Bear Pen Gap to BRP 434.2, westbound
September 9, 2025. The second hike in a two-day outing, also 12.9 miles (plus .7 miles of connector trails). Back to solo hiking!
The husband-shuttle dropped me off at 7:30am, then went to find fall warblers along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
…like this Blackburnian Warbler!
Loren had the great views all day, while my route was almost entirely in the trees.
There was a .6 mile connector trail to get down to the MST, and I missed the non-descript turn-off and added an extra quarter mile before figuring it out and retracing some steps.
Most of the route was along an abandoned roadbed.
Two miles in, a woman called out to me, and I quickly ascertained that this was the “missing” backpacker whose mother was concerned about her whereabouts.
She composed a long text to her mom on my phone, and I promised to send it, once I reached a spot where I had connectivity. She reassured me that she was well and in no distress, so I continued on. (Later in the day, the mom sent me this photo, so they had made contact!)
There were lots of small, stepping-stone creek crossings.
I had nearly three miles of fairly steep uphill, and the positive aspect of going very slowly is that you have time to notice all the really cool plants!
Creek-trail
Bush-trail
It’s been a while since I did a shoes-off, dry socks break during a hike….and it felt wonderful.
There are lots of lovely campsites in this stretch of MST.
Only near the end of the hike did the terrain open up for a view.
The connector trail was only .1 mile at the end, back to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I have 20 miles left to finish Segment 2, but it’s not clear when I’ll get back to it. These mountain hikes require quite a bit of driving and a couple of overnights.
But the trail will be there waiting, when I’m ready!
My.Bird.Walks. 
Who would have thought that you would solve a mystery, a wandering daughter, found (as much was she wants to be)!
Some of those fungi (ghost pipe?). are pretty weird!.
We readers will have to wait, also. May God grant that no hurricanes choose western North Carolina, meanwhile.
Lorraine
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