 30 minutes.
I walked over to the truck and asked the owner if he would give me a ride. He consented and asked me where I was going, which is a hotel downtown. He said that is where he is heading, so he’ll take me all the way. What luck! I went from spending the night at the trailhead to getting a free ride all the way to the hotel. Sometimes you just live right.
The day and the through hike ended with me being dropped off at the Comfort Inn downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. What a day. And the through hike wasn’t bad either.
