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  1. #1
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    Default Scott Mountain Trail

    Does Scott Mountain Trail ever open? Is it just closed seasonally due to the bats, or is it always closed now?

    Just curious if anyone here had any further information on this. I found an article in the Charlotte Observer from 2015 indicating that at the time the area (whiteoak sink and scott mountain trail) were closed from September through March to prevent the spread of White Nose Syndrome among the bats. But I read something here on Whiteblaze a few weeks ago that made me think that the area might be closed permanently.

    Thanks

  2. #2
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    I don't believe Scott Mountain Trail has ever been closed to protect bats...
    Scott Mountain Trail was closed due to storm damage that occurred in 2013 (perhaps a little before).

    What I do recall getting closed to protect bats was the Whiteoak Sinks area. Based on what I can find online, it looks like the sinks were closed during the winter of 2015 and 2016 (well after Scott Mountain Trail had been closed due to storm damage).

    However, I can easily understand if someone might get the two closures confused as the eastern end of Scott Mountain Trail crosses the top of the same mountain that the Whiteoak Sinks are at the bottom of. But to access Whiteoak Sinks, you take a trail NOT listed on the back country trail map that starts very near the intersection of School House Gap Trail and Turkey Pin Ridge Trail.
    Last edited by HooKooDooKu; 11-15-2017 at 14:44.

  3. #3
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    Thanks HooKooDooKu. I guess I associated the two and assumed they were one in the same issue.

    Has anyone tried to hike the closed Scott Mountain Trail?

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    i believe it was the storm of 2011....


    and i have heard that is a mess right now and tough to hike....

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    the eastern end of Scott Mountain Trail crosses the top of the same mountain that the Whiteoak Sinks are at the bottom of


    and there's a great (at least at the time) manway up in this area---right off the road-----that drops back down into the sinks..

    makes for a very good (day) loop in this area...

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by madgoat View Post
    Has anyone tried to hike the closed Scott Mountain Trail?
    At this point, technically that would be illegal as the Park Service has officially closed the trail. There are even signs (at least on the Schoolhouse Gap side) instructing you to NOT risk putting rescuers in danger by trying to hike Scott Mountain Trail.

    Now I doubt the trail is 'dangerous' to attempt to hike... at least no more dangerous that attempting a cross-country hike in other parts of the park.

    But when I hiked the trail just before it was closed, I found much of it to be a very narrow path (1' wide, if that in many places) thru large patches of poison ivy. If people have obeyed to trail closures, I would imaging that 4+ years of growth have obscured much of the trial and therefore wouldn't advise trying it.

    Actually, if you look in Google Earth and turn the clock back to the satellite view of 4/12/2013, you simply can't follow the trail. By comparison, most trails that get regular use can be seen in Google Earth during in satellite views taken during the winter months.
    Last edited by HooKooDooKu; 11-15-2017 at 14:57.

  7. #7
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    I would imaging that 4 years of growth has obscured much of the trial


    make that 6 years....

    outta curiousity, i looked it up right quick...

    (i had plans on staying at BC 11 the previous weekend before the storm hit, but changed it.............regret it now as its also been closed since then)


    http://hikinginthesmokys.blogspot.co...d-in-2011.html

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    make that 6 years....

    outta curiousity, i looked it up right quick...

    (i had plans on staying at BC 11 the previous weekend before the storm hit, but changed it.............regret it now as its also been closed since then)


    http://hikinginthesmokys.blogspot.co...d-in-2011.html
    So it was the storm that closed #11 that also closed Scott Mountain Trail?

    I couldn't remember when it was closed... just that it was closed the year after I hiked it... and I don't have my hiking log with me to look up when I did that hike.

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    Sounds like Scott Mountain Trail might have been closed BEFORE the April 2011 storm. I followed the link above and the story doesn't list Scott Mountain Trail as being closed due to that storm (they only listed trails in the area of Abrams Creek and to the west). It includes the fact that at the time of that report, Scott Mountain Trail was closed (so you are right that it has been closed for at least 6 years), but it didn't list a reason for its closure.

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    yeah...

    same storm......

    came down beard cane and hit ace gap a touch as well.....

    at one time----i had seen some pictures that the NPS put out...

    (we might have run them on air as well)..

    and i wanna say that it was also the same storm that jumped over to hannah mountain and did some damage over that way...

    it would be in the same line of beard cane.....

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by madgoat View Post
    Thanks HooKooDooKu. I guess I associated the two and assumed they were one in the same issue.
    Even some news articles are doing the same thing...

    I found this news article discussing closure of the Whiteoak Sink area to protect the bats. It lists Scott Mountain Trail as being closed in such a way that you would think it was closed because of the bats. But the date of the article was September 2014, years AFTER Scott Mountain Trail had been closed due to storm damage.

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    thats why one shouldnt read my competitors websites and get inaccurate information :P

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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    ...and i wanna say that it was also the same storm that jumped over to hannah mountain and did some damage over that way...
    You might be right... I can't say for sure because the only trails in the area I hiked before the tornado was Abrams Creek and Rabbit Creek.

    But I seem to recall a storm that occurred in 2013 that might have been the cause of that. I don't have my hiking log with me right now, but I know when my second son was about 7yo, I was taking him on his first backpacking trip. So that should have been some time in 2013. But we had to abort the trip. I had driving thru the night to get to the TwentyMile Ranger Station trail head, and we had to turn around after only 100 yards because the trail was totally blocked by trees that had been downed by a storm that had occurred during my drive to the park.

    Now the only reason I suggest that the tornado that destroyed CS11 and the destruction in the area of Hannah Mountain Trail might be from two different storms is because of the destruction I see in Google Earth imagery dated 4/12/2013. In that imagery, you can see the effects of the destruction the 2011 tornado caused. But if you look at the valley immediately west of Hannah Mountain trail (the one that starts across Abrams Creek from CS17) that valley show utter destruction that far exceeds the destruction you see around CS11 in the same image.

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    yeah...

    that might be right about hannah mountain being in 2013........


    i know CS 11 was in 2011 because that the last year that i hiked with a particular group of blankity blanks.....

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    although here's something that says its from 2011




    http://hikinginthesmokys.blogspot.co...l-reopens.html

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    and more realistically, the damage im thinking about might have been on rabbit before coming up to hannah...

    i can recall a picture of some blow down trees on a portion of a trail where theres sorta an overlook...

  18. #18

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    Are any of you following @plugitinhikes? Hes attempting the FKT of the Smokies as we speak.

    I guess for him to complete his hike he doesnt have to hike Scott Mnt trail?

  19. #19
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    i also dont have my log in front of me-----but im pretty sure i hiked into 16 from the abrams ranger station and coming up rabbit creek to there.......thats when i saw the trees blowdown.....

    and that should have been in 2011, since i havent camped in the park after 2012....

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by blue indian View Post
    Are any of you following @plugitinhikes? Hes attempting the FKT of the Smokies as we speak.

    I guess for him to complete his hike he doesnt have to hike Scott Mnt trail?
    I'm just making an assumption but I assume he is doing a SCAR or a double SCAR. If so, it is along the AT through GSMNP.
    AT: 695.7 mi
    Benton MacKaye Trail '20
    Pinhoti Trail '18-19'
    @leonidasonthetrail https://www.youtube.com/c/LeonidasontheTrail

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