Back on the B Mac

[Tipi Walter]

I just finished a 12 day trip into the Citico/Slickrock wilderness and started off at Beech Gap where I followed the Benton MacKaye trail north to Crowders campsite where I ran into 4 trail workers from the BMTA including Ken Jones. They were set up for 3 days doing some needed maintainance and had their tents and a tarp squared away and so I found a camp 200 yards south and joined them in the late afternoon where we all shared information. Ken Jones is a fountain of local trail info and knows all about the B Mac especially as it traverses thru Tennessee.

The rest of the trip was spent down on Slickrock creek and up on Four Mile Ridge including Naked Ground gap and the Hangover where a windstorm hit me hard and then the long rain began which lasted for about 80 hours and caused some damage thruout the southeast. I think 12 people died due to high water and high wind during this storm that ranged across the southern U.S.

The cooler weather is coming and so I can recommend the hike from Beech Gap to Farr Gap, down the Stiffknee to Slickrock and up Ike Branch to the Lake. This northern part of the B Mac is beautiful and wild and offers around 20 - 24 miles of great backpacking.

[SGT Rock]

Thanks Tipi, you are making me homesick.

[jlb2012]

TW - were those 3 pine trail blocking blowdowns still up on Ike Branch?

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

The male dino and I are going to try to get over to the Slickrock area and do some hiking and maintenance. We had planned to go earlier this year, but the male dino injured his fingers and had either a TIA or a vasovegal episode (docs aren't sure).

[jlb2012]

I'm also thinking of heading to the Slickrock area - mainly to remove those 3 blowdowns on Ike Branch if they are still there. Tentively thinking the second week of Oct.

[SGT Rock]

I'll go.

No wait, I can't. Dang.

[Ramble~On]

Going camping with my daughter second week in October...
Going to Slickrock Creek area for some brush clearing Oct 2-3.
I am hoping for some higher elevation foliage color on the Cherohala....

Tipi did you notice any color in the leaves while you were up there ?

[Tipi Walter]

Going camping with my daughter second week in October...
Going to Slickrock Creek area for some brush clearing Oct 2-3.
I am hoping for some higher elevation foliage color on the Cherohala....

Tipi did you notice any color in the leaves while you were up there ?

Generally no, although after this week of cooler weather things will start to change. I did see infrequent bright reds but the mountain forest still remains green.

[Ramble~On]

Thanks. I hope to catch some color and I am hoping for a long leaf season this year.

[Ramble~On]

Leaves are turning and there is good color at elevation on the Cherohala.
It won't be long. I'm hoping for a LONG leaf season.
It was great to be out... and I'm still jealous of Tipi getting to spend 12 days. I wasn't able to attend the work trip that Tipi met at Crowders.
I made up for that today .

[jlb2012]

Leaves are turning and there is good color at elevation on the Cherohala.
It won't be long. I'm hoping for a LONG leaf season.
It was great to be out... and I'm still jealous of Tipi getting to spend 12 days. I wasn't able to attend the work trip that Tipi met at Crowders.
I made up for that today .

Which parts of the trails did you work on SpiritWind? Any notable blowdowns that need work?

[Ramble~On]

The upper half of Stiffknee.. clearing brush ...there was one blowdown but we cleared it easily. This section is in pretty good shape.

I am planning to spend some time on Fodderstack next week.

[Tipi Walter]

The upper half of Stiffknee.. clearing brush ...there was one blowdown but we cleared it easily. This section is in pretty good shape.

I am planning to spend some time on Fodderstack next week.

Yeah, I love the Stiffknee trail and how it winds thru a solitary valley with numerous little pulloffs and campsites here and there. There are places where the trails crosses Little Slickrock creek that are so nice that one time I had to stop and pull out the stove and cook up an early dinner of pasta just to stay and soak up the area.
On a not so recent trip I was resting at Farr Gap when I saw two contracted trail workers from Polk County coming up the trail huffing and puffing and carrying their gear and implements. I guess the forest service hired them out but now volunteers do most of the work.

[Ramble~On]

I agree that is a special place..I love the hemlock forest. It's nice that most who use Slickrock Creek stick to it and don't venture to far from it.. The BMT could have taken several different route options including Hangover Lead....I'm glad they went with this route...

[Tipi Walter]

I agree that is a special place..I love the hemlock forest. It's nice that most who use Slickrock Creek stick to it and don't venture to far from it.. The BMT could have taken several different route options including Hangover Lead....I'm glad they went with this route...

It's funny you should say this cuz during my last trip I chewed over the idea of an alternate B Mac going the usual way from Beech Gap to near Cherry Log Gap but then instead of going north to Farr Gap, my dream B Mac would turn right at Snow Camp where the B Mac connector reaches the Fodderstack Ridge and head over the Bob to the Hangover and down Hangover Lead South to Big Fat and down to Slickrock and then out to the lake. This would give the B Mac backpacker the 2 best experiences in the wilderness, the high ground along Four Mile Ridge and then a pretty walk along the cleanest water in the southeast including the great section coming out to the lake and past the four little wooden footbridges.

Of course, my fantasy dream route would mean 12 cold creek crossings instead of one but in high water the original route could become the alternate, etc. As I was thinking of all this I remembered how nice the Fodderstack/Stiffknee section is without a reroute but in my dementia I wanted to do them all. What to do? I DID THEM BOTH.

[Ramble~On]

You are 100% right and the reason that I say that I am glad that the BMT takes the route that it does is pure selfishness on my part. The route that you mention offers a great deal more and hits all the "must sees" of the area. The current BMT route through Citico and Slickrock misses the bald, Hangover, the waterfalls and every view and rock formation along Hangover.
I have often thought about the route you mention as it could easily include the side trail to Topoco Lodge which would make a great zero or near zero day and maildrop location just prior to entering the Smokies.
Anyone hiking the BMT through this area on it's current route without taking a few side trips is missing out.

[Ramble~On]

Oh yeah...forgot the side trail to Topoco already is an option.

I'd love to own that place....have an outfitter, hiker hostel, trail shuttle and offer canoe trips on Calderwood...which is another "must".

[Tipi Walter]

Oh yeah...forgot the side trail to Topoco already is an option.

I'd love to own that place....have an outfitter, hiker hostel, trail shuttle and offer canoe trips on Calderwood...which is another "must".

You know, at Yellowhammer Gap where the Hangover Lead North trail starts, there's a sign for a trail going east and down into the protected watershed behind Tapoco Lodge. There used to be a metal sign resting on the ground saying to Keep Out Of The Watershed Area but on some of my old maps the trail is shown. The new wooden sign shows the trail but I just can't remember its name. I'll have to look it up in my old journals. Belding Trail!

Tapoco Lodge is only about a quarter mile to the right on Hiway 129 as the B Mac exits the Slickrock wilderness. What's really interesting is that directly across from the lodge at the start of Meadow Branch road is the Yellow Creek Mountain Trailhead which is about 10 miles and goes all the way to Walker Gap and the AT. The YCMT used to be the old AT that skirted Fontana and went across a bridge on Calderwood Lake and into Deals Gap and the Smokies. On several ambitious backpacking trips I would leave Warden's Field in the Citico wilderness and in 3 days could be at Walker Gap by way of Pine Ridge/Fodderstack/Big Stack/Slickrock and up the YCMT.

The whole trail is a nightmare of blowdowns but the first 1.5 miles gets on a high overlook and traverses some danged pretty rock cliffs. It feels cool and weird to be on the original AT that the old legends walked and wrote about and there's one section that still has the steps and switchbacks from before Fontana Dam was finished.

[MOWGLI]

Hey Walter. You sound like a treasure trove of knowledge regarding trails in that area. Thanks for sharing! Please keep doing so.

[generoll]

I thought the BMT left Slickrock at Big Fat and followed the Hangover Lead out to Ike Branch and back to Slickrock there by the river. Does the BMT stay on Slickrock all the way from Naked Ground to the bridge?