An REI Adventure - NoBo on the Appalachian Trail

My most recent trip as an REI Adventures guide had me taking our clients northbound on the AT this time.  With the fall colors only a few days away from peaking, I was excited to spend a sunny and unseasonably warm four days above the valley on the Appalachian Trail.  As all of our trips begin, we met the clients in the parking lot for introductions and pack shakedowns.  Again we were very blessed to have a group that was well-prepared and not carrying too much extra gear. Unlike most of our trips, however, today we had an 11 mile hike to our shelter being that reservations for Icewater Springs were already booked.  

Sunrise at Newfound Gap

We began our hike by hiking immediately on the Appalachian Trail up and out to Charlie's Bunion where we took a mini break for lunch and taking in the views of Mt. LeConte and the valley below.  The fall colors were absolutely stunning, but we couldn't afford much time to take them in due to losing daylight and the mileage still left to cover.  We hiked a few more miles before stopping at False Gap, the site of a former AT shelter, to stop and get water.  From here, we had a short and steep uphill hike to one of the best views on this side of the park - Bradley View.  We took some time here before heading onward to Hughes Ridge Trail and the site of Peck's Corner shelter, arriving just before sunset thankfully!

Mount LeConte from Charlie's Bunion

Our second day on trail afforded us a late start as we were only going the 5.8 miles to the next shelter, Tricorner Knob.  We began a short uphill hike to Eagle Rocks - another stunning view on this side of the park - and then began our solo hike for the day.  As I've said in other posts, solo hiking on these trips are a beautiful thing.  You have a chance to walk off your problems of the past few days and sort things out, which is never a bad thing.  After hiking about a mile and a half solo, we all met back up to summit Mt. Chapman and head downhill to the Tricorner shelter.  Our crew got to meet some AT thru hikers today, however, unfortunately the three that shared the campsite with us were more than a little feral and pretty hostile toward anyone on trail that wasn't one of "them".  After attempting to talk to them and enjoy their company, I eventually gave up and we all went to bed early. 

Losing daylight at Bradley View. 

The third day on trail afforded yet another late start as we were only hiking to Cosby Knob shelter a mere 7.5 miles away.  Today afforded us skirting the summit of Mt. Guyot and Old Black - the third and fourth highest peaks in the park and site of an off-trail adventure I took only a few months before my 2012 thru hike.  We took a long break at Deer Creek Gap at the site of the old helipad before we all headed down to the Snakeden Ridge Trail and the site of the F4 plane crash from 1984.  We began yet another solo hike down to Camel Gap Trailhead.  After taking a final break here, we had a short and easy push into Cosby Knob shelter.  We spent the night with a few thru hikers and the Smokies Ridgerunner, Maury.  For those of you who don't know about Ridgerunners, they are employed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  They cover nearly the entire length of the AT and hike designated areas five days a week, living on the trail and being stewards.  They will answer any questions you have about the area, as well as educate people on leave no trace ethics.  They also have to clean up any trash or clothing left behind, make sure the privy has mulch or duff for composting, and tidy up shelters before heading out.  Maury does the entire 73-mile stretch of the AT in the Smokies in both Northbounder (spring) and Southbounder (fall) seasons. 

A stunning sunset from Cosby Knob

Our fourth and final day on the trail had us hiking entirely downhill into the Cosby Campground.  Two members of our group were able to spot a black bear yearling on their solo hike this morning and one of them got some incredible photos.  We hiked next to a creek on the lower half of the Low Gap Trail, which afforded views of the damage done by the flash flood back in July.  A nearly 7-foot-high wall of water gushed down this hillside after a torrential thunderstorm, turning up the creekbed and all the plant life around, closing the Cosby Campground for several days.  

When we reached the campground we got to wait on our shuttle, which gave us time to reflect on the trip and talk about the things we had learned from each other.  We had a long 2-hour ride back up to Newfound Gap and our cars thanks in part to an EIGHT MILE backup where people were getting out of their cars to look at bears on the side of the road.  Being that the backup was so terrible, I took the "back way" home - driving out and over the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was a beautiful time to be there being that the leaf color was at full peak.  There was very little traffic going this direction and thankfully everyone used the pull-off areas to view the foliage.  It was another beautiful trip on the AT in the Smokies. 

An REI Adventure - Hiking the AT SoBo

My very first backpacking trip with my new job came as kind of a surprise.  I was in our office filling out my new hire paperwork and prepping to go out over the coming weekend when the office manager let us know that I couldn't get into the trip.  However, if I was flexible, I could leave the very next day on a trip with two other guides.  Wanting to jump in and start working right away, I decided to take the trip.  I headed directly from our office to the store to pick up my snacks and hardly slept with my mind anxious and excited. 

This easy and beautiful trip began after meeting our five wonderful clients and doing a shakedown of their packs before shuttling up to the highest point on the Appalachian Trail - Clingman's Dome.  It was in the 40s and windy when we arrived, not a view to be seen as the Dome was high in the clouds.  It was a short and easy three miles to our first campsite for the night at Double Spring Gap shelter.  I hadn't been here since my thru hike on the Appalachian Trail in 2012 and I hadn't actually ever slept in this shelter before.  We were the only people there for the night, but we had lots of other hikers pass through on their way south to Siler's Bald Shelter.  We had a great evening of getting to know our clients and stargazing before heading to bed.  

Skies clearing near Clingman's Dome

Day two of our trip consisted of hiking up and over Silers Bald, now viewless, and southbound on the Appalachian Trail toward Derrick Knob Shelter.  While there weren't many views to be had on this section, the leaves had started to change and I got some great lessons in the history of the park as well as learned more about the plants growing on these hillsides in the Smoky Mountain high peaks.  The fall colors were starting to become more vibrant and the skies cleared to a beautiful blue for most of our walk today.  When we reached Derrick Knob Shelter, we shared it with a woman and her autistic son.  She is local to the area and began hiking as a way to help her son lose weight.  They were out on a three day hike to finish the AT in the park and have hiked nearly every trail in the Smokies.  We had a small campfire that night and spent time talking around the fire before heading to bed. 

Witch Hobble changing to fall colors on the AT. 

On the morning of day 3 we had an amazingly beautiful sunrise.  The AT was high in the clouds again, but the sky above was a beautiful shade of blue and made for some epic photos.  On this day we were able to take a solo hike, which gave us all time to reflect on our trip and spend some quality time walking the trail while lost in our own minds.  I love doing a solo hike on backpacking trips with a group.  The peace and quiet that come along with the feeling of being so small in the world can really help you walk off your worries.  We all came back together before making the climb up to Thunderhead and Rocky Top.  Both summits were in the clouds this day, but we spent some time at Rocky Top anyway where we were rewarded with some breaktaking views any time the clouds broke for a moment.  We walked on to our destination for the evening at Spence Field Shelter.  For dinner tonight, we hiked our food up to Spence Field (the place) to watch the sun set over the horizon with fabulous views of Fontana Lake.  The skies had cleared to allow for some wonderful vistas. 

Clouds breaking on Rocky Top

The fourth day of the trip came quickly and we had a short hike down to our cars at the Cades Cove pavilion.  While we only had 5 miles to walk, we took our time and walked slowly.  This morning we got to see different plant life from what we had been walking through on the AT - we even tasted some yellow birch bark and sourwood tree leaves.  We ended our morning by learning about ring-necked snakes and seeing two small doe near a creek at the campground. We were very lucky to have nice weather the entire time without any rain and said our goodbyes at the pavilion. 

Sunset from Spence Field. 

I really enjoyed my first trip as a training guide with REI Adventures.  I can't wait to take another trip on the AT and share my love of the trail with anyone who will listen!

Summary of the Detour - what we did on our "vacation"

When we got off the Finger Lakes Trail back in late June we had no idea we would essentially be off trail for an entire month.  It took me more than two weeks to shake the "cold" I developed in Marathon, NY and let me tell you it was a miserable two weeks.  We had been sitting around at home in Central New York, watching it rain every single day, meanwhile I was continuing to fester in my illness.  We had decided enough was enough and started planning a road trip, which I mentioned in a previous blog.  Here is what we did on that trip: 

Narraganset, Rhode Island - 
Since neither of us had ever been to Rhode Island, we decided to drive east.  We picked the first random town that came up when you searched Rhode Island on Google and that town was Narraganset.  When we got to Connecticut is when the sun finally came out for the first time in what felt like weeks.  We made it to the coast in time to eat dinner and watch the moon rise up over the Atlantic Ocean.  We found a state park nearby, Burlingame State Park, and went to set up our tent for the night.  We camped in a vicious thunderstorm here early the next morning - the worst and hardest rain I've ever camped in - and took a trip to Walmart to go grocery shopping.  We renewed our campsite for a second night and spent the day biking near the beach and then on a mountain bike loop at our campground.  We also had a chance to hike on the North-South Trail, a 70-mile trail that runs the length of the state with a high point of a staggering 824 feet!  The next day, however, the campground was going to be pretty full with the site we liked already being reserved and we decided it was time to move on. 

Lily Bay State Park - Greenville, Maine
We decided to head north from Rhode Island since more rain was headed to the east coast and seemed to all be south of Maine.  I was still pretty sick and coughing, but we decided I did sound much better from getting out of the rain.  We picked Lily Bay State Park from a Google search of state parks in Maine with showers.  They had a site for two nights leading into July 4th weekend, so we headed up to camp until July 4th.  In Greenville we spent some time hiking again.  We hiked Big Moose Mountain and Mount Kineo.  The most fun part of all this was that Mount Kineo is only accessible by boat!  We finally got some hiking in and I was a bit slower than usual, but we were able to do it.  Since we couldn't stay the night in the campground July 4th, we decided to head north yet again to our old home - Millinocket.  

Millinocket, Maine - 
When we got to Millinocket it was in the middle of the Independence Day Parade.  It turns out our friend Slim Pilgrim was also in town with a friend from college, so we were able to meet up with him.  We set up a home base at Wilderness Edge Campground just outside of town and ended up staying an entire week.  While we were in Millinocket we did a full slate of outdoor activities - hiking in the 100-mile Wilderness, hiking at Baxter State Park, kayaking on Ambejejus Lake, riding our bikes all over the place, and visiting a Moosehorn Wilderness Preserve in Calais, Maine.  Calais is also the end point of the 2900-mile East Coast Greenway system.  This system runs all the way to Key West, Florida!  After spending a week in Maine, we decided to come home for a few days and head on to our next destination. 

Ohio/Kentucky - 
After a few days at home, we headed south yet again to visit a friend of ours in Kentucky.  We had some business to take care of in Tennessee and Virginia, so we were trying to get down there before the time expired for us to do that.  We camped in a Walmart parking lot near Kings Island in Ohio before heading down to visit our friend Flash in Kentucky.  We spent the entire day with him and had planned on heading to Mammoth Cave National Park, but time didn't really permit that to happen.  We instead headed down to my parents' house in East Tennessee. 

Tennessee/Smoky Mountains - 
We got to Tennessee one day before we had to get to Virginia, so it worked out perfectly.  While we were in East Tennessee we spent a lot of time in the Smokies, hiking Ramsey Cascades, Mt. LeConte, the Gatlinburg Trail (with our dog!), and a waterfall in Tremont.  We also got to bike the loop road in Cades Cove and go tubing on the Little Pigeon River.  We got to spend time with our dog for a while too, which was really nice because we miss her a LOT!  I also finally had a chance to go to a walk-in clinic where we discovered I had gotten sick in the first place from a MRSA infection and that is why the leg rash I had wouldn't go away.  I got some powerful antibiotics and disinfectant for my skin.  We had planned on biking the Creeper Trail and driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, but the heat and humidity making the "real feel" temperatures well over 100 degrees every day didn't exactly make us want to drive slow in the sun and look at views, so we headed home. 

Now we are getting ready to leave for the Long Trail.  I've mailed our resupplies, planned out our first town stop, packed the backpacks, and even some additional supplies for after the hike.  We will be doing a traditional style thru hike on this trail, so we won't be coming home until the end.  Blog posts for this hike will begin very soon!  I can't wait to share our trip with you guys.  If you want to see more "real time" photos of our trip, please follow either of us on Instagram @SprinklesHikes or @NoKeyRules.  Happy Trails!

Day 13 - Benton MacKaye Trail

We were sad to leave Tubby behind at the Green Cove Motel and Store, but we had places to go.  We began with a 1.4 mile was back to the trailhead at Telico Fish Hatchery.  From here we walked old road bed 95% of the day.  Our first old road walk was up the Sycamore Creek Trail.  We walked nearly 6 miles up a gradual hill before hitting a forest service road and climbing all the way up to Whigg Meadow and our first actual good view on the BMT!  We met an older couple here and talked to them during our lunch.  When we did the extra quarter mile up to the top we met some grad students looking to place bat boxes for research purposes.  We had an easy hike down to Mud Gap and the Cherohola Skyway where we had a piped spring waiting on us!

Looking up at Whigg meadow  

Haha, I'm only kidding! The book said there was water here, but you know by now there wasn't any!  It was only 1 pm and we had already done 9 miles, but it was starting to get hot!  We passed through the site of a former rock quarry that now looks like a bald and walked down to a forest service road before heading back up to meet the Cherohola Skyway again.  We had another beautiful view at Unicoi Gap before heading back into the woods and following an old jeep road for a little while.

Walking through the old quarry

About 2 miles in we met Kyle who was out hiking with his sister's dog.  It turns out he is friends with All Smiles, a man we hiked with for a few days back on the AT in 2012.  Once again, the trail community is so small!  We continued on and found a wonderful piped spring and chugged as much water as we could before filling up our bottles and heading on our way.  We left the jeep road about a mile later and started climbing.  We spotted a great campsite but there was no water nearby so we kept moving.  We crossed two small streams and came to a large campsite about 1.5 miles later.  We thought this was our destination, but it turns out somewhere in the weeds was our campsite and we had passed it up.  This meant I had to walk back half a mile for water (a mile round trip for those keeping count at home!)  we also fixed a trail sign that is obviously very wrong here. No blazes means it's easy to get turned around in a wilderness area, so the correct signage now will help!  

Even more views! This is Unicoi Gap on the Cherohola Skyway. 

Day 12 - Benton MacKaye Trail

Zero day at Green Cove Motel!  A zero day means you don't do any hiking and I didn't expect we would have any days like that on this trail.  After the nightmare that was yesterday's hike we definitely needed a day off and we slept late.  We fell asleep at about 9:30 last night and stayed in bed until 10 this morning.  We wandered down to the store and poked around for a bit before the owner, Tubby, offered us some of her leftovers from dinner the night before.  We had a huge breakfast of cube steak with country gravy, mashed potatoes, peas, and Mac and cheese.  Tubby comes from a family of eight, so she always makes enough to feed an army she said.  We sat with her for about an hour talking about just about everything before we left her alone for a while.

Breakfast of champions on a cool table Tubby made from YooHoo caps. 

I made a few phone calls, the first to Rick and Brenda Harris - BMTA board members and maintenance directors.  I asked about trail conditions coming up and Brenda assured me that our next section had been worked on very recently. She was aware of the condition of the trail we hiked yesterday and told me they were working on getting it cleared.  Since we were in a wilderness area, they cannot use anything like chainsaws or weed whackers.  The ranger district here is focusing on maintaining horse trails this year so the BMTA is kind of on their own.  I then called the Tapoco Lodge and confirmed we would be there this weekend so we definitely would have a place to stay.  

Bloody and battered hiker legs from the tough day yesterday. 

We ate huge dinners and then lounged around the rest of the night.  Even though there are no laundry facilities here, we were able to wash our clothes in the sink with a bar of soap and get them mostly dry for tomorrow.  Laundry on this trail is few and far between!

Drying laundry hiker style- chasing the sun around the parking lot! 

For anyone looking for a quiet, clean, relaxing place to get away I highly recommend Green Cove Motel.  This place is out in the middle of absolutely nowhere.  There is no TV or phone in the hotel rooms.  No phone service works here.  The windows and doors open up back onto the Tellico River and men are outside fishing all day long.  I was telling NoKey this is how it must have been doing a long distance hike 30 years ago - walking nearly deserted roads to get to town, get a stack of quarters, and use the pay phone to call places.  Tomorrow we go back into the woods with a guarantee of better trails and nice weather. It was been a perfect day off!

Green Cove Motel- middle of nowhere and heaven on earth!

Day 11 - Benton MacKaye Trail

We started earlier today, about 8:30, and began our first climb of the day to Cantrell Top.  The sun came  out for the morning and we had some easy ups and downs until we reached Hipps Gap, a dry (shocker, I know!) campsite.  From here we had to start climbing but our day looked easy on the map and profile because once we were up, we were on top of the ridge.  We couldn't have been more wrong.

This is a North Carolina State line marker from the early 1800s

After some crazy steep climbing and an attempt to get water that didn't pan out, we reached Moss Gap, noted for the hairpin turn in the trail and a tree marked with a giant X indicating there is water a mere half mile off the trail.  We decided to head up and get water at one of the few campsites if we needed it.  This is where our day turned to utter shit.  For the next four miles we bushwhacked through immense blowdown.  The trees were thankfully blazed and there was a faint path of where people had gone through a week ago, but otherwise we were completely on our own.  For four miles, which took us three hours in the pouring rain, we climbed through branches, grass up to our necks, and thorns shredded our legs.  Any evidence of campsites and unmarked side trails was completely obscured.  It looked as if a tornado had hit the mountain.

There is a trail in here... Follow the blazes and make your own path! 

When we finally hit Rocky Top, we had about half a clear mile before coming to another hairpin turn at Sledrunner Gap - the halfway point of the BMT.  Now, we were coming downhill in the same shit we climbed on the other side.  This side was even worse because it followed and crossed a stream multiple times.  Rhododendron were down everywhere and even harder to climb through. Again, all campsites and mile markers were completely wiped out due to the utter disregard for trail maintenance.  At 4 pm we had to make a decision.  We were at a trail junction where the BMT went up and trail 180 looked to be going down.  The map indicated in about 6.5 miles we could be at the same location 5 BMT miles would take us to.  We had been hiking for 7 straight hours without eating or stopping and we decided the road might be longer, but at least it was clear.

Which way to go now...? 

This decision changed our entire day.  Trail 180 was an old roadbed that appeared to have a lot of recent foot and horse traffic.  We got down the 1.5 miles in less than 40 minutes. We came out at a campsite and ate a quick dinner before walking FS 126, a gravel road that went up and between two mountains before coming downhill to Tellico River Road.  It was about 6:50 when we finally made it to the road and we knew that the Green Cove Motel was 1.4 miles from the trail.  We walked about a quarter mile before coming to the Sourwood Campsite and some people told us the motel wasn't far.  They even drove us down.  When we got to the store, the woman working there, Tubby, was only there just to stock the place.  She said we were incredibly lucky to catch her as she had just got back from a trip to Knoxville and was shutting up for the night. We grabbed snacks and sodas and checked in for two nights as we were utterly exhausted. 

Day 10 - Benton MacKaye Trail

We woke up to rain and decided to stay in the tent until it stopped.  About 9:15 it sounded finished and we began to pack up, leaving camp about 10 am.  Since we once again had to follow water we had no choice but to hike a 14.4 mile day.  It's really starting to get annoying having to hike a certain way on this trail!  Since we know most water sources aren't even on trail, the map I bought in Blue Ridge has been helpful, but it's still not fail safe.  We hiked out of camp carrying more than 9 liters between the two of us.

NoKey crossing Coker Creek

Climbing up and over Unicoi Mountain left us saying goodbye to the John Muir Trail we had been following and took us on an easy climb following old roads to highway 68.  After a short lunch and some foot surgery on both of us, we began walking again on the nicest trail we have seen yet on the BMT!  This part of the trail for several miles is also dirt bike trail, so maintenance was great!  After reaching a forest service road that maintains the power lines, it started to turn into more trail like conditions.  We were supposed to pass a campsite with water and once again never saw it, or any evidence it had been there.  We reached the top and saw an old homesite and a nearly dry spring.  We attempted to get water but it was mostly mud. Thankfully, the other side of the hill had a gorgeous spring and we were right at the source!  We completely filled out bottles and camelbaks and headed down the trail to Tate Gap, our campsite.  

Looking ahead at our last climb of the day. 

When we got to the gap, we had read that there was a secluded and sheltered site 0.3 off the old road.  I left my pack with NoKey and went to scout it out.  There was a nearly dried up spring and a HOUSE with garbage everywhere at the supposed site.  I went back to the gap and we made camp right there on the trail.  This is how the BMT works I guess - no water and no camps... Make your own!

At least we had some pretty mountain laurel blooming! 

Day 9 - Benton MacKaye Trail

We didn't leave Reliance until 1 pm, mostly because we are ahead of our schedule and also because Dan at Reliance Fly and Tackle had to go to town and offered to pick NoKey up some antibiotic ointment for his feet.  His blisters are getting infected and needed some TLC.  While we were waiting on the back porch of the campstore we missed a heavy and short rain storm.  We were definitely glad to be packed up and dry!

Walking along the Hiawassee River - the lowest point on the BMT

We had an easy walk along the John Muir Trail leaving town, mostly flat and downhill where we followed the Hiawassee River for a few miles. Our first big climb was supposed to take us to a high point where we could get a view of the river, but the trail had been rerouted due to logging.  Again, no views on the BMT.  Once again we were reminded how spoiled we were on the AT thanks to the National Scenic Trail Act of 1968. We did finally have a cell phone signal at the top of this one and were able to get and receive a few texts.

A pretty cascade from Wildcat Creek

From here it was up and down with a pretty cascade and a bonus side trail a group of fishermen told us about.  Then, we climbed though a ton of rock formations known as the Narrows before coming camp at Loss Creek.  We have a big creek crossing first thing in the morning followed by some uphill, so this is a great stopping point.  The weather is calling for an 80% chance of rain tomorrow so I hope we miss that!

These pretty flowers are called Indian Pink

Day 8 - Benton MacKaye Trail

Today would have been the most miserable day ever if not for Red!  He slack packed us, which means he takes all our gear except for the packs, our lunches, and our water.  We did a quick and fast 19 miles into Reliance, Tn to our drop and next campsite.

The dam at Ocoee River

The trail today, however, was something else entirely!  This is honestly the most miserable hiking we have done to date.  Our hike began hot and humid from the Ocoee River and up Dry Pond Lead in the Little Frog Wilderness.  It wasn't a difficult climb, but the trail was extremely overgrown and by the time we reached the top we were both bloody and hot.  Sweaty legs itch when they're scratched so badly! 

There was a 100-mile trail race coming through here in a few hours... Wild Trail is right! 

The next part of our day took us into Cherokee National Forest.  This area had a prescribed burn last year, which meant for six miles we had nothing but dead trees and thorns.  The sun came out and scorched us.  Just when we though it couldn't get much worse, we started walking on road beds, which  had thigh high grass and ragweed.  No tree cover and black widow nests every few feet added to our misery. When we reached the end of the road, we went back into the dead forest, losing our way several times before finally making it downhill to Lost Creek.  On the positive side, we hit our 100-mile mark today!

A field we walked through on the old FS road walk. 

It was an easy 4 miles from here into Reliance, a teeny town on the Hiawassee River and the lowest point on the BMT.  We made our way to the Reliance Fly and Tackle where our drop box waited and campsite was reserved.  The hospitality here is amazing and the campsite is inviting. Once again we got set up just before it started to rain.  We had cheeseburgers and beers at the store and a local woman gave us homemade blackberry cobbler.  This trail just keeps getting better.  What could have been a miserable day was made so much better by the kindness and hospitality of others.

The view from our tent tonight! 

Day 7 - Benton MacKaye Trail

Today was going to go quickly because we knew showers and the Ocoee River were waiting for us! We started out our day by seeing two turkey hunters on horseback passing our camp just before we left.  We then had a short and easy climb up, you guessed it, and old fire road up to Hemp Top.  No view here, so we kept going until we made it to the state line at approximately 10 am! We filled up our water and then made the steep and surprisingly quick ascent on Big Frog Mountain, 1100 feet in a mile.

Welcome to Tennessee! 

From here it was nearly all downhill into Thunder Rock Campground and we made it down by 3:10.  When we came into the large campground, there was only one RV there, a tent, and the camp host.  I asked someone where the pay station was, paid up, and went for the bathhouse.  This place had HOT showers!  I even did some laundry in the shower but it didn't really dry due to the humidity. 

The Ocoee River behind our camp. 

While we were laying out clothes, a man came by and asked us if we were Benton MacKaye thru hikers. We told him yes and he said to come over for beers later.  We met Red and his wife, their friends who had recently relocated to NC and their son.  We also officially met the camp host and her son.  We hung out until 10 pm, which is WAYYYYYY later than hiker midnight ;)

A picnic table at our campsite!  Yay!