Standing Indian/Nantahala weekend

[Swiss Roll]

I'm looking to do a Fri night/Sat/Sun in this area of NC in November. Can anybody suggest something-loop or one way. Is 10-12 miles day too much in this mountainous area for a 40 year old who doesn't hike every week? Are there plenty of tenting sites along the way or do I need to go shelter to shelter? Thanks

[orangebug]

What a terrific area to go walking. 10 miles is no real problem, assuming you take the easier uphill paths to the AT.

Assuming you are driving in Friday afternoon, park at the Backcountry parking lot, walk up to Glassmine Gap, which is compass north of the lot, walking away from the store and campground. Once at Glassmine Gap, turn right (south) onto the AT. Walk to the shelter north of Mt Albert and camp, or if you have gotten there earlier, climb on over and work your way toward Betty Gap for campsites.

Saturday is a long walk over toward Standing Indian, probably not quite all the way. Sunday, linger on Standing Indian. Either walk further south to Deep Gap and walk down Kimsey Creek Trail to your car, or if you are in a hurry, Lower Ridge Trail start right at Standing Indian's summit and takes you down quickly.

[Swiss Roll]

On my National Geographic map, it has the trail name to Glassmine Gap as Long Branch Trail, is this the correct trail?

Second, being November, I'm not sure how much daylight I will have on Friday after driving in. Are there plenty of tent sites along the way if I have to bail before the shelter? If I don't start walking until Saturday morning, is this loop (Long Branch-AT-Lower Ridge) going to be a nut-buster to do in two days?

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the help. I am fairly new to backpacking and I don't yet know my capabilities/limits.

[Gray Blazer]

Here's my .02 . I did this in 2 days when I was very out of shape and carrying way more than I should have. I parked at Deep Gap and camped there the 1st night, although there is a nice tentsite a little ways north on the AT and to the left by a stream. Don't worry, you can't miss it. The next morning we summitted Standing Indian and hiked all the way to Betty Gap (The one before Albert Mountain) and tented. The next day we went up Albert and hiked to Rock Gap. Then we went left on the hard road, walked down to Standing Indian Camp Ground store, left our backpacks and went on the Kimsey Creek Trail back to our car at Deep Gap. Of course, then we drove back to the store and retrieved our backpacks.

An easier way to do this would be.......park at Rock Gap, a pretty safe place to leave your car. If you get in late that 1st night, you can sleep at the Rock Gap Shelter which is a couple hundred yards south of the parking lot. Next morning hike south on the trail. It is a beautiful section. Go over Albert Mountain and camp at Betty Gap. (You could go further, but, I'm not sure where you would camp). The next morning continue south. Beautiful hiking on the long ridge approaching Standing Indian, summit Standing Indian. Then either take the Lower Ridge Trail that Orange Bug mentioned or continue to Deep Gap and take the Kimsey Creek trail back to Standing Indian Campground and continue up the hard road back to Rock Gap. I did this in the summer with longer days. If you get early and get going, it shouldn't be a problem.

[bigcranky]

Yes, the Long Branch Trail is the one up from the parking lot.

I wouldn't recommend the Lower Ridge Trail down from the Standing Indian Summit. We tried it last year, and it's not maintained. Ugh. Made all the worse by the pouring rain. It took forever to get over all the huge blowdowns. We ran into a maintainer down in the camp store, and he told us that they have been trying to get that trail off the maps for years.

This loop is fantastic, BTW. Enjoy it. Though it does have some tough up and down, just take your time and it'll all work out. The total loop is only about 25 miles, so a long weekend is perfect.

[Swiss Roll]

I think I'm about to get this dialed in. I think I will park at the Backcountry Center, Hike up Long Branch to Glassmine Gap, south on AT, tent at Betty Gap or go on to Carter Gap shelter if time permits, then take the Kimsey Creek trail back to the Backcountry Center. One question. On my map the Kimsey Creek trail doesn't intersect the A.T. Do the two trails meet, and is it a well marked intersection?

Oh, yeah one more thing. If I get to the trailhead too late to start, can I camp at the Kimsey Creek or Standing Indian campsites that are on my map?

[napster]

<TABLE class=tborder cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR title="Post 237364" vAlign=top><TD class=alt2>Oh, yeah one more thing. If I get to the trailhead too late to start, can I camp at the Kimsey Creek or Standing Indian campsites that are on my map?</TD></TR><TR><TD class=thead colSpan=2></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>If you get there too late there is a small parking site to your immediant left on the drive in and I believe its rock gap shelter is only a hundred yards or so to the right of that parking lot.Its a small shelter so ya might have to tent.Albert can be a challenge in the rain or if you have knee or back probs.I remember doing climbing and sliding in the rain and then when I got to carter shelter it was full of college kids that would not scoot over and it was one of those torrent down poures all day I serious thought about busting sum caps just to teach them sum manners.All in all its a very nice hike and in november you should not have too much traffic but I'd take a tarp just in case the shelters are full.Enjoy!

[bigcranky]

The AT and the Kimsey Creek Trail come together in Deep Gap. There's a road, and a parking area, and it's pretty obvious.

You can camp in the Standing Indian Campground. It's a nice USFS campground with all the usual facilities.

[OPIE]

i did kimsey creek up to standing indian shelter..and then back down lowe trail to standing indian camsite parking lot. Only go down lowe..it's hella steep, but nice.

[TIDE-HSV]

Napster. I had the same experience with a bunch of medical students at that same shelter. It was the weekend of the GA/Clemson football game and it was an annual event for them. They were drunk and loud and it poured. One of our guys got so disgusted, he went out towards the trail, rolled up in his plastic ground cloth and slept through the storm. That's also the only time I got lost going out to take a dump in the AM. It was foggy, and I went down further than usual (mixed crowd of college kids), and finally had to admit I didn't know where the shelter was. I angled out to cut the trail where I knew I'd have a right turn to the shelter and almost stepped on a twelve-pointer bedded down right by the AT. It scared both of us to death. I don't know which of us jumped higher...

[Gray Blazer]

Tide, good story. The shelters are often full due to the fact that the area is poopular with boy scouts, girl scouts, church groups, camp groups and any other group you can think of.

[TIDE-HSV]

How about pig hunters. Same hike. We're heading towards Albert and we realize that we're seeing guys with orange vests and high-powered rifles. We resolve, not having orange vests, not to make suspicious sounds, or, god forbid, get down on all fours. After an interval, this poor, bedraggled soul in camo and orange approached us, walkie-talkie in hand. He was hopelessly lost. When we told him he was on the Appalachian Trail, all we got was a blank look. When we told him that the trail ran from Georgia to Maine, the blank look turned into frank suspicion. He knew then we were crazy, or, maybe, even subversive. He withdrew over to the side of the trail and, as we shrugged and departed, we could hear him trying to make contact with his buddies - "Come on *** (censored name), this is Mad Dog, come back?"

[springerfever]

Orangebug hit it right on the head. This is my favorite hiking area in the Nantahalas, 'cause its so easy to circle back to your car. The shelter just below Mt. Albert, Big Spring, is nice and a great way to start your day is to stay there and get up early to watch the sunrise from Mt. Albert; only about a 1/2 mile from the shelter and without a pack takes about 20 minutes to the awesome tower.

Also some good campsites near the summit of Standing Indian, but water is scarce.

THE absolute best time to hike this area is the first week of June when the native azaleas and rhododendron are in bloom. Simply spectacular !!

Also just south of Albert is an area that climbers use for rapelling and climbing called Pickens Nose.......a great little side trip with some great views........

Its ALL good !!!!

[TIDE-HSV]

on the outcropping at Picken's Nose, you can hear the conversations of the hikers on the trail below clearly. If you call out to them, they have no idea where you are...

[sliderule]

on the outcropping at Picken's Nose, you can hear the conversations of the hikers on the trail below clearly. If you call out to them, they have no idea where you are...
And some of them will have no idea where they are!!

[TIDE-HSV]

Yep, and some aren't even hog-hunters...

[orangebug]

Sorry to have not responded, but had no access to my computer this weekend - and still didn't get to go walk.

Long Branch Trail is the one to Glassmine Gap. The campground will be closed after Halloween, so don't plan on parking there. The backcountry parking lot is available, just to the left of the locked gate of the campground.

The Lower Ridge trail is a bitch to climb up, but (IMHO) a blast to get off the mountain in a hurry toward the parking lot. Up near the summit of Standing Indian, you will face opposite from the path to the summit. You will see two paths. The one to the right off the AT is Lower Ridge Trail. To your left is a steep path down to a slow but fairly reliable spring/seep.

The path to Deep Gap and to the Kimsey Creek trail is obvious. Kimsey Creek is a very pleasant creek/path walk in either direction. November walks do have fairly short days, but that is really pretty neat for a little section hike. Just plan on getting up early and shutting down promptly when dusk begins. Night follows really fast with little twilight.

Enjoy.

[SouthMark]

Did this hike last December. Parked at backcountry parking lot and hiked the Long Branch Trail to Glassmine Gap ad then on to Big Spring Shelter for the night. Next day to Carter Gap Shelter, and then over Standing Indian to Deep Gap and the Kimsey Creek trail.

[Swiss Roll]

What about getting water? How about campsites along the trail?

[orangebug]

This is a pretty wet section of trail, especially between Betty Gap and Standing Indian. Water off Standing Indian becomes the Savannah River

[bigcranky]

Plenty of tentsites, too. Most all the gaps have well-used campsites, and there is tenting at all the shelters.

[springerfever]

One thing to be careful of is the location of the Carter Gap shelter. If you hike south (towards Standing Indian from Glassmine Gap on the AT ) the shelter will be on the LEFT, about 200 feet through some rhododendron thickets. The old shelter will be a couple of hundred yards furthur on the RIGHT, as well as the water supply, behind the old shelter.

I've heard many a hiker comment that the Carter Gap shelter was small, cramped and leaky. I knew right away they had stayed in the old shelter !!

The new one has a nice fire ring with an overhang over the picnic table with a gravel floor and a good sleeping area. Privy on top of the hill due North from shelter.......

The old one might come in handy during peak season when the new one is full.......I don't know if the Nantahale Hiking Club plans to maintain the old shelter or just let is disinigrate......anybody know what the future holds for the old Carter Gap shelter........?

No telling how many hikers it has provided shelter for over the years. Don't know if there is a more welcome sight than a shelter when the summer thunder-boomers are on your tail !!!!