Bobblets Gap Shelter – Buzzard Rock Sunset at Whitetop Mountain – AT VA
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, 11-27-2021 at 17:42 (2332 Views)
This was a two day, two night hike to fill in gaps between Jennings Creek @ AT Mile 758.5 to Bryant Ridge Shelter @ AT Mile 762.3, Bearwallow Gap @ AT Mile 751.9 to Bobblets Gap Shelter @ AT Mile 748.9, and Whitetop Road @ AT Mile 492.5 to Elk Garden @ AT Mile 494.9. The trail between Jennings Creek and Bryant Ridge Shelter is pretty plain with not many views. On this trip I skipped the section between Jennings Creek and Bearwallow Gap because the shelter along that section is dry and I did not have enough time to get in and out…I hit that on a later trip. This time I moved the car down to Bearwallow Gap and hiked South to Bobblets Gap Shelter to stay the night. This section had a few nice views along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but most of the hike was brown tunnel. Bobblets Gap Shelter is excellent, with a very convenient spring and super clean privy. There are not many tent sites there (only one that I saw). It rained that night and I ended up staying in the shelter. The highlight of the trip was on day 2, when I moved down to Whitetop Mountain and filled in that section to Elk Garden. The terrain and trees were wonderful, as were the views all along the summit of Whitetop Mountain. I chose a camp site near the spring on Whitetop and hiked down a mile to Buzzard Rock to witness a great sunset. That night the front really came through and it snowed…I ended up leaving at 0630 in the morning during a snow squall.