Are three days enough??

[Zman]

O.K. Here is my plan. Springer Mountain to Neels Gaps. 3 days and 3 nights. I plan on camping on the top of Blood mountain the third night, then hike down in the morning to my vehicle. I then have an 8 hr drive home and I need to be home on that fourth day.
I am a novice although I tried a one day and night hike from Springer Mountain to Hawk Mountain where is spent the night. I first back tracked the .9 miles to the beginning of the actual trail, stopped for a snack at three forks, stopped for a half hour at the water fall and still made it to Hawk Mountain Shelter at 1:00 p.m. The next morning, my knees hurt a little as I hiked downhill but other than that, I was fine.
I now hike Saturdays and Sundays with my 25 lb backpack on, through some trails that are nothing more than hills but still a hike of about 10-12 miles each day.
That been said, My plan is this and please let me know what you think or give me alternatives.
I will leave Springer Mountain on a Monday morning at 6:30 a.m. I will not backtrack to the beginning but head straight NoBo. I plan on stopping at Hawk Mountain campground for a rest and something to eat. I then want to hike until I reach Devils Kitchen and probably pitch my tent there. (or Gooch Mtn Shelter). I know this is quite a hike but I also need to get to the top of Blood Mountain on time. Om my second day, I thought I would hike to Lance Creek. I am not sure in Sasafras (sp?) Mtn is within this second day but I heard it is worse than Blood Mountain.
This will be about 10 miles. My third day, I will hike to the top of Blood Mountain (6 miles?). I will camp here, leave in the morning for the hike down the other side. (no telling how long of a hike downhill though). My knees will probably be hurting.
Does this plan seem reasonable? Should I camp elsewhere? Hike differently?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You in advance

[devoncloud]

I have no idea what kind of shape you are in. Simply going off the fact that you are a novice hiker, I would have to say that is a tough hike to pull off. I will say he first day is doable, but you are going to feel it the second day which may slow you down.

I don't know how much of a novice you are, but blood mountain is considered a medium-hard to hard hike. Given that is your third day, you have to take muscle fatigue into consideration. Have you hiked before? Are the boots/shoes you are using new or are they something you have worn for a while? Have you tried them hiking down steep slopes (you need to know if your toes will bunch up going down hill... as painful as blisters new boots that are not broken in will give you)?

These are all questions that you should probably answer for people who are very familiar with that hike (I am not that familiar with it). It would seem to be a lot to bite off for a beginner, but since I don't know how much of a beginner you are I really can't judge what you are capable of.


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[Greenlight]

Something that I've found that relieves downhill knee pressure (mine was tweaking on my second day on thebKnobstone Trail in Indiana, which has similar elevation changes to the AT), is to sway slightly from side to side on the descents, as I used my trekking poles to descend. It really helped.

[Turtle-2013]

One note ... unless something has changed in the last couple of years ... Blood Mtn is a Bear Canister zone as it relates to camping. As to the rest, if you can do the miles, it should b very doable. I stayed in the shelter on Blood Mtn in 2015, and was at Neels Gap by breakfast ... but just kept hiking since it was pouring rain and I was already wet.

[Slo-go'en]

Since you have 3 1/2 days, I'd go shelter to shelter. Hawk Mt 1st night, Gooch 2nd night, Woods Hole 3nd night. Woods Hole is a ways off the trail and down hill, but a much better place to stay then the stone cabin on Blood Mt. There is no water up on Blood, which means lugging a lot of water up steep hill at the end of the day. Sleeping on the stone floor isn't much fun either and tends to be very dirty. I always find doing a big climb early in the morning to be a lot easier then at the end of the day. Plus you should have nearly no food left to weigh you down.

It sounds like this would be a weekend hike so keep in mind Blood Mt is a very popular place, some 100,000 people hike up there every year. Another reason to stay down at Woods Hole. The hike up and over Blood the next day is pretty short, just 4 miles and half of that is down hill, but really steep.

Go as light as you can, don't carry any extra stuff.

[Slo-go'en]

One note ... unless something has changed in the last couple of years ... Blood Mtn is a Bear Canister zone as it relates to camping. As to the rest, if you can do the miles, it should b very doable. I stayed in the shelter on Blood Mtn in 2015, and was at Neels Gap by breakfast ... but just kept hiking since it was pouring rain and I was already wet.

That rule applies from March to June 1st only. After June 1st, apparently the bears say don't wander up there anymore.

[tflaris]

As novice hiker my Wife and I did this hike in 4 days.


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[BuckeyeBill]

That rule applies from March to June 1st only. After June 1st, apparently the bears say don't wander up there anymore.

I still say that I didn't know bears knew how to read a calendar.

[FatMan]

You are setting yourself up with the toughest day first which could really mess up your hike. You can't use Springer to Hawk Mtn Shelter as a guide to the rest of the trail. In fact, it is a walk in the park, by far the easiest stretch of your entire hike. The next four miles from Hawk to up and onto Justus Mtn (includes Sassafras) are the toughest you are going to see and you are attempting that after already hiking Springer to Hawk. The way I break this section up to to overnight on top of Sassafras. You have to carry your water from Hawk. From Sassafras you can still make it to Lance Creek, but I would recommend overnighting on Big Cedar. You will have to carry water from Woody Gap. Then it is a pretty easy hike from Big Cedar to Blood. Blood really isn't that tough going Northbound.

Enjoy your hike!

PS...Woods Hole shelter spring is already dry.

[FatMan]

Let me add that I assume you are doing this hike in the near future where the temps and humidity will be a factor. That is part of my reasoning for doing your overnights at elevation. You will be much cooler up there. However, be very aware of the weather reports regarding strong thunderstorms. In these parts you don't want to find yourself on top of mountains in severe weather.

[MuddyWaters]

Most people could do this in 2 days if they tried

It dont take that much thought

[glenlawson]

Your first day is a real bear. It is really the 2nd half of the day that is a tough, tough 6 miles. If you started at 3 Forks Monday morning I think you would find the going easier. For the first night, by devils kitchen, do you mean the Justus Creek campsites? that would be a good spot for the first night. Remember, there is no water on Blood so you have to fill up before heading up. Heading into Blood from this side isn't so bad because you've been building elevation.

If you started at 3 forks, you would have about 10 miles Monday, 9 miles Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday to the top of Blood and then out on Thursday Morning. Just a thought. I'm attaching a link to the Georgia AT profile map that may help you decide. Lance Creek is at about Miller Gap on that map.

http://joomla.georgia-atclub.org/pub...T-Profiles.pdf

[glenlawson]

I still say that I didn't know bears knew how to read a calendar.

It's because of the campers down at Vogel State park, downhill from Slaughter Gap. It fills up on Memorial Day weekend and the smells of cooking and the promise of unsecured coolers draw in the bears. You can walk around the campground any weekend morning and hear stories of what the bear stole from their coolers the night before. Memorial Day through Labor day it is just a feast on picnic baskets in the park. Too bad for the bears.

[glenlawson]

One more thing, I just assumed you have your shuttle set up? Are you spending Sunday night at the Springer parking lot in order to get the 6:30 start? Just curious since it is about a 90 minute drive one way to Neels gap.

[BuckeyeBill]

Thanks Glen. I knew the reason, my comment goes back to when the canister regulations first went into effect. It's all good though.

[Venchka]

Based solely on this discussion, I think this sounds like the most horrible 3 days of hiking on Earth.
3 15 mile days in my subdivision would be nicer.
I'm probably wrong or not.
Wayne


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[Slo-go'en]

Based solely on this discussion, I think this sounds like the most horrible 3 days of hiking on Earth.
3 15 mile days in my subdivision would be nicer.
I'm probably wrong or not.
Wayne

I don't know, I recently did this section in 3 days, including 7.7 miles of the approach trail while suffering from allergies.
Day 1, top of the falls to Stover creek. Day 2, Gooch, Day 3, Neel gap - with a wet tent and on-off drizzle all day. Gooch to Neel Gap - now that was a long day! But then, I'm not a novice hiker, but I wasn't in lean, mean hiking machine shape to start. Plus the antihistamines I was taking to keep the allergies at bay really cut into my stamina.

[Zman]

how far is sassafras from Hawk?

[Zman]

yes I am doing this hike soon. I went for an over nighter last labor day and it seemed as though all water sources were dry. I thought I would have more luck during this time of the year

[Zman]

I believe Devils kitchen is the Justice creek campsites. Guthook shows 8 tent sites about 1.5 milies before reaching Gooch Mountain Shelter