{"id":311,"date":"2014-05-04T20:27:55","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T00:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hnatow.com\/wordpress-happytrails\/?p=311"},"modified":"2014-05-04T20:27:55","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T00:27:55","slug":"day-19-spanish-oak-gap-to-bluff-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hnatow.com\/happytrails\/?p=311","title":{"rendered":"Day 19 – Spanish Oak Gap to Bluff Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had a much nicer night sleeping in the tarp and not at very high elevation. Our first ascent was up Snowbird Mountain. The FAA has a tower up there (looks like the one off Seemsville Road for my homies) and also apparently maintains the “bald” aspect by keeping it relatively mowed. It created a different atmosphere to the trail vs. the normal forest look. <\/p>\n

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Approach to Snowbird summit<\/p><\/div>\n

Later in the day we summitted another even cooler looking bald called Max Patch. I think we were hiking in an area that used to be primarily used for agriculture because it had some old cattle fences and barbed wire and such. In any case, it had some unique views and looks. It seemed to be a pretty popular destination for day hikers, too.<\/p>\n

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Approach to Max Patch summit<\/p><\/div>\n

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On Max Patch<\/p><\/div>\n

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More Max Patch<\/p><\/div>\n

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Old pastures off Max Patch I think?<\/p><\/div>\n

There was also a third mountain (Walnut) with a mostly clear summit. <\/p>\n

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Walnut Mountain summit<\/p><\/div>\n

Pretty cool stuff today again. This trail is amazing.
\nHowever…all that mountain crap pales in comparison to getting trail magic for the 3rd straight day!!! Can you believe that??? (You probably can…) Just before climbing Max Patch, the same people from Georgia that made us breakfast on Friday were set up in a fairly obscure gap and making sandwiches and snacks for hikers again. (Correction from the other day – they are Littlefoot’s parents, not Dandelion…I can’t keep trail names straight.) OMG these people are the freaking best and are so super super nice. They go by Old Goat and Granny. <\/p>\n

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Granny, Old Goat, and Trippy<\/p><\/div>\n

I’m just amazed at the awesome generosity we’ve encountered so far. So very cool. <\/p>\n

We found a flat spot in an old road bed on the north side of Bluff Mountain and finished up the day after hiking around 21 miles total. Another outstanding day of hiking. Tomorrow we’ve got around 9 miles or so to get in to Hot Springs for some trail town chilling. After hiking almost 100 challenging miles in the last 5 days we are ready for it!<\/p>\n

Vital stats :<\/strong>
\nMood – trail magical
\nPhysical state – feets be sore for sure
\nSmell – mountain fresh (aka very dead goat)
\nSong stuck in my head – mashup of Story of my life by 1d and Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus (yea it’s as bad as it sounds)<\/p>\n

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