Fri, Oct 30 2020 - A Vampires Tale :: Full Moon Night Backpacking on the AT (View Original Event Details)
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Night backpacking is my new JAM! We've all hiked or backpacked a bit in the dark, but the first full 12 miles in the full Blue Moonlight was AHHHHMAZING! Plus, I really liked the Fri-Sat overnight format...now I can go ride my bike on Sunday and not have to think about work!!
Anyway here's the nitty-gritty of it ::: A few of us met at Mellow Mushroom in Cumming at 6 had a proper pizza with fresh basil, peppers and 'shrooms from co-leader Mara's garden (the highlight and only food I took on this trip was that med 'za and 8 AB's) - at 8:30 we were at the trail head - that was loaded with a bunch of car camping maniac's that had a massive tent village just off the trail head at 9 pm we headed out right on schedule, it was a slow go for safety's sake but there was no rush to summit Blood Mountain as the FULL BLUE MOON was providing exactly what we had hoped for...light, lots of it. Photos were near impossible without over/under exposure and I opted to leave my pro photo gear at home. But we managed to get a lot of killer images and videos...here's a few I posted https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10224541961876013&set=pcb.10224541975316349
Mara was quick to point out the menopausal temperature fluctuations as we went up and down the valleys to Blood. Just about every trail side campsite was occupied with sleeping hikers and their dogs, after a grueling 9 miles we hit the summit of Blood only to be greeted with a moon-soaked vista that was priceless. The first full moon on Halloween in over 20 years. We hung out - I had some pizza and an ice cold AB and then we geared back up to head SoBo to Woods Hole. We made a group decision that we did NOT want to disrupt the campers that were already FAST asleep at WHS and made our way to the AT again and set up camp at the mouth of that shelter trail & AT. It was a great call considering it was already 03:30!!! William actually hauled a bunch of hand split oak, newspaper and dryer lint to ensure a proper way to warm up once camp was set. 4 hours later we called it a night! Or was that morning??? Either way it was time for sleep. I personally was up for 25 hours straight (Ryan I think had me by an hour with 26) as we wrapped the opening hike with I realized it was 7am...yes YOU READ THAT RIGHT..7am! 2.5 hours later we were up and at it again, with NO RUSH to break camp we made coffee (LOTS OF IT) ate some Halloween trail magic in the form of Snickers and for some (not me, I was still full from pizza & AB's) a proper breakfast. So, now later that same day -LOL- we headed back to Woody Gap and eventually home...everyone was safe, stronger and excited to have such a fun event behind them. After 13 hours of sleep I feel better myself and ready for the next one....until then cheers from Horhay & Mara!
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