The kid's were out of school for Good Friday recently, so we took them backpacking on the Appalachian Trail near Tray Mountain. Here they are at Tray Gap about a mile from the summit.
Even the dog was having a great time at Tray Gap and went straight for a mega muddle puddle at the cross-roads. Three 4×4 Jeeps did the same and entertained the kids before we hit the Trail. All got a good smattering of mud as you can see below… Uh, I gotta sleep with that?
We considered camping closer to Tray Mountain Shelter (where I slept during my thru-hike – 20 years to the day), but with inclement weather coming in opted for a campsite South on the A.T. with this view back to Tray Mountain.
We had about an hour to get our tents set-up, but the wind and heavy rain came as predicted. So off we went to Helen, GA for dinner – we might as well dine in comfort!
True to the Bavarian tourist theme, you can get a bratwurst and beer in this town. And we did…beats cooking in the rain, eh.
Then back to our oasis in the monsoon. Fortunately, Ken gathered and covered wood in advance of the storm. Damn that fire feels nice!
But will the kids make it through the night?? I'll let you guess on that one.