We hiked Gregory Bald Trail back to the bald to discover a much different place. After the bald, the trail was uninspiring. The trail became interesting when we intersected the Appalachian Trail. We ended the night Birch Spring Gap Campground with a travel story to swap with friends involving a mama bear and her cubs and meeting good people.
Gregory Bald wore a much different dress this morning. The bald greeted us with a veil which reminded me of fairytale or a dream state. Visibility dropped to below fifty feet. Cades Cove disappeared. The mountains around us hid behind the veil of misty fog. This will not be the only of surreal moments, almost magical, moments.
We left the misty grassy bald and returned under the canopy. The sun ate away of the dense fog. We found the trail uninspiring until we met up with the Appalachian Trail (AT). Two-thirds through the section, we came across a fork in the trail not found on the map. A sign was posted that prohibited horses but nothing else. Curious. We took the left fork. At the crossroads, we took a break and Lucky Foot discovered a slug creeping down a tree. He wouldn’t have seen it if he weren’t stretching.
We found another sign at the head of an unmarked trail prohibiting horses. We assumed that it was the same trail we met earlier. In retrospect, I speculate that it is a side trail that lead to water and Brier Lick Knob.
This section of the AT lazily strolled through the Smokies. We stumbled across a bear on this relatively easy hike. We frightened the bear more than he frightened us. As soon as we spotted each other, the bear ran the opposite direction from where we were coming. I told the others and all they saw was a black blur heading for cover. We stepped back a bit while the bear watched us. We continued on and informed a group going the opposite direction of what we saw.
Birch Spring Gap Campground visually stunned me. All the photographs taken failed to portray what we experienced. The trail descended into the campground. A central campfire ring acted as a gathering place to cook and talk. A spring provided hikers and riders drink as well as carved a small stream. The campsites were scattered about. 
The campground remained quiet and still until a second group of hikers strolled in as the sun was setting. We met Mark, Brian, “Rand McNally”, and Josh.
Mark lives not to far from us in Elkhart, IN. He has been the AT in sections. It is one of two goals he has in his life. He accomplished his goal of riding his bicycle cross country a couple of years ago. He rode from Eugene, Oregon to Bar Harbor, Maine. That must have been an exciting journey. It is very inspirational and something I’ve never considered doing…until now.
Rand McNally, Brian, and Josh started their thru hike when school ended and plan to push as far north as possible before school starts. In addition to doing the AT, they’re raising money and awareness for the Northwest Pennsylvania Autism Society. For more information, you can check out their Facebook group, Awareness Trail. As I said yesterday, good people on these trails.
If it weren’t for a mama bear and her three cubs, we wouldn’t have learned about their back story at all. We planned to go to bed early because the dark does crazy things to people’s minds, there isn’t much a person can do, and we wanted to wake up early to get to the next site. Lucky Foot and Nutty Cowboy decided to urinate in the toilet area behind our campsite. The walked about thirty feet past the tent and they heard a twig snap. I saw them froze and we heard rustling. Suddenly, a growl from a bear sent shivers up my back. My heart froze for a moment. We couldn’t see her. Lucky Foot and Nutty Cowboy step back towards the tent. Nutty Cowboy and I turned for the campfire ring where the four were getting ready for dinner. When we looked back, Lucky Foot was still walking backwards away from the scene. The last thing I wanted to meet was a protective mama bear. It’s time to consider busting out the WAG bags for out next trip.
They are an entertaining bunch. They shared a lot of their trail stories. They also told us about the amazing view on an old fire tower on Shuckstack just south of the campground. They are a group of amazing guys.
While Rand McNally was learning to cook, the three AT hikers bantered and shared stories. On their hike, they met up with a girl hiking the AT alone. They took her under their wing so she wasn’t alone and she had the protection of the group. The became their unofficial little sister. If I remember correctly, she was the same girl with the trail name ‘Bear Bait’ because she was slept with food in her tent and she had strawberry scented body wash. She wasn’t present at the campground. She went off the trail to visit her uncle for a few days. 
My favorite story was about the Canadian. The Canadian decided to hike the AT with his buddy. To prepare, he spent months growing his beard out. His gung ho attitude lasted four days. He went back to Canada and he buddy is still hiking up the AT. He invested more time growing his beard out than he lasted on the AT. Josh thought that saying does ring true about the American flag, “These colors don’t run.” HILARIOUS! I wonder what the Canadian told his buddy when he got back. How did he break the news to his buddy that he’s flaking out and leaving the trail?
Around ten in the evening drops of water fell from the sky. We headed back to our tent hoping mama bear decided to take her cubs to a different part of the National Park. He head to Shuckstack and campground 92 on Long Hungry Ridge Trail on Day 4.
outstanding write up. This is a sweet one to ponder and reflect.