WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3
Results 41 to 47 of 47
  1. #41

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bati View Post
    Yes, sort of. I barely made it across slickrock, and only because I spent 2 nights in Green Cove as the days of 100% chance of heavy rain continued. The folks at the store were nice and had printed out weather reports for everyone to see, since all the fishermen were asking.
    I didn't leave until the Tellico dropped over 18 inches and took my time getting to Slickrock.
    If I hadn't I would have had to camp out at Slickrock instead of hanging out in Green cove eating canned fruit cocktail and microwave frozen hamburgers (which tastes much better when you don't have to carry the extra weight).
    Funny, I had my first and last microwave hamburger there and it wasn't all that bad but, I could have ate a dead dog and probably said the same thing at that time. The jar of pickles were especially good. I crossed Slickrock 6 or 7 times on that trip in thigh high water, it was interesting.
    [COLOR="Blue"]Hokey Pokey [/COLOR]

  2. #42
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-03-2002
    Location
    Maryville, TN
    Age
    57
    Posts
    14,861
    Images
    248

    Default

    Where is Uncle Fungus when you need him?
    SGT Rock
    http://hikinghq.net

    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
    -----------------------------------------

    NO SNIVELING

  3. #43

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by generoll View Post
    south on Hangover Lead? I went north and as I recall I was practically swinging from tree to tree on my way down slope. I was thinking of staying out of Big Fat Gap altogether and just coming down Slickrock Creek to the campsite by the creek and then taking Nichols Cove out of there. To go north I figured we could cross Slickrock one time at the BMT crossing and then heading up to the turn of for Stratton Meadows on the BMT. If you have your heart set on going south on Hangover Lead I'll go in from Maple Springs and meet you at the trail junction past Jenkins Meadow. My map doesn't show it, but I recall a trail from around Saddle Tree Gap that connected with the Hangover Lead Trail which would then take you to Naked Ground and then down Slickrock to the Junction with Nichols Cove. That's the part of Slickrock Creek that TW refers to as the "nutbuster" I believe. It's also the part I haven't Hiked and I'm guessing it either doesn't cross Slickrock or it's high enough the the crossings would be manageable even in high water. Pick a time and we'll meet up and go over our maps and figure it out. I had and lost a small scale map of that area, so I'm using NGS # 781.
    Quote Originally Posted by SGT Rock View Post
    Where is Uncle Fungus when you need him?
    I'm Back!! With some new BMT fotogs!


    Here's backpacking buddy Patman with me at the Brookshire crossing and getting ready to climb Sugar Mt. Nov '11


    On top of Sugar there's a fine flat logging road campsite in a big open grassy area.


    Patman and I split up and I continued down Sugar Mt and up the Sycamore Creek section where I camped on the third switchback behind this trail sign.


    Here's the fine site I call Hobo Camp. Sycamore creek is to the left of the tent and is loud.


    The BMT makes you climb the dirt road up to Whiggs Meadow (going south) and it's a tough old nut to crack.'


    But then you get to the Whigg with Haw Mt behind. It was a very windy camp.


    I spent another night in the Rock Quarry and bent most of my tent pegs hammering them into the old gravel ground. Actually got a dusting of snow.


    I did a side trip blue blaze to Hangover Mt and took this shot from the inside of my tent. The big mountain on the left is Cheoah Bald.


    This is Whiggs Meadow from the top of Haw Mt, a very windy place.


    I just got back from a 12 day December trip and here's a small blizzard on the BMT at Cold Spring Gap.


    Here's a picture of Waucheesi Mt on the right and showing State Line Ridge, Six Mile Gap and Sandy Gap (taken from a clearing on the Long Branch trail in the Brushy Ridge area).


    I ended my trip on a 6.2 traverse of the Warrior's Passage trail which shoots off Waucheesi Mt. It's another good opportunity for BMT backpackers to blue blaze up from Six Mile Gap to the top of Waucheesi and cruise down .8 of a mile to Warrior's Passage.

    To Generoll's points---
    The Upper Slickrock trail (the nutbuster) is or was in nasty shape with briars and blowdowns, and it does have one moderate crossing over Hangover Creek. There's one trail no one has mentioned and I highly recommend it if needed to avoid bad creek crossings: The Windy Gap trail. It leaves Big Fat Gap straight across the parking lot (at the end) and meanders for several mile to a ridge finger Tee where a left will take you down to Slickrock on the Nichols Cove trail and a right will swing you down to the little twin gravesite and the jct with the Yellowhammer trail. It's a great way to climb up to the Hangover if you're on the "wrong" side of Slickrock and headed south on the BMT. Of course, it's a long re-route loop but it's pretty.

    The Haoe Lead trail from Maple Springs to the Deep Creek jct is probably okay, but past the jct to the Jenkins Meadow jct is a living bramble hell, or at least it was last year. It's probably the worst trail in the Slickrock wilderness, along with the Nutbuster going up to Naked Ground.

  4. #44
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-03-2002
    Location
    Maryville, TN
    Age
    57
    Posts
    14,861
    Images
    248

    Default

    I figured you were out there somewhere with snow in the forecast. How about the Hangover Lead Trail that starts at Haover Lead near the old fire tower. Is it still navigable down to Ike Branch?

    I'm thinking of walking all that next month sometime. Doing some winter camping out there in the wilderness somewhere. Maybe I'll run into you.
    SGT Rock
    http://hikinghq.net

    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
    -----------------------------------------

    NO SNIVELING

  5. #45

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SGT Rock View Post
    I figured you were out there somewhere with snow in the forecast. How about the Hangover Lead Trail that starts at Haover Lead near the old fire tower. Is it still navigable down to Ike Branch?

    I'm thinking of walking all that next month sometime. Doing some winter camping out there in the wilderness somewhere. Maybe I'll run into you.
    There are two Hangover Lead trails---north and south. The north lead is a real heartache as it leaves close to Yellowhammer Gap and climbs toughly to the top of some nameless hill and falls quickly to Big Fat Gap. The other lead trail, the south, heads up from Big Fat and gets to the Hangover with about 2,000 feet of climbing. I'm not sure which old fire tower you're talking about, unless it's the one that was on Haoe Peak---I think---years ago. You're probably talking about Hangover Lead North which does end up by the Ike Branch jct. There's a neat trailsign there that reads "GO BACK. DO NOT ATTEMPT. TURN AROUND" or something similar. And at the same place there's a trailsign for Belding Trail, which heads down into the watershed right behind Tapoco Lodge.

  6. #46
    El Sordo
    Join Date
    02-20-2005
    Location
    Hiawassee, GA
    Age
    78
    Posts
    1,612
    Images
    28

    Default

    Hey Walter. Good to hear from you. For some reason I had it in mind that the trail from Big Fat that you were talking about had been closed or abandoned or whatever. Any of these choices would have to be made well before you got to Slickrock on the BMT. I did find my Homan book packed away in a box I hadn't opened since I moved. Time to go through some more boxes I guess. The upper Slickrock Creek Trail is one of those "someday" trails. Not this week, but someday.
    Dyslexics Untie!

  7. #47
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-03-2002
    Location
    Maryville, TN
    Age
    57
    Posts
    14,861
    Images
    248

    Default

    I think you are talking about the same trail I did. I haven't been there since 1985 though. As I recall, when you are up around Haoe there was a base for an old fire tower, and from there you down rather steeply with a sign warning you not to go that way if you don't have too - which I think was Hangover Lead. My book "Hiking Trails of North Carolina" is not very well written when it comes to making sense of a trail, so it sounds like the trail I remember. I'm thinking of going out there sometime after the 9th of January, I'm just not sure exactly when.
    SGT Rock
    http://hikinghq.net

    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
    -----------------------------------------

    NO SNIVELING

Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3
++ New Posts ++

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •