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  1. #1

    Default 18 Days on Snowbird Creek

    Okay boys, I decide to spend August backpacking in the Snowbird wilderness of NC and really get to know the place. For all pics see---

    https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backp...WBIRD-PRETRIP/

    20 DAYS
    ON
    SNOWBIRD CREEK

    TRIP 167

    August 15--September 1 2015

    HIGHLIGHTS
    ** 20 DAYS ON SNOWBIRD CREEK

    ** 10 BACKPACKERS FROM OHIO STATE IN MITCHELL LICK

    ** SECOND OHIO STATE GROUP LED BY DUSTIN

    ** 65 HOUR RAINSTORM ON SNOWBIRD CREEK

    ** MIDDLE FALLS CAMPSITE

    ** DUSTIN'S GROUP VISITS MIDDLE FALLS

    ** BACKPACKING BURNTROCK RIDGE TRAIL

    ** DAY 8 RAINSTORM AND SNOWBIRD FLOODS

    ** 1-6-5-12(0) THE SNOWBIRD CREEK CROSSINGS

    ** 3 DAYS ON TRAIL 154

    ** A 40F MORNING BELOW HOOPER BALD

    ** CONNECTED MITCHELL LICK WITH 154 ATV TRACK BELOW LAUREL TOP MT

    ** DISCOVERED TRAIL 415 AND MARKED IT UP TO LICK MT

    ** OVER HAW MT TO WHIGGS MEADOW

    ** MEETING WUNKY TWO TIME AT THRUHIKER

    ** PATMAN FINDS ME AT NAKED GROUND AND WE PULL 3 DAYS TOGETHER

    ** MEETING 4 AT AND PCT THRUHIKERS ON BOB'S WALL

    ** PATMAN SEES THE WEDGE AND I CAMP IN LITTLE COVE CAMP


    TRAILS
    Entrance at Big Junction on Cherohala Screamway
    Snowbird Creek Trail 64
    Mitchell Lick
    **Upper Bird Camp**
    Snowbird Creek
    **Crossing 6-7 Bearpen Camp**
    Snowbird Creek
    **Meadow Branch Camp**
    Snowbird Creek
    **No Crossing Camp**
    Snowbird Creek
    **Middle Falls**
    Trail 64 Alternate
    Snowbird Creek
    **Upper Jalopy Camp**
    Snowbird Creek
    Sassafras Creek
    Burntrock Ridge
    Snowbird Creek
    **Middle Falls**
    Snowbird Creek
    **Bearpen Camp**
    Snowbird Creek
    Trail 154
    **154 South Camp**
    Trail 154 and Backtrack
    **154 North Camp**
    154 Mystery ATV Trail Connecting 154 to Mitchell Lick
    Mitchell Lick ATV Trail
    Trail 415 Recon and Ribbon Marking up to Lick Mt and Back
    Mitchell Lick ATV Trail
    Snowbird Creek
    **Upper Bird**
    Snowbird Creek
    Mitchell Lick
    Upper Snowbird Trail 64
    Big Junction
    Haw Mt
    **Whiggs Meadow**
    Mud Gap BMT
    Skyway BMT
    Beech Gap
    Fodderstack Ridge
    Cold Gap
    54A South
    **Mighty Oak Camp**
    54 A South
    Four Mile Ridge
    Naked Ground
    **Airjet Camp Hangover Mt**
    Four Mile Ridge
    Naked Ground
    **Fir Tree Grove Bob Mt**
    Cold Gap
    **Little Cove Camp in Wedge**
    Cold Gap
    Fodderstack Ridge
    Beech Gap
    Skyway Roadwalk
    Jeffrey Hell
    **Frustration Camp on J Hell Trail**
    Jeffrey Hell
    Skyway Roadwalk to Flats Mt and Lakeview Overlook and OUT




    Here's a map of the Snowbird backcountry in North Carolina. I marked all the trails in red and the creeks in blue.



    I get dropped off at Big Junction and the high elevation start of the Snowbird Creek trail. It's located off the Cherohala Skyway aka Cherohowler Monkey Screamway hiway 143 motorcycle noise racetrack and find this new trailpost put in by the Cheoah ranger district.


    I always bring an emergency Thermarest and cache this one off the trail in case my inflatable dies.



    The Snowbird Creek trail starts at around 5,300 feet on Snowbird Mt and drops hard to Snowbird Creek with 11 crossings (or 23) and I reach Bearpen Camp after 6 crossings and find it full of redneck trash so I pile it all up by the trail.



    On Day 3 I cross the creek 5 more times and reach a big open spot on Meadow Branch for the night. On Day 4 I leave Meadow Branch camp in boots cuz there are no more crossings and run into this group of backpackers from Ohio State.



    The Snowbird Creek trail reaches a choice---to take the north 64Alt bypasses 12 more crossings, to go south past Middle Falls means 12 extra crossings. I head down to Middle Falls and camp.



    I make it to Middle Falls and set up camp and enjoy one of three major falls on the creek.

  2. #2

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    As I stay at Middle Falls I see the same group of OSU backpackers swing downstream on their way out and we hang out at the falls.



    The OSU crew leaves and passes by my tent at Middle Falls.



    On Day 7 I leave and climb up to 64A trail and pose by the trailpost.



    Trail 64A takes me to a big campsite next to this footbridge across the 'Bird.



    I cross the bridge and visit the last of 3 major waterfalls on Snowbird Creek and camp by the Sassafras Creek crossing and then on Day 8 head up Sassafras Creek and stop by the highest falls in the wilderness, Sassy Falls!



    Above Sassafras Falls I link up with Burntrock Ridge trail which climbs hard over the ridge and loops back to Snowbird Creek at Middle Falls.



    Burntrock Ridge gets me back on Snowbird Creek and I head upstream 5 crossings and stay in Bearpen Camp and get caught in a downpour deluge which causes the creek to rise so I have to wait 6 hours for the water to go down for my next 6 crossings up to Mitchell Lick and Trail 154. Here is one of the crossings.

  3. #3

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    On Day 9 I climb up Snowbird Creek and reach its jct with Trail 154 and here is its end with the Kings Meadow Trail.



    After camping on Trail 154 a couple nights I backtrack up Snowbird Creek to Mitchell Lick and explore for hours on the ridgeline and finally find the elusive Snowbird Mt trail #415 with its green blazed trees so I mark it with red ribbon and follow it a quarter mile until I run out of ribbon.



    I camp one more night at Upper Bird Camp and the next day climb the tough nut up to Hogjaw Gap and around Laurel Top Mt and reach this blowdown on the trail below Big Junction. Pull out your saw, boys.



    After cutting the blowdown. All backpackers should carry trail tools and help clear every trail they hike.



    There's a neat way to connect Snowbird wilderness to the BMT on Whiggs Meadow and it's by coming out at Big Jct6 and finding the faint trail south of the jct which connects to the Haw Mt trail on an old briar filled logging cut. I reach the top of Haw at 5,500 feet.



    My Haw Mt trek pops me out on the 5,000 foot Whiggs Meadow where I set up camp and meet a dayhiker from Charlotte named Wunky who thruhiked the AT in 1998 and 2001.



    I set up the Hilleberg tent on the Whigg with big Haw Mt in the background. Go over this mountain and bear right and down and you'll tie into the Snowbirds.

  4. #4

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    On Day 13 I leave the Whigg on the BMT and head north to Mud Gap where I find this exploding penis on the Mud Gap kiosk. Vandals roam the mountains.



    I stay on the BMT as it heads north and takes me thru Beech Gap and over Bob Mt and down to Naked Ground Gap where I meet my backpacking buddy Patman who is supposed to be on a 9 day trek to Glacier NP but has to cancel due to smoke and western forest fires. We decide to backpack together for the next 3 days and head to Hangover Mt.



    Patman hiking along Four Mile Ridge between the Bob and the Hangover.



    We make it to Hangover Mt and camp and check out the full moon from the 5,000 foot rocks.



    On Day 15 we leave the Hangover on the new BMT and climb to Haoe Peak for a break.



    As we make our way to Bob Mt we run into these 4 backpackers. From the left: Donner thruhiked the AT in 2010, DJ thruhiked the AT in 2005, both Dirt Stew and Dormouse thruhiked the AT in 2010 and the PCT in 2014. I call them the Donner party.



    Patman, Donner, DJ, Dormouse and Uncle Fungus.

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    On Day 17 Patman and I leave Bob Mt and descend on the BMT to Cold Gap and into the Wedge where I show him a secret camp by Bob Creek. Here's Patman falling off the Bob.



    On Day 17 I pick up my cached emergency Thermarest and strap it to the pack.



    After I reach Beech Gap I roadwalk the hated loud harley noise-polluted Cherohala Skyway aka the Cherohowler Monkey Screamway. The motorcyclists ruin the BMT from the Whigg to Beech Gap and Cold Gap to Bob Mt---and they really ruin the BMT from Tapoco to Fontana on the new Yellow Creek Mt Trail reroute above hiways 129 and 28.



    My trip ends below Flats Mt but I first stop at the Brushy Ridge overlook lookings towards Whiggs Meadow on far left. End of a good trip.

  6. #6
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    nice trip..............


    Mitchell Lick ATV Trail
    Trail 415 Recon and Ribbon Marking up to Lick Mt and Back
    Mitchell Lick ATV Trail
    Snowbird Creek


    somewhere in this area is where i got lost last year...........

    there's a few different dirt road/tracks up in that area that really got me turned around............


    and those signs---wow-----they look nice............just hope they last a while......

    i was down on the lower snowbird in july and they werent there yet............

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    tipi---

    gots a request----in your map photo, can you show the top left corner?

    and what areas you flagged?

    also where the day 9 kings meadow trail sign photo is located on map?

    trying to figure out more of the area i was lost in....

    particularly that one trail that goes up the hill to the right after making a crossing of the snowbird (where there's a tree with a 'mitchell lick" carving in it).......

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    all those shiny signs in Walter's photos are making me question your navigational skills, Kevin.

    too soon?

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    They weren't there last year...

    or even in July of this year...

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    tipi---

    gots a request----in your map photo, can you show the top left corner?

    and what areas you flagged?

    also where the day 9 kings meadow trail sign photo is located on map?

    trying to figure out more of the area i was lost in....

    particularly that one trail that goes up the hill to the right after making a crossing of the snowbird (where there's a tree with a 'mitchell lick" carving in it).......
    Kevin, here's the top section of the map including Mitchell Lick.


    As mentioned, I took a break in Mitchell Lick and then hiked down the ATV road a bit which heads south and got on the ridge to the East and found the faint green blazes of the Snowbird Mt Trail 415 which I marked with red ribbon for as long as I could---until I ran out of ribbon. My progress can be seen on this map showing the black line running south/southeast from the Lick. Simple enough, except I had to go from green blaze tree to tree and it took hours to find any semblance of trail.


    Regarding the confusing ATV split on Trail 154, I walked it and this is an approximation of how it veers off 154 and climbs to the high shoulder of Laurel Top Mt and heads down and west to come out below Mitchell Lick where the Snowbird Creek trail "starts" by a big faded white plastic sign. When you get down to that sign from Mitchell Lick, this ATV track is the one you see heading left and loops around to Trail 154.

    I'm discouraged by ATV usage in the area being that 154 is inside the Snowbird wilderness study area, verboten to ATVs.

  11. #11

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    Cool, thanks for the pictures and trip report...you were pretty busy cuttin' and clearing blow downs and consolidating trash from some disrespectful humans, Thank you for that.

  12. #12

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    Tn Hiker,

    I was looking out for it and I believe I found the spot you must of turned left instead of right to wind up in Mitchell Lick like you did. (tipi drew the line in to his map from trail 154). Just south of the first stream crossing is flagging that heads up hill to the left but trail 154 actually goes down to a stream crossing to the right. You got bamboozled by over-flagging. I think half the tape in that wilderness needs to be removed. You can tell fisherman are marking their fishing spots all over that place and i bet hunters are marking their paths and not removing the tape.

    BTW, you were so right about Kings Meadow....awesome trail! I found a totally cleared trail that isn't on any map leading down Meadow Branch all the way to Snowbird Creek (starts from the area listed on the Trail Illustrated map as Kings Meadow). Also that last section of Kings Meadow before hitting the junction was some of the steepest trail I've ever seen in the south east. wow

  13. #13
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    Tipi, looks like a great trip and thank you for sharing. What was your dinner menu for so many days out in the wilderness?

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    i have a bunch of stuff on this thread to catch up with so it will take me a while, along with me actually having to work during all of this...............



    You got bamboozled by over-flagging. I think half the tape in that wilderness needs to be removed


    that was my biggest problem.........

    the lower and more populated trails, due to use, arent flagged-----but that one area had all kinds of flagging, going in all kinds of directions...

    and that threw me off.........


    and this trip, with me seeing the over flagging---is what led me to comment on a thread patman did a while ago talking about flagging another route......

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    i also looked through all of Tipi's album of photos..........


    Tipi----

    not sure if you noticed, but between sassafras falls and that little campsite at the intersection with burntrock ridge-----to the left, and across the creek----there was some flagging................i noticed this flagging last year and had asked you about it as well..............not sure if that's the continuation of sassafras falls trail or not (it wouldnt match with the map though).....


    also, i noticed the same thing about burntrock ridge trail------it was cut and easy to follow for all except the last quarter of it, going down to snowbird creek...........


    also----snowbird mountain trail--------starting out from the lower end of snowbird creek trail from junction, maybe a mile or less----to the left, there's an intersection with flagging as well.............no sign there but i think this would be the lower end of snowbird mountain trail............

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by somers515 View Post
    Tipi, looks like a great trip and thank you for sharing. What was your dinner menu for so many days out in the wilderness?
    I have a home dehydrator and most of my cooked meals were either vegetarian chili or home cooked/dried brown rice or Amy's cream of tomato soups. Along with a big bag of snackables---meaning nuts and peanut butter and breads and larabars etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post

    the lower and more populated trails, due to use, arent flagged-----but that one area had all kinds of flagging, going in all kinds of directions...

    and that threw me off.........


    and this trip, with me seeing the over flagging---is what led me to comment on a thread patman did a while ago talking about flagging another route......
    There's another trail called the Hooper Bald Trail which is flagged but difficult to follow as it leaves the Hooper Bald gravel tourist trail on top and turns right down some old wooden steps and disappears in a series of switchbacks. I backpacked it once in 2012 and on this trip went up it from 154 and here's my approximation of where it goes---


    Here's the Lost Hooper Bald Trail from 154. Of course, you could take the gravel road to the top instead as it's much easier to follow.

    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    i also looked through all of Tipi's album of photos..........


    Tipi----

    not sure if you noticed, but between sassafras falls and that little campsite at the intersection with burntrock ridge-----to the left, and across the creek----there was some flagging................i noticed this flagging last year and had asked you about it as well..............not sure if that's the continuation of sassafras falls trail or not (it wouldnt match with the map though).....


    also, i noticed the same thing about burntrock ridge trail------it was cut and easy to follow for all except the last quarter of it, going down to snowbird creek...........


    also----snowbird mountain trail--------starting out from the lower end of snowbird creek trail from junction, maybe a mile or less----to the left, there's an intersection with flagging as well.............no sign there but i think this would be the lower end of snowbird mountain trail............
    On my next trip I hope to start at the bottom of Trail 415 and see how bad it is---the top of 415 though is nearly impassable. Regarding the Sassafras Creek trail---I did see that obvious left trail crossing the creek and I followed it up (with flagging) until it seriously dead ended in a clump of crap. I too thought it may be the real Sassafras Creek trail. But no, the real trail goes past the Burntrock trailpost upcreek as there is faint sign parallel to the creek. Hellish to stay on. If opened it would take you all the way up to Trail 415. Neato.

    And yes, I was amazed at the condition of the Burntrock Ridge trail and was happy to hiking a cleared trail but then ZAP the dang thing stopped being cleared and the last 1/4 mile was a battle thru rhodo, briars and thickets. I reached Little Flat Creek and the campsite and then crossed Snowbird Creek to come out right above Middle Falls. Next trip I hope to finish clearing Burntrock.

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    (i'm still trying to get caught up in this thread, while working so bear with me)....



    There's another trail called the Hooper Bald Trail which is flagged but difficult to follow as it leaves the Hooper Bald gravel tourist trail on top and turns right down some old wooden steps and disappears in a series of switchbacks.


    yeah............that's how i accessed kings meadow............i came down the steps from the parking lot-----it kinda wrapped around, and passed an intersection with mitchell lick trail (which was signed) and then it kept going until it hit the road near the vacation house.............and from there---i went down the dirt roads that went past a few different hunting type camps, before it hit that one camp on the knoll that had the wooden structure that was standing..........

    then from there---kings meadow took a sharp right turn downhill and then ending up down at junction.

    i found yellow blazes along the part of kings meadow after that last hunting camp.............

  18. #18

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    "hen from there---kings meadow took a sharp right turn downhill and then ending up down at junction."

    yeah i initially went down that and the creek to the right wasn't on the map and it seemed like the trail would shoot straight down the drainage. I thought that couldn't be right so I backtracked to the wooden structure and continued down the dirt road for another mile while trying to associate the terrain to the map (kinda hard to do with 1 to 63,000 resolution).
    I eventually figured out I was walking beside that deerlick ridge (or whatever it's called) on private property and turned around yet again to the wooden structure. tricky stuff there on kings meadow....a half dozen places to make a bad choice.

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    ....a half dozen places to make a bad choice.


    yup

    thats why I was fully expecting to be lost on kings Meadow trail on my first day out----and not on snowbird creek trail on my last day out...

    thought hts the upper parts of snowbird and around Mitchell lick would be as easy as the lower part but I was way wrong on that...

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    yeah i initially went down that and the creek to the right wasn't on the map and it seemed like the trail would shoot straight down the drainage.



    yeah...........it just hugs the drainage on the side of the hill...............

    i camped on one of the ridges that was maybe half way down to the right...........

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