BMT Photos – The first nine days

c) Andrew Carter, 2022

I’ll get to writing words at some point, but here’s a photo dump from my first nine days on the Benton MacKaye Trail. I’ve hiked 112.5 miles so far.

The Benton MacKaye Trail begins less than a half mile from Springer Mountain, Georgia, which is the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The last time I was at this place was on Feb. 24, 1977 when I began my thru hike of the AT. I was 20 years old at the time. I’m 64 now. Sigh.
Old man and the mountain. My brother Steve took this photo. He lives in Tennessee about 3 hours from  Springer Mountain and was kind enough to pick me up at Nashville airport, put me up for several nights, then drive me to the trailhead.
The plaque at the start of the BMT.  Note that it’s mak-eye, not ma-kay.

The BMT is blazed with white diamonds. Normally, just one diamond is used. Two diamonds means the trail changes direction ahead.

Over the first few miles, the BMT and the AT cross paths several times. Where they cross for the last time, the second sign alerts all those AT yahoo’s to not take the wrong trail.

You know the drill. I like signs. I’ll get most of my sign photos out of the way now.

All roads lead to Rome?

Road crossings

BMT bridges

Steps

These steps were built so the BMT could cross between houses in a mountain home development

Mountain views

Water views

The trail

In many places, the BMT makes use of old wood roads and horse trails. They are a reminder that the Eastern mountains were a lived-in environment in historical times.  By Native Americans to begin with and then white homesteaders.

These last two photos are of the trail passing through a grove of mountain laurel
The trail on a gravel road
crossing under a railroad trestle

Camping spots

I didn’t build the teepee
Camping in a Forest Service campground
One of the few shelters on the BMT

Reliance, TN

Old meetinghouse
Inside the meetinghouse
Old inn gone to seed
Abandoned fire tower now a communications tower
White rock, sticks, leaves
The ground in these two photos has been dug up by wild boar rooting for grubs and insects
TVA power plant
Moss on a rock
Moss on logs
Daffodils at an old homestead
Bears have scarred these trees
looking for insects and grubs
Dyer Gap Cemetery
An old Ford I passed
A beautiful replica of an old log cabin
Yours truly in the rain
Sign in a bathroom in Georgia

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Andrew Carter

I just completed a multi-year thru hike (MYTH) of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It took three years. I hiked 1840 miles in 2021, 733 miles in 2022, and 122 miles in 2023. The only reason I had to hike in 2023 was a wildfire closure at the north end of the PCT in 2022. During the past two years, I've also thru hiked other, shorter US trails. I hiked the Benton MacKaye Trail (GA, NC, TN) and the Tuscarora Trail (VA, WV, MD, PA) in 2022 plus the Ozark Highlands Trail (AR) in 2023. I hope to hike the Long Trail (VT) next year and the Colorado Trail at some point in the future. Please note, all content on this site is copyright.

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