That wasn't you guys we ran into up around Dally Gap was it?
That wasn't you guys we ran into up around Dally Gap was it?
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
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We did cross paths at least once. It was a good thing I didn't notice it was you or I would have asked you 1,000 questions about the upcoming trail. I was hiking with my friend who is section hiking the BMT with me. I was the one who was beating the stuffing out of anorexia. We also had two dogs who followed us nearly twenty miles!!! We couldn't get them to go back. Luckily, one had a phone number on caller and the owner came to pick them up.
We had a beautiful night Saturday. It was some of the best sleep I have ever had on the trail. The campsite just before Double Hog Pen Gap is really nice.
We saw those dogs the next day at Brushy Head gap
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SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
Sorry for the long absence in videos from the BMT. I have finally finished the Bartram Trail, my second "longish" distance trail after completing South Carolina's Foothills Trail last year.
Soon, I anticipate I will be doing Dally Gap (~75) to Unicoi Gap (~129). I would love to finish the BMT this year, but I am not sure if I will be able to this year. I am fairly positive I will get at least to the smokies this year. I am not to fond of doing the smokies very late in the season. I am less of a risk taker than many of you. I don't think I would enjoy hiking is snow despite its undeniable beauty.
You should be free of snow until probably February
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SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
yeah...
i wouldnt worry about snow....
just keep an eye on the forecast and be prepared for it, but there are plenty of snow free weekends up in this area (the smokys and other parts of the BMT are only an hour or so away).....
be prepared for the cold though..........
If that is the case, then it is far more likely that I will finish this year. I was looking at a website for normal snow fall. http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/weather.htm
I anticipate I will need 6 more weekend hikes to finish the BMT this year. 3 to get from Dally Gap to 20 mile ranger station and 3 to finish the 100 mile smokies. If I do finish it, it will likely be close to the end of November beginning of December.
Snow is hard to forecast for shutting you down. My first thru was January - February and I got lots of cold weather and even rain, but conditions aren't always right for snow. Even when you do get snow most of the BMT through the Park is lower altitude so it rarely sticks around. I was told that one of the reasons this route was picked for the BMT in the Park was to serve as an alternate route to the AT in those bad snow years.
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SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
Just did Dally Gap (75.3 miles) to Unicoi Turnpike (129.2 miles) as my fourth section hike.
Here is part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HioxRhasne8
This video is from day 1. Dally Gap to Thunder Rock Campground.
I will make and post the rest of the videos later. I will also post a brief review of the section.
I struggled this section. I was working (mentally and physically) so hard just to do 15-17 mile days. My first backpacking trip I could do that much. I am just too out of shape. My legs wouldn't move. The time crawled by. My body felt like it was falling apart. Minutes felt like hours. Least enjoyable hike I've done and it had nothing to do with the trail. It was definitely a me problem.
Thanks for your latest BMT video.
I passed over Hemp Top once and managed to detour up to the top (the old BMT used to go to the top until it was rerouted around on old logging cut). I found a good campsite on Hemp Top but no water. Does anyone know if there is water on Hemp Top, without having to hump it from Double Springs Gap???
Regarding no water at Double Springs, well, you need to follow both dry springs down hill until you reach water. And that climb out of Double Springs is tough as it climbs 800 feet in .8 of a mile.
You pass over Big Frog Mt but don't mention the usual spring before you get to the top. It's an important spring for Big Frog campers. One year I came thru and found the spring bone dry so I dumped my pack and followed the spring gully downhill for a hundred yards and found a real creek with real water. Good to know for those wanting to camp atop the Frog.
And a little north of Frog Mt are my favorite campsites.
When you go down Fork Ridge trail there's a nice campsite in the middle of the route with a decent water spring down the west side a couple hundred feet. I was getting water there once and when I came back up to my pack I met the German Tourist, a woman backpacker pulling the BMT.
I always find the most confusing part of this section to be from the West Fork of Rough Creek north to Thunder Rock campground as the trail weaves in and out of forest roads and strange numbers like 305 and 303 and whatever else. And this part is shared with bicycles which sucks.
Finally, the switchbacks down to Thunder Rock are steep and in my opinion the campground is a terrible place to camp unless you like sleeping next to an Interstate highway with noise pollution. A better choice would be either south on the BMT by the West Fork of Rough Creek OR cross highway 64 and climb up to Little Frog wilderness where there's a perfect campsite on top of a little ridge (on the old Dry Pond Lead trail). There's also water before you get to this spot on a side trail to the right which I believe is called Rocky Creek trail, so you don't have to hump water up from Thunder Rock.
Tipi, Thanks for the information and I am sorry i missed some of what you mentioned.
Hemp Top was virtually impassible to me over Labor Day Weekend.
I did miss the spring on the way up Frog Mountain. I was probably focused so much on getting to the top I missed it.
I did follow spring bed down a little. Perhaps, it was flowing better further down. I can't say. I know I went down one side and my friend went down the other. Neither had it easily accessible, but maybe we just didn't go far enough.
I agree on thunder Rock in so far as noise pollution (from major highway and other car campers). But I was tired and I couldn't go any further. Plus someone offered up a place to stay and free food. I couldn't say no. They have showers though, which I didn't learn until we left.
Our original goal was to do Dally Gap (75.3 miles) to Rock Creek Trail intersection (94.4 miles), but I ran out of legs and couldn't do it. All I could muster was a 17 mile day. I didn't hit one of goals for this hike.
When I hiked through there in June Hemp Top was nearly impassable but I went up there anyway. Someone had VERY recently camped there.
Double Springs was running low but I could have got water there no problem. The climb out of Double Spring wasn't as hard as I remembered, I think because it is thankfully only 0.8 miles of hell before you get to a normal climb.
The spring near the top of Big Frog was just mud, but I followed the draw down to where Tipi is talking about and got water there. We camped on Big Frog that night and it was an EXCELLENT night!
I remember German Tourist, we had lunch together and I gave her a guide. She was doing the AT to BMT to the Pinhoti and is one of the only ones that has taken my advice and used the north section of the BMT to connect it. A truly experienced hiker that I would love to share a campsite with someday.
That last section of the BMT down to Thunder Rock isn't much to enjoy and I have occasionally short cut it by taking that last road crossing down to Thunder Rock instead. Thunder Rock Blows as a campsite. Too much truck noise. But I do enjoy those showers when the campsite is open. The Big Frog/Thunder Rock is a little confusing. After 3 or so times walking through there it starts to make sense LOL.
North of Thunder Rock there is some logging going on at the Kimsey Mountain Highway crossing. It has obliterated some trail blazing and screwed up a spring in the area. When you do your next section keep that in mind. The BMTA is looking at some sort of temporary marking in the area that will survive logging and keep hikers on track.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
I don't know Walter, I certainly hope not.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
I've already done that section. I just haven't made the video for it yet. Kimsey Mountain Highway has some serious logging going on. On descent to Kimsey Mountain Highway, there was a "temporary re-route" sign telling hikers to go left on highway (just a gravel road) for 1.7 miles and then turn on McFarlan Rd for 0.3 miles to reconnect to the trail. I think it adds a mile to the trail distance more or less.
I spoke with a ranger from the Cherokee National Forest who explained that the logging is necessary to ensure greater diversity of plant and animal life, although he did concede it looks terrible now. The area of course will be rehabilitated.
He also said something about a possible re-route or a new section of the BMT to skip over Towee Creek Ford. They said something about just starting to work on it and it is going to be a big climb with many switchbacks. His explanation was not terribly clear. Maybe someone here knows.
This 55 mile section may have 3 parts. I am not sure. I did such a poor job that it may just have 2. I was so constantly tired/defeated that I didn't even want to hike much less hike and do everything necessary to record the video and take photos. So I just did less of it. Unfortunately, that is going to show as I missed large sections of very scenic portions of the trail.
I've worked on the Towee Creek reroute and it will take a while to finish. When you get to the Reliance section you will be walking along the Hiwasse River and at one point you will cross the parking area for the Towee Creek Picnic area and trail head. Currently the trail follows the creek upstream a short way and then crosses the creek and then climbs. In pleasant weather the Towee Creek crossing is a pleasant little dip, but in bad weather it could kill you. We looked at building a bridge but to make it stout enough to withstand the occasional floods in the area would have been cost prohibitive. So the solution was to go out to the road and cross on the road bridge then follow the road a few hundred yards and then climb up what is practically a cliff. Since it is nearly a cliff, the digging in of the trail is a lot of work including hammering out some rock and cribbing the trail in places. It may take a long time to complete as it is mostly done by volunteers when we get time.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
There are two side creeks you have to cross on the Hiwassee section of the BMT: Loss Creek and Towee Creek. Both have excellent campsites but as Sgt Rock says, both can get dangerous in high water necessitating a north bank detour.
Here's the Loss Creek crossing which can get wild after a hard rain.
But Loss Creek has an excellent campsite if you make it across (coming south on the B Mac).
Here is Towee Creek which like Loss Creek can go wild in heavy rains.
There's also an excellent campsite next to the Towee Creek crossing and a little bit north.