McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 11/13/2024 | AT Mile 1692.9 | Day Total: 20.1 miles | Gain: 4789 ft

Cool 37 degree morning. Made breakfast in my tent after retrieving some water and my food from the bear box. After packing up I preformed some acrobatics through the dozen blowdown back to the trail.

Started the morning with a blood warming 1000ft climb. Lots of uncut blowdowns the whole way up. Some were a bit tricky to navigate.

Beautiful day today! It’s cool enough to hike in pants without overheating. I was on the ridge for a half mile before I slowly climbed down. There was a nice view through the trees along the ridge.

After some bumps in elevation I made it to Comers Creek Falls. Flowing quite well and was an easy rock hop across.

4 miles later I made it to the junction to Hurricane Mountain Shelter. It about half way up the mountain. I sat down on a large rock next to the creek for lunch. Creek was flowing really well too!

After the shelter I was walking through some rhododendron. I crossed by two guys both of which seemed ill prepared and possibly homeless.

As I made my way down towards Fox Creek there was an uprooted tree right in the middle of the trail. Crews must have been in this area because it was leveled and had a log retaining wall.

After crossing Fox Creek I climbed up Pine Mountain. I passed by and filled out the logbook for Old Orchard Shelter. Lots of good tents spots here.

As I got closer to the top the trail back more rocky and I began to see ferns and moss. I felt like I was back in Maine.

At the very top of Pine Mountain there was a gate that opened up to a vast grassy field. It was very pretty!

I walked briefly walked through the woods again before emerging into The Scales. It’s a fenced in horse corral.

I continued through the meadow along Stone Mountain keeping an eye out for ponies. It’s very windy up here and pretty exposed so I threw another layer on. While I walked through the meadow a loud swooshing sound emanated from the sky. A jet soared right above me! A minute later I heard it again and this time I was ready and snapped a few pictures. It was near spun 90 degrees arching a large turn.

After waking through the meadow for over a mile I thought I may not see any ponies. But sure enough, right before I left through the gate I spotted some! They were concentrated on grazing at the grass. After turning the corner I was able to count a total of 7.

I began walking down to where the shelter is. I would come in and out of small meadows as I got nearer. I also crossed a few creeks up here as well. The creek right before the shelter had surged 4-5ft when Helene come through because the area surrounding the crossing had a few inches of fresh sand on it.

I grabbed some water at Big Wilson Creek and carried it two minutes to the shelter just in the other side. I’m going to spend the night in the shelter tonight because it’s going to rain sometime around 3-4am. I don’t want to have to pack up in the rain especially when it’s near freezing. I wouldn’t be surprised if it snows a little.

I unpacked my bag and cooked some dinner. Marion didn’t have many dinner options aside from Ramon and dehydrated meals. I decided so pick up a dehydrated meal and give it a go. I was really good! Maybe not practical for a whole thru hike but it was delicious.

I settled into my sleeping bag after dinner and journaled. I’m nearly finished and it’s 7:15… probably going to be early bed time tonight. Tomorrow is going to be really interesting between the rain, cold and navigating the closure.