>>1969145Last month I ran into this very issue. There was about 7 miles of trail left, all on an exposed ridge, and the night was predicted to be windy. The logical choice was to camp below the ridge, in a small valley or on the . The entire valley (really more of a holler) was torn up from pigs, rocky, not level in the slightest, or a combination of the three.
Even though I use a hammock, I still choose spots that are mostly suitable for tents. It’s easier to walk around in a flat, rock and root free, non-flooded area that’s not covered in small plants. But there was no such area. Like so many other trails, it follows a ridge on a steep hill. The only suitable tent sites are just off trail, on the top of it. There are plenty of established sites, most of them with a gorgeous view, and all of the pretty terrible otherwise.
So I had to deal with a sub-par site. It was on the leeward side of a hill, near the bottom of a small valley, with not too much leaf litter, no signs of hogs, and pretty rocky. I think I could hear and see the trees at the top of the trail, swaying like it was a damn hurricane, while my spot just had an erratic strong breeze. I don’t know what would have happened to a tent or anyone camped on the ridge, but I think a few trees were blown over (they could have been from a previous storm).
Thanks for reading my blog post.
