Saturday, December 31, 2011

AT- Neels Gap to Blue Ridge Gap


Day One: Neels Gap to Whitley Gap Shelter 6.7 Miles
Parking to Neels Gap 0.5
Day Two: Whitley Gap Shelter to Blue Mt. Shelter 11.8
Low Gap Shelter 0.2 Miles
Day Three: Blue Mt. Shelter to Swag of the Blue Ridge 11.1
Tray Mt. Shelter 0.4 Miles
Day Four: Swag of the Blue Ridge to Plumorchard Gap 11.6
Deep Creek Shelter 0.6
Day Five: Plumorchard Gap to Blue Ridge Gap 1.2
Road walk 72 and down Upper Hightower Road 2.0
Total Miles: 46.1

Lora and I headed down to Georgia to Neels Gap where we left off our last AT hike. The trailhead parking is 0.5 miles before you get to Neels Gap. We had a light mist going on which turned into sleet the higher we climbed up Levelland Mountain 3900 ft. It is good to have a warm up at the beginning of the trail.

Day One:
Cowrock Mountain has a beautiful view, but no pictures due to the moisture. The views are wonderful as you descend down to Tesnatee Gap. The climb up Wildcat Mountain is tough, especially at the end of the day. There is a great view from the top as well. It was getting dark and we set up camp at the trailhead leading to Whitley Gap Shelter. The sleet and wind were both getting stronger. We cooked from the tent and ate in bed.

Day Two:
The wind blew like a Banshee according to Lora that night. We woke up to a white winter wonderland. It snowed during the night. We had breakfast in bed with the wind still blowing at gale force. We packed quickly and headed down to Hogpen Gap. We were surprised to see the amount of cars at every trailhead that we came to. Lot's of hikers out.

We saw our first person, who was packing up, on our climb out of Hogpen Gap. During our hike today there are wonderful views of the the surrounding mountains through the trees. You could see Mt. Yonah all day, which pokes up with a rock face.

We stopped at Low Gap shelter and visited with Keeps and his brother who were thru hikers coming South. We didn't even think about the Southbounders, but this is the time of year that they finish their six month hike.

From Low Gap you follow an old road bed up to Poplar Stamp Gap. We stopped and ate our lunch here. We passed another thru hiker who was hiking with Keeps and passed a message on for him. We saw another couple who were backpacking and a family group that were backpacking.

We saw a few more backpackers at Chattahoochee Gap, where the spring is actually the head waters for for the Chattahoochee River.

It felt like a twenty degree difference between the sunny side and shady side of the mountains. The snow has started melting on the sunny side. We continued the climb up Blue Mountain and stayed at the Blue Mountain Shelter. We had time to dry out the tent before we set it up and gathered firewood. There was a young couple that stopped by that were day hiking in from Unicoi Gap.

We sat by the fire and enjoyed a beautiful star filled sky.

Day Three:
The wind was blowing strong and cold when we got up. We pulled everything into the shelter and packed in there. As we ate breakfast a couple of backpackers came into camp. One had actually built the shelter that we were standing in. We finished the climb of Blue Mountain and started the long descent into Unicoi Gap.

Again there were many cars in the parking lot. From there we did the steep climb up Rocky Mountain. We met two more thru hikers that were hiking with the previous group. When we got to the top we stopped for a break. There were two young boys from Atlanta that had stayed out overnight here and froze. They found out that they were not prepared for this temperature. I had to take a picture of the fire ring here. It came up to Lora's knees. Why do people build such big fire rings? There were some great views from on top.

From Rocky Mountain you have a very long and steep decent into Indian Grave Gap. Here we met a couple of day hikers. One was from Appleton, Wisconsin, where my sister had lived. We ate lunch on our way up Tray Mountain. We met alot of people on our way up. We got to the clearing where a Cheese Factory had been located in 1840. NO cheese!

After a strenuous climb up Tray Mountain, we got some wonderful views. There were two guys and a dog hanging out at the top. We had lots of ice on the rocks during the climb. There are alot of blackberry briers all over this mountain. We saw alot of Galax growing all along this section of the trail.

We stopped at the Tray Mountain Shelter for water. There was an old man and a grandson staying here. From here we started the long descent down Tray mountain. There is a marked water source at Steeltrap Gap that is not noted on the map. The two guys and their dog from the top of the mountain were setting up camp here. We went on to Swag of the Blue Ridge to make camp.

The wood was wet and we had a cold fire. We were tired anyway and didn't stay by the fire long.

Day Four:
Kelly Knob was rough. They didn't waste any time making switchbacks here. Straight up. Good views and you could see Chatuge Lake to the East. After another deep descent we stopped at Deep Gap Shelter for some water. This is an old well built shelter that actually has windows in the loft.

We got spooked twice. Once by a Grouse and the other time by some day hikers as we were stopped for lunch at Wolf Stake Knob. They came up behind us and we never heard them till they were on us. We then spent the afternoon descending from Powell Mountain to Dicks Creek Gap. Another pile of cars here. We got out of site from the road and stopped for a nap in the sun.

There is a steep decent into and climbing out of Cowart Gap. It seemed like we climbed Buzzard Knob forever. Finally we started down to Plumorchard Gap were we spent the night. Another peaceful night by the fire with the stars shining from above.

The wind picked up that night. It woke us a couple of times hollowing through the night.

Day Five:
We got up and ate breakfast. We got our water from the spring and then headed up AS Knob. We got off the trail at Blue Ridge Gap and hiked down Forest service road 72 to meet our ride. We were early so hiked another mile down Upper Hightower Creek road to get to a phone service. We used Sam Duke 706-994-6633 again for our ride.

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Rock Creek Trail- Little Frog Wilderness Area


Rock Creek Trail in the Little Frog Wilderness, Cherokee National Forest.

Lora and I cancelled our backpacking plan due to the forcast for rain. We decided to do a day hike instead. We headed out to the Little Frog wilderness area. We started at the trailhead just past the Ocoee Whitewater Center on Hwy 64.

The Rock Creek trail climbs up the moutain with views the whole way. The first creek crossing is Laurel Creek. It is a small creek with a campsite just off the trail. The trail then climbs up and through a saddle. You have great views of Big Frog and other mountain chains. Then the trail drops down into the Pressley Cove where the Rock Creek passes through. Rock creek is also easily crossable.

Due to the early sunset, we turned around at Rock Creek and headed back. You could do a loop hike if you continued to the Benton McKaye trail and head South back to Hwy 64. You could either drop a car there or hike 64 back to the trailhead.

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Hobb's Cabin- TTA Hike



Craig, Paula, and Marco are members of the Murfreesboro TTA, Lora is with the Soddy Daisy chapter. Dad also joined us as well as Pam. This was Pams first backpack.

We got on the trail around 9:30. We took the day loop trail to see the Savage Falls and then head down the Rim trail to Hobb's Cabin. It was a beautiful day and we got some great views in. We met up with the Upper Cumberland Chapter lead by Margaret that were doing a day hike in the area.

After we got to Hobb's Cabin, George joined us for the night. He had hiked in the Connector trail.

The first real entertainment was setting up Pam's tent. Of course this was the first time she set it up. We got some laughs as the four of us tried to figure it out.

We were then entertained by Pam as she carefully picked out a rock, wrapped it up in tin foil and then placed it over the fire. We were all thinking that there are other lightweight meals with more flavor. She was thinking that she was going to warm up her sleeping bag with this. We explained the melting of fabric and she changed her mind. She made a good comeback with making smores for everyone.

There were stories told from pies to chickens and some cough medicine taken. Ranger light foot stopped by to visit as well. Lot's of laughs all night. We apologized to other campers in the morning for our wild behavior.

The next morning we hiked out on the Plateau trail. We took a good rest break at lunch and Paula waited until the last bit of the trail before she showed Pam the correct procedure to use while falling with a backpack on. Always the teacher.

We got in a total of 17.6 Miles.

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