November 19, Day 150: Big Bald Tennessee and the lunar eclipse

The sky cleared at around midnight while I slept in the Bald Mountain Shelter after an afternoon and evening of light rain. The clear sky was a welcome sight as I looked skyward after leaving my new, dreamy sleeping bag to find a place to pee. A lunar eclipse was in progress and I could see a mere sliver of the moon, a rare sight on any night. Very early, before dawn, while the eclipse was waning, I switched on my headlamp and headed uphill toward Big Bald. At first I was leary of climbing higher in the cold wind. Moving forward and upward was the best thing to do for warming my body. Soon, while still in darkness, the trees gave way to Big Bald, where nothing could calm the wind which was blowing strong and gusty.

I stopped walking to look skyward. By that time only a very small portion of the lunar surface was being blocked from the sun as our planet was moving out of the path of the sun’s light. The temperature was about 25, wind was gusting at least 20 mph. I should have felt uncomfortable and anxious to get off of the exposed and cold Big Bald. Instead, I lingered in stillness. The rarity of a lunar eclipse on a long distance hike in the cold would be a long lasting memory of my AT hike. The scene was surreal and I inhaled the moment. I felt more alive than most other times on the 1800-plus miles on this journey.

I hiked 19 miles that day, and I was certainly happy the sun rose and warmed me by 10am. But I won’t ever forget the lunar eclipse on Big Bald!