Appalachian Trail 2019, Day 6: Low Gap Shelter to Blue Mountain Shelter

After the up-and-down miles of the last few days, day six was a gift - a flat, easy seven miles from Low Gap Shelter to Blue Mountain Shelter. A sticky night, a cranky knee, and a walk through rhododendron tunnels made for one of the more relaxed days of the trip. Watch the video below, then read on for how the day unfolded.

A Sticky Night at Low Gap

The air turned more humid and warmer overnight, with a few sprinkles rolling through camp at Low Gap Shelter. Nothing dramatic, but the extra heat and moisture meant I spent half the night managing my temperature inside the sleeping bag instead of just sleeping through it. The other lingering issue was my left knee - the ibuprofen wasn't really knocking it out. The good news was the day's mileage: flat and short, and it's downhill that aggravates the knee, not climbing, so I wasn't too worried about having to change my plans.

Recapping the Trail Diet

Before getting into day six, a quick look back at how the food had been going. Day five started with a frozen cheeseburger microwaved at the cabin and a Welch's grape juice, trail mix for a mid-morning snack, and lunch at Cowrock Mountain - a tortilla with almond butter and dried apple slices (no free Chick-fil-A, unfortunately). Dinner was a Mountain House beef stroganoff, one of my favorites of the trip, and I'd been mixing a Gatorade packet into my water each morning and an Emergen-C in the afternoon. Still no concerns about running low - if anything I was carrying a little more food than I needed, but I felt like I'd finally dialed in the right amount.

Rhododendron Tunnels and Ridge Walking

About a mile into the day there weren't any scenic overlooks yet - just a quiet, tranquil walk through the woods along what felt like a ridge running between mountains. By around the three mile mark the trail turned into tunnel after tunnel of rhododendron, thick enough that it dimmed the light even though the morning was already a little overcast. The sun kept peeking through more as the day went on, and I couldn't really complain - we hadn't had a full day of rain the whole trip, even if walking through gray, tunnel-like sections wasn't the most uplifting scenery.

Settling in at Blue Mountain Shelter

With such a short, flat day, I figured I'd roll into camp around 1pm unless something convinced me to stop and linger - and that gave me a long, easy afternoon to rest the knee before a tougher eight mile day of ups and downs tomorrow. Blue Mountain Shelter turned out to be a pretty typical setup: a shelter, bear cables, a privy off to one side, and a water source about a tenth of a mile away. This one skipped the usual loft, but had a cooking table and bench under an open-faced structure, along with a log book tucked in a tube, some posted regulations, and a broom - plus all the usual spots to hang food bags for the night. Everyone from Low Gap ended up making the same short trip, so it was a familiar crew catching up again at camp, along with a couple more thru-hikers passing through.

Looking Ahead

A few of the previous nights had been spent down near creeks at lower elevation, where you can't really see the sun come up. Camped higher at Blue Mountain, I was looking forward to actually catching a sunrise for once. A short, easy day, a rested knee, and good company at camp - exactly what I needed before tackling the bigger climbs ahead.