Sunday, March 14th, 2021
We coined the Benton Mackaye Trail (BMT), the “B.M. Trail” or “Bowel Movement Trail”, after seeing copious amounts of scat wherever we went. It was funny to come across so much poop, but hardly any wildlife. There were plenty of water sources at our disposal through this section, so we were free to be picky over which ones we’d fill up at. Poop, water, and rocks covered the trail, and the rocky terrain was killing my blistered feet.
We met up at the Tellico Trout Hatchery after passing several fly fishermen. As we sat by the closed visitor center, we discussed the many horrible songs that were getting stuck in our heads as we hiked. Frisbee thought it would be funny to get the “Pink Panther” theme stuck in our heads. This was overpowered by his next song on the BMT soundtrack, Third Eye Blind’s, “Semi-Charmed Life”. This tune would haunt us the remainder of the trail, in a bad way!
After a brief road walk, we began a steep climb followed by a obstacle course downhill, climbing over blowdowns, crossing streams and fording creeks. This day was taking a lot out of me. I was feeling pretty defeated.
We took a break at a campsite before climbing Rocky Top. After bumping along for a little while, we climbed back up to a ridge with a lake view below us. Next, we climbed to Round Top and reached the halfway point of our hike. I was feeling beat up, but at least we accomplished a milestone today. At mile 146.5, we hiked to the “Side Trail” where we set up camp for the night. We hung out and ate by our tarps until it started to get dark.
19.6 miles (31.5 km)
Jump Ahead to the Benton MacKaye Trail: Part 10
Jump Back to the Benton MacKaye Trail: Part 8
or
Start from the Beginning: Benton MacKaye Trail: Part 1
Stubbs Rambles On 