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40 years ago today: Took a few days off at home. From 5/10/83: The trail down the other side of Standing Indian was fascinating. We followed wide, grassy paths (old woods roads) along a frequently narrow ridge crest through countless thickets of rhododendron.

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#backpacking #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #hiking #landscapephotography #North Carolina #mountains #photography #AppalachianTrail #adventure #trails

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 Because Baker Peak lacked the commercial development of Bromley, this became my favorite vista of the day and a fitting climax to a near-perfect hike.
#backpacking #landscapephotography #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #hiking #nature #forest #vermont #mountains

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Despite the overcast, it was still remarkably warm for the place and the season. I followed the stream for more than two miles through mature forests, past a progression of cascades and waterfalls. There were tall pines and blazing maples and birches along the banks.
#backpacking #landscapephotography #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #hiking #maine #mountains #forest

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After a brief leveling-off, the #AppalachianTrail scaled the steep stone wall of the south face of Baldpate’s main summit. It was a grueling climb coming so soon after that initial ascent to the ridge, but worthwhile in every respect.
All the way up, I had outstanding views of the west peak, with Grafton Notch and Old Speck in the background.
#backpacking #hiking #outdoors #landscapephotography #nature #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #Maine #mountains #forest

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The #AppalachianTrail journeyed through a landscape of twisted masses of rhododendron jungles breached by small, rocky streams bordered by profusions of growth, even wilder and more densely entangled. At times, the trail was a tunnel, completely encircled by rhododendron, their thickly interwoven branches forming walls and a roof.
#backpacking #hiking #outdoors #landscapephotography #nature #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #NorthCarolina #mountains #forest

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 I struggled on through a haze of pain and fatigue until almost dark, but I only made thirteen miles to a campsite located on the site where an old “cheese factory” once stood, high on a ridge far up
#backpacking #hiking #landscapephotography #nature #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #georgia #mountains #Forest

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 I struggled on through a haze of pain and fatigue until almost dark, but I only made thirteen miles to a campsite located on the site where an old “cheese factory” once stood, high on a ridge far up
#backpacking #hiking #landscapephotography #nature #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #georgia #mountains #Forest

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 The ascent of Little Bigelow was gradual and the new trail well laid-out. The AT reached the ridgeline of the mountain and traversed a series of rocky knobs, several of which had open ledges.
#backpacking #landscapephotography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures #maine

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The trail down the other side of Standing Indian was fascinating. We followed wide, grassy paths (old woods roads) along a frequently narrow ridge crest through countless thickets of rhododendron.
#backpacking #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #hiking #landscapephotography #North Carolina #mountains

From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 I left the shelter at 5:30. An abundance of sharp rocks along the trail this afternoon had left my feet in sad shape. The final two miles to the motel trod paved rural roads.
#backpacking #landscapephotography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures #virginia

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I traversed a swathe of beautiful, savage-looking rain forest in a lonesome valley carved by a stream which the AT crossed on a log footbridge. In the deepening twilight, I stumbled across a wide, grassy meadow carpeting a mountain pass called Burningtown Gap in a demented, rubber-legged race with nightfall. The final mile-and-a-quarter to Cold Spring Shelter was all climb,
#backpacking #landscapephotography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures #northcarolina

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 Appalachian Trail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 The grades moderated along the crest, and most of the final mile to the summit was a series of gradually-ascending terraces. Dark, soggy tundra was interspersed with ledges of naked rock dabbed with lichen.
#backpacking #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures #maine

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After Eisenhower, the trail descended into a col before another stiff climb up Mount Franklin, the first 5000-foot summit of the day. The sky had cleared very nicely by the time I reached this peak. I got some great shots of Mounts Monroe, Washington, and Clay (how did he get in there?) along the trail ahead.
#backpacking #photography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures

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After Eisenhower, the trail descended into a col before another stiff climb up Mount Franklin, the first 5000-foot summit of the day. The sky had cleared very nicely by the time I reached this peak. I got some great shots of Mounts Monroe, Washington, and Clay (how did he get in there?) along the trail ahead.
#backpacking #photography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 This mountain pass marked the onset of a long climb up to the summit of Wayah Bald which was the grueling climax of the ten-mile grind. Along the crest, the AT joined a paved road which had also ascended from Wayah Gap.
#backpacking #photography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures

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A lot of ups and downs along a rolling stretch of ridge crest brought us to Russell Field Shelter — a beautiful spot. Years ago, before these mountains became a national park, folks used to farm their ridgetops. The old farm fields have now been reclaimed by the patient forest, but trees covering them grow less densely and the woods are airier than the surrounding forests.
#backpacking #photography #backpackingadventures #hiking #hikingadventures

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The spruce gradually diminished in height as I ascended the narrow ridge crest. Soon, they were little more than stunted dwarfs, and I was surrounded by panoramic views. Eventually, the spruce disappeared altogether, giving way to alpine vegetation. This mainly consisted of a plant which resembled golden-brown grass, rock lichen, and low shrubs which grew out along the ground
#backpacking #hikingadventures #backpackingadventures #hiking #landscapephotography #nature

Next came some more road walking, which is not unpleasant in southern Virginia. You see many attractive little farms, and the locals are very friendly. Being from the northeast, my right middle finger still starts an automatic salute when a passing motorist honks, but then I remember where I am and turn the gesture into a friendly wave. More of My 1983 #AppalachianTrail Hike in Photos at https://www.georgesteffanos.com/places-i-ve-been #backpacking #photography #backpackingadventures #hiking

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At the bottom of the long descent from the Chairback range was the second-biggest water ford on the Appalachian Trail: the West Branch of the Pleasant River. 25 yards across and barely knee-deep, it was no real challenge to a backpacker who had so recently waded the Kennebec.
#photography #backpacking #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #hiking #landscapephotography

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From my book Then the Hail Came (A Humorous and Truthful Account of a 1983 #AppalachianTrail Thru-hike). Available on Amazon in paperback and eBook: https://amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6 The ranger on duty checked and informed me that lean-tos were available in Katahdin Stream Campground. As it was just 2:15, and Katahdin Stream was two miles closer to Baxter Peak, I reserved one.
#backpacking #backpackingadventures #hikingadventures #hiking #landscapephotography