Unless it’s windy, there is no sound during midday on top of a bald. No cars, no planes, and even the birds are quiet. The other hikers are sitting there with you, red faced, munching on crackers and looking at… all of it.
You open your water bottle, and it hisses from the pressure change. There might not be a cloud in the sky, or it could be raining. Doesn’t matter. Sound doesn’t happen on top of the mountain. Proven scientific fact.
Sound comes back once you’re down the mountain. Water is pretty noisy, creeks or mossy springs. So are the flies in your ears. The noisiest part of the day will be evenings in the shelters.
God, the evenings in the shelters. I’ve mentioned it before, but hiking the Appalachian Trail is foremost a social experience that happens to take place outside. My partner laughs when I tell her I go to town to get alone time.
The Trail
Since entering North Carolina, the trail has been… hard.
A special ring in Hell awaits whatever madman decided hikers ought to see the bottom of every gap and the top of every mountain in…
