Appalachian Trail 2019, Day 7: Blue Mountain Shelter to Tray Mountain Shelter

Day seven brought the trail back to business - eight miles from Blue Mountain Shelter over Unicoi Gap and Rocky Mountain to Tray Mountain Shelter, with a cranky knee, a growing trail family, and a climb that hinted at the tougher days still ahead. Watch the video below, then read on for the details.

Recapping the Trail Diet

Before day seven got moving, a look back at how day six had gone on the food front: the usual oatmeal with protein powder and dried cherries for breakfast, trail mix and a Gatorade packet mixed into the water mid-morning, and lunch at Blue Mountain Shelter itself - taco rice with some dried moon cheese stirred in, which turned out surprisingly good. A Snickers bar covered the mid-afternoon slump, dinner was a Mountain House turkey casserole, and another Snickers closed things out for dessert. All told, it was a bigger eating day than most, plus the usual Emergen-C mixed into the water. Day seven beard check: coming in nicely.

Budgeting Ibuprofen for the Days Ahead

The knee was still nagging, and after being stingy with the ibuprofen the last few days, this morning called for two pills instead of the usual restraint - the next two days were shaping up to be the hardest of the trip elevation-wise, with steep ups and downs, and tomorrow's eleven mile day in particular needed a knee that could cooperate. That meant carefully rationing what was left: two now, save some for later today, and the rest for tomorrow. The one bright spot was the pack itself - it kept getting lighter as the food supply shrank, even with plenty left to eat, and after a full breakfast and fluids, one liter of water was plenty for the three-mile stretch ahead.

Unicoi Gap and New Trail Friends

By 9am, about two miles into the planned eight, the trail rolled into Unicoi Gap - not much there, but a good spot for a quick break, complete with a visitor information sign just like the one back on Springer Mountain, marking the Georgia border with Tennessee off in the distance and the day's route ahead to Tray Mountain Shelter. The trail family kept growing too: two guys named Jason from Texas showed up on camera, and a bit further on came Brooke and Dwayne, a genuinely funny, personable couple hiking a similar pace who'd likely cross paths again, along with a couple of thru-hikers filling up on water who were clearly moving faster.

Climbing Rocky Mountain

At 2,949 feet, Rocky Mountain delivered a properly steep climb - not quite Colorado, but still a solid grind for Georgia. The reward at the top was a wide view back over the ridgelines just crossed, a nice payoff before turning attention to the bigger climb still waiting: Tray Mountain itself, topping 4,400 feet and comparable to Blood Mountain back on day four.

Reaching Tray Mountain Shelter

The rest of the day was spent working up Tray Mountain, with an overlook partway up offering a glimpse of the ridge still to come and a cliff edge as a bonus. Near the top, the view opened up into something like ten layers of mountains stretching out in every direction - one of the better payoffs of the trip so far. The hillside was also thick with blueberry bushes, not ripe yet in May but clearly destined to be loaded come July. Eight miles down, Tray Mountain Shelter reached for the night.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow means an eleven mile push to Dick's Creek Gap, the longest day left on this stretch and one that will test the knee and the ibuprofen budget both. For now, though, a hard-earned camp at Tray Mountain, good trail company, and a reminder that the biggest climbs of the trip were still to come.