20 Days on Medicare

[Tipi Walter]

"20 Days on Medicare" is an apt title since I got my medicare card on July 1st (and I almost needed hospitalization on this trip) but other trip titles could be---

"20 Days with Pit Vipers"
"20 Days in a Heatwave"
"20 Days in a Fetal Ball" etc etc.

I spent 14 days on the actual BMT and 2 days on the BMT alternative (Fodderstack Ridge). And yes, I saw 1 copperhead and 3 rattlesnakes on this trip (and a big black bear walked right up to my tent door).

SMUG PICS
To see all the pics go here---

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backp...s-on-Medicare/


TRIP 166

July 6--25 2015

HIGHLIGHTS

** COPPERHEAD IN BLACK CAVE CAMP

** KIRKLAND CREEK TRAIL COMPLETELY CLEARED

** BACKPACKING WITH NASHVILLE BACKPACKERS RAIN MAN AND RANDY DRAPER

** PATMAN JOINS US ON STATE LINE RIDGE

** RATTLESNAKE AT STATE LINE SPRING

** THE BOYS LEAVE AND IT'S JUST ME MYSELF AND JOLENE

** GIANT BLACK BEAR WALKS UP TO TENT AND SAYS HELLO

** TARP SQUAT IN A THUNDERSTORM ON SYCAMORE CREEK

** KICK ASS THUNDERSTORM AT HOBO CAMP ON JULY 14

** MEETING DESERT REPROBATE ON WHIGGS MEADOW

** ROSS BROADWAY AND HIS WIFE ON FODDERSTACK RIDGE

** DICK EVANS PUTS UP NEW BMT TRAILSIGNS ON FOUR MILE RIDGE

** PATMAN AND SUSAN BACKPACK AND CAMP IN NAKED GROUND GAP

** WE HIKE AND CAMP ON HANGOVER MT

** NEW BMT TRAILSIGNS ON HANGOVER MT ARE WRONG AND FIXED

** GARY PETTY INTERVIEWS ME FOR CHATTANOOGA FREE PRESS

** SAYING GOODBYE TO PATMAN AND SUSAN

** RATTLESNAKE ON THE HANGOVER LEAD SOUTH TRAIL

** RATTLESNAKE ON THE BIG FAT TRAIL

** MY FOURTH PIT VIPER OF THE TRIP

** THE HELL OF 54A NORTH

** ATV ON BOB BALD


TRAILS
Entrance at Bald River Falls
Bald River
**Black Cave Camps**
Bald River
**Big Pine Camp**
Bald River
**Cascade Winter Camp**
Bald River
Holly Flats Roadwalk
Kirkland Creek
**Kirkland Camp 3**
Kirkland Creek
Sandy Gap
State Line Ridge (BMT)
**Moss Gap**
State Line Ridge
Water Gap Shortcut
Brookshire Creek
**Horse Camp on Brookshire**
Brookshire Backtrack
Sugar Mt
**Pretty Pine Gap Sugar Mt**
Sugar Mt
Fish Hatchery
Sycamore Creek
**Sycamore Low Camp**
Sycamore Creek
**Hobo Camp**
Sycamore Creek
Whiggs Meadow
**West Haw Mt Camp**
Mud Gap Trail
Rock Quarry
Skyway BMT
Beech Gap
Fodderstack Ridge
Cold Spring Gap
54A South
**Mighty Oak Camp**
54A South
Bob Bald
Four Mile Ridge
Naked Ground
**Watauge Camp near NG**
Four Mile Ridge
Hangover Mt
**Airjet Camp**
Hangover Lead South Trail
Big Fat Gap
Big Fat Trail
Slickrock Creek
**Little West Camp**
Slickrock Creek
Big Stack Gap Trail
**Crowder Camp**
Fodderstack Ridge Going South
Cherry Log Gap
**Snow Camp**
54A North
Bob Bald
**Fir Tree Grove on Bob (3)**
54A South
Fodderstack Ridge
Beech Gap and OUT





Little Mitten and I drive thru Tellico Plains TN and head up Tellico River which is high due to all the rain and we stop here at Baby Falls.


I'm about to enter the Bald River wilderness and carry 50 lbs of food and fuel inside a 90 lb pack stuffed with books and all else. I identify myself as an UL backpacker (Ultraloader).



I enter the wilderness and set up next to Bald River and find this friendly copperhead by the tent. We talk and he tells me about his peaceful life in the river valley.



I pass thru the wilderness and stop at the Cascade waterfall on my way to the Upper Bald Kirkland Creek trailhead.



I get to Kirkland Creek and set up camp at the 3rd crossing (of 11) and expect to see a Nashville backpacker meetup group led by Whiteblazer Rain Man (on left) so on Day 5 I use my trail tools to clear Kirkland and after 11 crossings I wait for the group and they pop in---Rain Man and Randy Draper.


The three of us climb out of Kirkland valley to the BMT at Sandy Gap and head north to Moss Gap where we camp. Before reaching the gap we find the trailside spring flowing so Rain Man develops it into a pool.

[Tipi Walter]

Randy builds a fire in Moss Gap and we hang out and cook dinner.



On Day 6 we tackle the State Line Ridge trail which is an overgrown mess and I stop off the ridge at this little spring to get water (near Round Top). Looks peaceful enough. Look closely. I spend 10 minutes squatting down right next to a new friend and my right arm is 2 feet from him.


My hidden friend at State Line Spring. Oops, didn't see you there. Pit viper #2.



Before the trip I email my backpacking buddy Patman my schedule and as we hike north on State Line Ridge who catches up with us but the mighty Patrick. He started at Bald River Falls and hiked many miles to get to us.



The four us finish State Line Ridge/BMT and head down the Brookshire and get caught in a drenching rain but afterwards we stop to hydrate and relax.



We take Brookshire down to the BMT trailpost and the creek crossing and pose for this pic.



There's a nice big campsite off the BMT and so we stop at Old Dog Falls for a swim in the Upper Bald River and I catch Randy in action.

[Tipi Walter]

We reach our camp 15 minutes gelow the BMT on the Brookshire trail and Rain Man cooks up some bratwurst.



Randy takes a pic of Uncle Fungus and Rain Man and Patman in Horse Camp on the Brookshire Creek trail.



On Day 7 the group splits up and they head out back to their cars at the Kirkland trailhead while I return to the BMT and climb Sugar Mt in a heatwave. It's hot and I have to use the headnet.



I pass over Sugar Mt to Tellico River bridge and head up Sycamore Creek and camp and then on Days 8 and 9 I climb up and over Whiggs Meadow at 5,000 feet and get to Mud Gap and pull the thundering motorcycle section on the BMT as it parallels the Cherohowler Monkey Screamway (a hated road in the area). I stop for a break here in Beech Gap.



I pass thru Beech Gap and head up the new BMT reroute to Bob Mt and find some brand new trailsigns and then run into Dick Evans (left) and his sign boys on Four Mile Ridge between the Bob and Hangover Mt.



I pass over the Bob and reach Naked Ground and wait for Patman and his wife Susan to show up and they came in at dusk and camped and we're ready to hike together to the Hangover.



On Hangover Mt in the clearcut the sign boys make a mistake and place these signs thinking they are in Saddle Tree Gap but STG is back 200 yards where the real Hangover Lead South trail #56 is at. They mistake a Hangover water trail for Trail 56. (All this is fixed a few days later by Cheoah district rangers who drive an ATV up to Bob Bald and hike to the Hangover etc).

[Tipi Walter]

Anyway, after Patman and I discuss at length the sign mishap (and I tell Gary Petty later to call Rick Harris and Dick Evans about it), we hike to the Hangover overlook and Susan gets to see it for the first time.



We meet backpacker Alex on the Hangover and Alex says he's an actor and has a bit part in the movie with Redford and Nolte.



A reporter from the Chattanooga Free Press newspaper hikes 7 miles up to the Hangover to find me and interviews me for an article. He hikes 7 miles back out, a long day.



On Day 14 I say goodbye to Susan and Patman and head down the Hangover Lead South trail/BMT to Big Fat Gap and Slickrock Creek. Patman and I build this CORRECT trail arrow pointing out the real BMT on trail 56.



As I hike off the Hangover on the BMT I scare a big rattlesnake and it jumps off the trail to coil nearby. Pit viper #3. We talk and he tells me he's the Eagle of the ground and so I should show some respect and I do. So long friend.



I reach Big Fat Gap in a furnace heatwave and take the Big Fat trail where upon I stop to clip a branch and hear a buzzing sound by my feet. Dangit if it's not another rattlehead. Pit viper #4. We talk and he says "Hey look at me! I'm on one side of the trail and I really want to get to the other side of the trail so stand right where you are and let me move."



I get down to Slickrock Creek and off the BMT and then head up Big Stack Gap trail to Crowder Camp which is on the BMT alternative. I take Fodderstack Ridge to Cherry Log Gap and beyond to Snow Camp and go up the worst trail of the trip on 54A North (a wall of briars) and reach Bob Mt and find this ATV from the Cheoah ranger district up to fix the Hangover sign mess and to put up some Bob signs.

[Tipi Walter]

Two NC rangers put in the new BMT trailpost on Bob Mt.



Voila! The new Bob trailpost.



A heavy rain hits me in camp on Bob Mt and this is why we carry good tents with a good floor to keep out sheeting ground water and lake effect. No tarps please.



A panorama of the Bob.



On my last Day 20 I meet Zach from Atlanta who is trying to find the route he wants to hike. Good guy.



And so my trip ends at Beech Gap as I wait for Little Mitten to pick me up.


FOOTNOTE AND BTW---


During the trip I had a big black bear walk right into my camp and right up to my tent as I was eating dinner inside and sitting facing out the door. He just came up to me like a nearsighted Mr Magoo and then booked it up the hill on the other side of the trail. I won't give the location as then human death squads with hunting dogs will have murder in their hearts and want to kill it.

ANYWAY, SO ENDS A GREAT TRIP.

[sfdoc]

Great photos. Wild w/ the snakes. Neat trip. Rhanks for sharing.

[PatmanTN]

Great report Tipi! Hey Alex is legit, Susan found his info on IMDb : link

He plays Peter in A Walk in the Woods

[TNhiker]

what almost needed a trip to the hospital?

almost getting bit by snake?

or hibernating turtleheads?

[Studlintsean]

As always, nice report Tipi

[Tipi Walter]

what almost needed a trip to the hospital?

almost getting bit by snake?

or hibernating turtleheads?

I DID have a 4 day gestating turtlehead which required a two handed struggle to get it birthed properly and to deposit it into its Special Account: A hole dug in the dirt. Thankfully my butt cheeks didn't get envenomated during the birthing crisis.

[Praha4]

was this the trip that local newspaper did the article on you?

[Malto]

I DID have a 4 day gestating turtlehead which required a two handed struggle to get it birthed properly and to deposit it into its Special Account: A hole dug in the dirt. Thankfully my butt cheeks didn't get envenomated during the birthing crisis.

Absolutely Classic. The little boy in me is nearly crying!

[lemon b]

Thank you Tipi.

[Tipi Walter]

was this the trip that local newspaper did the article on you?

Yes, Gary Petty from Chattanooga Free Press hiked in 7 miles to do the interview and 7 miles back out to go home.

[rocketsocks]

Welcome to the teet, may you remain healthy and never have to employ it...thanks for the report, nice creature sightings Tipi.

[Rain Man]

Great trip report. I'm really impressed with your photos. Obviously, that's your talent, but can I also ask what camera you use? I recall it's a maybe a Sony waterproof? If so, how'd you get such good photos with such a limited lens?

Also love seeing all the snakes! Sign of a healthier environment! And, rattlesnakes especially are such mellow, docile creatures. Pretty much the same for black bears in the back country.

[Tipi Walter]

Hey Rain Man, thanks for checking in. BTW, Rain Man and I did a previous trip together in 2013 and see it here---

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backp...ter-Slickrock/

I've been using a Panasonic Lumix LX 3 then the LX 5 and now I'm on the LX 7---all upgrades of the same model. I still get many blurred digital pics though and it's aggravating.

[Cadenza]

What a cluster F with the inaccurate signage!
Imagine the sweat equity of hauling 4x4 posts, heavy white oak board signs, post hole diggers, the work it took to erect the signs, and then discovering that they were WRONG!

[AO2134]

Simply fantastic pictures Tipi. This is awesome. Thank you for sharing.

I have never seen snake or a bear on any trail. I hope it stays that way.

[Praha4]

Yes, Gary Petty from Chattanooga Free Press hiked in 7 miles to do the interview and 7 miles back out to go home.

Dude, you're awesome. I hope I can come just a little bit close to hiking the mountains as you do when I'm 65. Staying active, exercise, hiking up n' down those hills, with a pack, is THE best aerobic exercise in the world, just my opinion.

Sitting on the dam couch with the TV remote leads to arthritis, weight gain and poor health.

You young guys/gals, look over Tipi's trip reports, see what this hiking stuff does for ur health.

keep it up man, I love ur reports!