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View Full Version : Section hiking North Carolina - Help needed



Max20Characters
03-15-2015, 13:39
Hello All, I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I'm from New Jersey. My friends and I are planning on doing a section hike of North Carolina (from GA border to TN border/Fontana Dam). We have previously done all of New Jersey and Maryland. We are looking to hike during memorial day week with 9 days set aside to do it (2 weekends and a week off work) but I'm having some trouble with planning. So I'm looking for some advice on transportation.
One option is taking two cars down from NJ and parking one at the dam and then the other near the GA/NC border, which looks to be Deep Gap, and starting from there. But the drive from NJ to GA is about 12 hours. And we would end up wasting an entire day on the drive down and another day driving back up. Leaving us with only 7 days to do the 90 miles. We usually average 2 miles an hour or less.
Another option, and preferably, would be to take a train the night before (after everyone leaves work) so we can sleep on the train and start hiking once we arrive. But I don't know which is the closest train station or which trains run in the area. My thought is to take a train, or bus, to the nearest spot and trying to get someone with a shuttle to pick us up from the station and drop us off as close to the border as possible (Bly Gap). A quick look on Amtrak and the closest station is in GA at Toccoa. But I also saw there was a station at Asheville which might be too far. The other problem is the transportation coming out. I don't see anything near Fontana Dam. I'm not sure a bus would be a good option because of our packs. I don't think all greyhounds accept luggage. I'm completely novice with transportation so I hope someone here is very familiar with NC and can help me out!
It would be much appreciated! Also, any other information about NC would help too. I have a few maps I'm looking over but there's so much other info that maps just don't have. We also want to do a drop off at a midway point too. Thank you again.
-Karl

bigcranky
03-15-2015, 16:11
Hmm, Amtrak's The Crescent leaves Trenton at 3:18pm. I don't see an Amtrak stop in Asheville, though there might be a local train. You'd be closer to the trail getting off in Toccoa, GA, where you would arrive at 6:15am. From Toccoa, Hiawassee is about an hour away, and that's reasonably close to Deep Gap. You might find a shuttle driver willing to pick you up at the train station and drive you to Deep Gap. When you finish, Fontana Dam is only 2 hours from that same train station in Toccoa, so perhaps the same driver will take you back.

Easy resupply in Franklin on US 64, just hitch the ten miles into town. That should be all you need for resupply, but plan for a meal at the restaurant at Nantahala Outdoor Center when you pass through there. They also have a small store for snacks and such.

If you want to start south of the NC line, you'd start at Dick's Creek Gap, which might be faster for your shuttle to get to, though it's a day's hike south of Deep Gap.

The trail along this stretch is good, with some great views if the weather cooperates.

bigcranky
03-15-2015, 16:15
If it were me I would leave after work Friday and drive halfway, then hit the road really early Saturday and drive the rest of the way, park at Fontana Dam, and get a ride from the folks at The Hike Inn down to Deep Gap. That way you'll get at least a few hours on the trail Saturday. Fontana is a safe place to leave a car, and Jeff and Nancy at The Hike Inn are terrific people and friends of hikers.

Slo-go'en
03-15-2015, 17:54
If it were me I would leave after work Friday and drive halfway, then hit the road really early Saturday and drive the rest of the way, park at Fontana Dam, and get a ride from the folks at The Hike Inn down to Deep Gap. That way you'll get at least a few hours on the trail Saturday. Fontana is a safe place to leave a car, and Jeff and Nancy at The Hike Ann are terrific people and friends of hikers.

That's probably your best plan. The section you want to hike is one of the more remote locations when it comes to public transportation.

illabelle
03-15-2015, 18:08
Max,
We live in TN, and have sectioned almost half the trail (pieces here and there, not all connected). Our strategy is to drive to everything south of Pennsylvania for 2-4 day weekend trips, and fly to everything from Pennsylvania northward, making those trips 7-8 days including travel. Flying is expensive, but driving that far costs a lot too - in time.
I used to think state lines were important somehow, like starting a section at PenMar Road, but I've dropped that idea. I know we can hike about 75 miles in 6-7 days, more or less depending on difficulty of the section, so a while back I identified good stop/start points that were about 75 miles apart. Dicks Creek Gap is a good spot to start a section, whether you drive there or use a shuttle. Forget about Bly Gap.
You need some resources:
www.theatguide.com (trail guide, less than $20, EXTREMELY helpful, order it today!)
www.appalachiantrail.org (go to the section hiker page and look for the link to the shuttle list)
www.atdist.com (quick online calculator of distance between points on the trail, including all shelters, and road crossings of significance.
Welcome to WhiteBlaze! You've come to the right place. We're happy to help however we can. :)

MuddyWaters
03-15-2015, 19:32
If it were me I would leave after work Friday and drive halfway, then hit the road really early Saturday and drive the rest of the way, park at Fontana Dam, and get a ride from the folks at The Hike Inn down to Deep Gap. That way you'll get at least a few hours on the trail Saturday. Fontana is a safe place to leave a car, and Jeff and Nancy at The Hike Ann are terrific people and friends of hikers.

Id do this too. If you fall behind and cant make the mileage, you just end up at NOC, or at stecoah gap, and you call a shuttler to give you a short ride to fontana. I met a few people that bailed there after cheoah, psyched out by jacobs ladder.
Jeff from the hike inn will also tell you how to find the water at stecoah. Easy contingency planning. There is a cell tower at stecoah gap i believe. Noc is a great place to end a hike anyway.

Max20Characters
03-19-2015, 10:09
Wow thanks all for the quick responses! It looks like we are deciding to drive down in a friends SUV because a train is way too expensive. We are going to extend our trip a few days to accomodate the drive. Looking to drive to Fontana Dam, most likely stay at the Hike Inn and have them shuttle us to Dicks Creek and start from there. Not sure about stopping in Franklin because it's so far from the trail. Does anyone have any experience hitch hiking there? We're worried about leaving it to chance and not getting picked up either going to franklin or coming back to the trail. We are also looking to do a Nero at the NOC for some R&R and rafting.

Now that we have our traveling issues in order, I'm looking to figure out the best places to do mail drops, aside from franklin. I have emailed the NOC to ask if they do mail drops too. Has anyone here done the entire NC before? How many days did it take you? We are planning to do about 15 miles a day but each day looks like it's going to be hard miles so I'm a little worried about time and fatigue since we are still rather inexperienced. How are the campgrounds, shelters, water sources, animal life, etc in NC?
Thanks again! This forum is awesome.

Max20Characters
03-19-2015, 10:09
Also, what's Jacobs Ladder?

illabelle
03-19-2015, 10:45
Also, what's Jacobs Ladder?

Jacob's Ladder is a beastly steep hill supposedly named because a hiker felt sure he should have reached heaven when he got to the top, but instead it was just another PUD (pointless up-and-down).
If I remember right, it was just north of Cheoah Bald. Not sure about that...

bigcranky
03-19-2015, 10:58
Hitching into Franklin is easy. US64 is a the major highway in the area and has plenty of traffic. Local folks know about hikers and getting a ride is generally not a problem. (Of course you need to be somewhat careful, like don't get into the car with the guy wearing a hockey mask.) You could also call for a shuttle from Ron Haven, who runs a couple of hiker hotels in Franklin. In season he runs a bus a couple of times a day, but I don't know when that stops -- anyway it's definitely worth calling him ahead of time.

You'll get some solid climbs on this section, though they are mostly pretty well graded. From US 64 to Fontana you'll hike through the Nantahalas, probably the toughest section in the South. That nero at NOC will be nice, and the rafting is fun.

If it were me I would just resupply once in Franklin and not worry about mail drops. If you really want to send a drop, ask Ron Haven about it.

Have a great hike.

MuddyWaters
03-19-2015, 19:52
Also, what's Jacobs Ladder?
This part of the nantahalas used to be hard, it wasnt switchbacked. Today its tamed, but jacobs ladder is still not, it about 700 ft hill i recall, without switchbacks.

Id just resupply at NOC its literally on the trail, and not mess with Franklin. The outfitter store takes packages. Probably 5-6 days from Dicks Creek to NOC, its 67 miles. Plenty of water, plenty of views, best part of the southern AT imo. The climb out of noc up cheoah is a nice 3300 ft.