Pisgah National Forest, NC

Plans change, but sometimes that just works out for the best. We had intended to hike a section of the AT Hot Springs and Erwin as a shakedown hike. However it was well over 100 degrees during our weekend in Hot Springs. Being up on the top of a ridgeline with limited access to water and potential afternoon thunderstorms just didn't sound so much fun in those temperatures. I know I'm supposed to be testing myself and especially my knee, but we're going to be doing enough suffering the elements during the actual AT hike. I'd just as soon concentrate on testing my knees for a couple of days as my sweat glands!

Ed and Karen suggested that hiking in the Pisgah NF would provide the terrain we needed to test out my knee, plus provide a number of pleasant loop hikes along creeks that would probably be more fun. I was easily convinced. They offered their houise to us for a night, during which time we poured over maps and selected a couple of trails to try.

In the late afternoon we set out for Harper Creek. We arrived around 6pm and hiked a mile or so before making camp. We were very lucky to see first a single blue firefly and then several of them, glowing long and low to the ground. They are quite rare and we felt very lucky to see them. Soon after that we were hurried to bed by a thunderstorm. We had agreat couple of days hiking in and around the creek, up steep slippery ravine slopes, through rocky boulder creeks and over slickrock. Best of all we really had no schedule and ended up relaxing away the hot afternoons by the creek resting and swimming in waterholes.

My knee has proved itself: it's borne the weight of the pack, it's been jolted, twisted, jerked and put under strain under realistic backpacking conditions and it's acted just like a knee should. I have no pain or swelling. It's time to quit lollygagging around and get ourselves up to Katahdin to start hiking the Appalachian Trail!