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.