rjfmac

Benton Mackaye Finished!

After two attempts, 289 miles and 68,000 feet I arrived at the northern terminus of the Benton MacKaye Trail. Last year I made it to mile 127. This year I started at mile 127 and, after 2-1/2 weeks reached the end.

My first night after leaving my re-supply in Cherokee I camped with the only other north bound BMT thru-hiker I met on the trail… Flyover.

Me and Flyover, just two BMT thru-hikers

On my shuttle back to the trail from Cherokee I saw a couple of elk on the side of the road.

This last section (from Cherokee to the end) was three days so I had a light pack for the one 4,000 foot climb day.

One of many pretty streams in the park

The last 8 days were in Smoky National Park and that was definitely the highlight of the trail.

All my nights were spent at either designated (in the park) or random primitive camp sites. The sole exception was the last night, which was spent in a the lone shelter on the trail. This was also the only time it rained really hard.

And it was still raining (though not as hard) as I left the shelter.

I was joined in the shelter by four young men from Ohio doing a three day hike in the park.

I caught up with these fine gentlemen and they gave me a cold beer and a ride to Standing Bear Hostel. Now that was some real trail magic! I spent one night at the hostel before shuttling to the airport.

Laundry facilities, bunk and visitor at hostel

And no hike would be complete without at least one equipment failure…. On day 10 I blew out one of my crocs and had to do a field repair that lasted the rest of the hike.

Dental floss (and a needle) to the rescue

One final comment. While I was hiking deep in Trump country, both of my shuttle drivers were ardent anti-Trumpers and there were signs of discontent…

Sign of protest on one of the few road walks….

Benton Mackaye 2.0, BMT 192 to BMT 258

I left Fontana Village on my next section after a nice rest day, crossing over Fontana Dam…

.. and entering (finally!) Smoky Mountain National Park (SMNP).

Entering the Smoky Mountains National Park!

And saw this guy leaving Fontana Village….

This section (and the next) are entirely in the park and while the trail was pretty good (better than south of here), there were a lot of blow-downs (trees fallen over the trail).

As in the first week I was lucky with the weather – no rain and lots of sunshine. This was a five day section but the same distance as my 6 day first section so a few more miles per day.

Being in the park this part of the trail seems to have more maintenance. There were a lot of river wades but also these cool tree-bridges.

In the park you must camp in designated camp sites and some of them even have picnic benches!

And I saw more wildlife in this section…. Several deer…

And this weird guy, who never moved while I walked past.

And, unlike the first week where I did not see anyone for 4 days, I saw several groups of section/day hikers and my first Benton MacKaye thru-hiker..

On the fifth day I hit US441 and hitched the 8 miles to Cherokee, NC to resupply and take a rest day. I got picked up by the first car that passed, which was nice.

I especially like the Cherokee tribal billboard on the same street as a giant Confederate flag. Ahhhh… the South!

Benton Mackaye 2.0, BMT 127 to BMT 192

I exited the BMT last spring after 127 miles, forced off the trail by weather and difficulty level of the trail. I came to the BMT expecting to do 15-18 mile days but have learned that this is not possible (for me). These eastern trails are very hard. The climbs and descents are very steep and switchbacks are rare.

To return this year I came up with a plan that averages a little over 11 miles and 3,000 ft per day in the first section (6 days) and about 12.5 miles per day after that.

I have completed the first section and am preparing to enter the Smoky Mountains National Park (SMNP) tomorrow morning. I am currently taking a rest day at the Fontana Lodge.

**Me and the mayor of Fontana Village!**

This first section was six days. During the first four days I did not see another person. On the fifth day I ran into a couple of day hikers and later a couple of Forest Service guys. All very friendly. The other hikers here at the lodge are all AT hikers. I may be the only BMT thru-hiker currently on the trail.

I had great weather on the first week. No rain and lots of sunshine but not crazy hot. Low 40’s more nights and while it is supposed to rain later this afternoon (a week cold front is coming through), the forecast for the coming week shows no rain.

I am hiking with a lot of new equipment (tent, pack, poles, water filter) and everything is working well.

Looking forward to the Smoky Mountains but a little worried about the longer days. But hopefully I will do better than this guy…..

Back in Saint-Jean-de-Losne

After 1,100 Km, 408 locks and 90 days we are back in our home base of St Jean. Our hopes of doing a grand loop that passed through Paris were dashed by canal closures, most due to insufficient water. The farthest north we got was Metz, near the Luxembourg border and our westward travel ended in Toul.

Ironically the Canal du Rhone au Rhin near Besancon was closed a few days after we passed due to high water.

Cruising back in to St Jean de Losne

Bumming Around Belfort

We took a 15-minute train ride from our mooring in Montbeliard to spend the day in Belfort since the canal to Belfort is no longer open. We saw the famous lion of Belfort, created by the same guy that did the Statue of Liberty.

We walked around the citadel, the remains of defensive works that were designed by Lois XIV’s architect, Vaubaun.

And walked around the city looking at lots of old stuff.

We took an electric boat tour (because of course we did) that went right past Decize. Sadly, the guide failed to point out the grandeur of this fine ship.

But the highlight of our visit may have been the mayor of Metz, aka Schatzi, stopping by for an inspection. Or, as it turns out, a chunk or two of cheese. I wasn’t supposed to let him in a third time, but take a look closely at that last photo…who could resist that?

Time to head south for real ….

Messing Around Metz

We may have had to turn back east when we reached Toul, but before heading south, we made a detour north to see Metz, which we’d been told was a lovely stop. It didn’t disappoint.

The main cathedral of Saint-Etiennne has stained glass by Marc Chagall and Jacques Villon … and a dragon. (We now think every cathedral should have a dragon.)

The nearby church of Saint Maximin had even arty-er stained glass by Jean Cocteau. And a lot of blue carpet.

Then there was Porte des Allemands (the Germans’ Gate), a medieval bridge castle with two 13th-century towers and this charming carving of the king at the time, mooning anyone who attempted to storm the city.

We took an electric boat tour (because of course we did) that went right past Decize. Sadly, the guide failed to point out the grandeur of this fine ship.

Time to head south for real ….

Drama on the High Seas!

Exiting our last lock of the day on the Moselle near Pompey we noticed a little penichette, also a former Locaboat, waiting to enter. Or so we thought.

We moored in Pompey and went for a walk. We were nearly back to our boat when we were approached by two women with a cute white dog. After a few awkward sentences in French we switched to English and learned that they were from the little penichette, which had gone kaputt (they were German who spoke excellent English).

They asked for help towing their boat from the lock to the Pompey dock. We said sure.

After rescuing Kathrin, her two sons and her friend, Julia we had a little celebration aboard Decize. We were soon joined by Kathrin’s husband Markus, who had seen us from a bus on the bridge as went to fetch a car. The conversation was a mix of English, German, French and even a few words of Spanish.

Four gin and tonics, two voda tonics, an Old Fashioned and (Kathrin’s first) martini later we had made some new friends.

Tooling Around Toul…

… even a former professional headline writer could not resist that pun.

The Cathedral of St Etienne dominates Toul. And rightly so since you can climb ALL the way to the top AND you can see the actual relics which are hidden in most churches.

Up we go…

The views from the top were worth the 389 steps.

Back downstairs we toured the “Treasure Room” which consisted of mostly gold bishops’ staffs, but also a nail from the ONE TRUE CROSS. And, as all know, there were only three of those. Or maybe four.

Outside we found one more treasure, a plaque noting where Joan of Arc (Roberta’s current historical obsession) successfully repelled a marriage claim and was then free to be martyred a few years later.

Oops… we almost forgot the 18th century graffiti proving that juvenile delinquents have always walked among us.

Other stuff we saw …

Oh well, we almost had Paris

While we spent the last month entertaining three groups (12 friends and family) the French canal system was busy drying up. See map below: green is good, orange is so-so, purple is bad. Since the route west to Paris is closed to us we are unable to complete our planned grand tour.

Our new plan (ha, ha, ha) is to go north to Metz and then hop a train for lunch in Luxembourg. We will then begin to retrace our route. Some of this will be fun, like the boat elevator we took to get here.

Other parts, like slogging up the Rhine, and waiting for huge boats to come along so we can go through huge locks, not so much.

The Canal de la Marne au Rhin (at least to Nancy) has surpassed our expectations for beauty.

And Nancy has been a lovely stop. The captainerie called Place Stanislaus the most beautiful square in France. It is indeed lovely and has a cool light show we managed to stay up for (it started at 10:45!).

Besançon and … bust

We made it to Besançon with our dead alternator and moored at the lovely Cité des Artes (That’s our little boat at the far end).

What was supposed to be an overnight stay turned into a weeklong soujourn while we waited for our new alternator and the mechanic. As it happened we could not have proceeded in any case because the river was so high that the locks up river were closed.

So, what else to do but enjoy the town? Tuba player on the dock, Ultraviolets – best cocktail in France – at Boheme, and the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology.

Not to mention the heavy metal festival at the end of the dock,

where we also scored this awesome drinkware but forgot to bring bananas.

And we took advantage of Besançon’s great restaurants.

Then more Ultraviolets, because Boheme has some fantastic people watching.

Roberta had plenty of time for a visit to her favorite outlet store (twice).

And Jason stocked up on his new favorite apero snack.

We both agreed that Besaonçon would be a great place to live (lot of runners here) and Roberta considered putting a mailbox on the dock. But, the mechanic showed up and the locks opened up and we were on our way.