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  1. #1
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    Default Water at Mnt Sterling


    Is the water source up at Mnt Sterling reliable? We are going this weekend and don't want to pack it in. I read in the Brown Book that there is a spring up there.

    Also while I am at it, how do you best deal with the mice? I have never had a mouse problem aside from one in the tent up on Hazel Creek...is hanging sufficient (not the mouse, but the gear)?

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    you wont have any problems with water this time of year..............

    and yes, there is a spring............but its not on the top............

    if you come up baxter creek trail----you will run into it before you get to the fire tower.................if this is the case, go ahead and fill up now.............otherwise, you'll have to walk down to it and then back up...........

    if you come up from mount sterling trail-----there's a spring before the intersection with mount sterling ridge trail........

    same thing----go ahead and fill up........


    mice? best way to keep them outta the tent is not to have food in the tent.......

    also, when hanging, mice can still gnaw their way into a bag if there is something tasty in there.....

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    Yeah...not worried about the mice in the tent...just don't want to find that our food has become mouse nibbles

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    at first glance that campsite isn't very appealing. but if you go down the Mt Sterling Ridge side you'll see a few more sites behind the horse hitch that are a little more secluded.

  5. #5
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    From the campsite, the spring is about 1/3 of a mile away (and over 300 vertical feet in elevation). You have to hike down Baxter Creek trail about 400 yards from camp, then down a side trail for another 250 yards. That's 2/3 of a mile round trip.

    So if you are coming up Baxter Creek, make sure you take the side trail on the way up rather than having to back track.
    I've yet to hike Mount Sterling trail, so I'm not sure where the spring is located that TNHiker is talking about. Looking at the landscape in Google Earth, I can guess that it's located about 400 yards or 800 yards below the intersection with Mount Sterling Ridge Trail.
    If you are coming along the Mount Sterling Ridge Trail, there are no water sources between the intersections with Swallow Fork/Pretty Hollow Gap Trails. So you might want to think about carrying in some water coming from that direction.

    When I hiked to Mt Sterling, I came up Swallow Fork. There is a creek crossing at a U-Turn in the trail about 1.25 miles below the intersection with Mt Sterling Ridge. I carried my water up from there rather than having to hike an extra 2/3 of a mile after getting to camp.
    I've also hiked most of Mt Sterling Ridge from Laural Gap shelter. There's water sources along the 1st half of the trail between the shelter and Swallow Fork Trail.
    I've also hiked up Pretty Hollow Gap. Similar to Swallow Fork, there are creek crossing around 1.5 miles from the intersection with Mt. Sterling Ridge.

    BC38 is one of the few camp sites with a grassy spot you can set your tent up on. But the grassy area is right up against some sort of shrubs that attract bugs. So you've got to make sure you are quick about getting in and out of your tent. I don't recall the other spots down the side of the hill looking quite so nice. Seemed like you had to go about 100 yards into the woods to get away from the bugs on top of the mountain.

    Mice can climb bear cables. They simply climb the diagonal cable that clips into the side of the tree. I usually don't have a problem with mice on the bear cables, but that's just partially luck. I've stayed at shelters in GSMNP where the next morning my food from the bear cables was fine, but other people were not so lucky. But then again, shelters are a much higher mouse magnate than most campsites in the park. The one exception is BC37. It's known for having a particular problem with mice.

    Your options are to either buy an Ursack (or bear canister), make a mouse mobile, or hope for the best. Hoping for the best is a viable option (which I've usually used) if you're not at an AT shelter or campsite 37.

  6. #6
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    Perfect...thank you. Unfortunately we will be at BC37 too.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by carrottop View Post
    Perfect...thank you. Unfortunately we will be at BC37 too.
    Sounds like you're doing the two night loop from Big Creek like I did the 1st time I went to Mt Sterling just a few years ago.

    At BC37, don't set your food bag down and turn your back on it. Quick as a wink you might have a mouse nibbling on it.

    So to avoid the extra 2/3 mile hike to get water, you want to water up and the creek crossing going up Swallow Fork where the trail makes a sharp (almost U) turn to the left as you cross a creek. That will be your last reliable water supply.

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    At BC37, don't set your food bag down and turn your back on it. Quick as a wink you might have a mouse nibbling on it.


    worst campsite in the park for mouses..........worst...

    a bunch of campsites (and all shelters) have mice but nothing like the thug mice that are at 37........

    then again, its among the top most used campsite, and where there is crumby people, there are mice that will move in and take over...........

    other than that, have fun on that loop............

  9. #9
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    Yeah, the mouse problem at 37 is pretty bad.

    On one trip, we had our food bag up on the bear cables overnight. In the morning we found that a mouse got into our trail mix bag. A hiker came over from another site with a bag of our trail mix. Apparently the mouse spent the night transfering about a cup of trail mix from our food bag over to his pack where the mouse was denning up.

    On another trip, I had a mouse in my tent running over my face. That was fun.

    If you are really worried about it, you could get one of those mouse resistant food bags (ursack, grubpack, outsack) if you are going to 37. Mouse problems can happen even if your food is hoisted. Though, I have stayed at the site 5 or 6 times and have only had food problems once.

  10. #10
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    yep...loop from Big Creek to Walnut Bottom to Mnt Sterling...

    No mice for me thankfully..we rigged up a little mouse baffle like a squirrel baffle out of a quart yogurt container...very nice site that 37...great hike for sure. The Baxter Creek trail is full of varied scenery as well...moss everywhere, virgin forest, rhodedendron, dutchmens britches, trilium about to pop, lots of great stuff!

    Thanks for the help!

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    baxter creek was a favorite of mine.................

    not going up, but coming down...............

    all the things you described and more...

    glad you had a good trip........

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    baxter creek was a favorite of mine.................

    not going up, but coming down...............

    all the things you described and more...

    glad you had a good trip........

    Yeah, no kidding...going up would be a bear.

    going down is hard enough..it is tough on the quads and for me my calves. It was reminiscent of our October rim to rim Grand Canyon trip...except the r2r was a bit more because you are not only going down for 14 miles but stepping over big rocks and stopping every step

  13. #13
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    That actually should be "braking" every step

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