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View Full Version : mini-hike/HamRadio/Mtn-Sea



MedicineMan
12-14-2003, 10:47
Yesterday my oldest daughter took an exam in AshevilleNC to get into Baylor in Chattanooga, after dropping her off at the test sight, and while leaving the campus of Asheville School I spied a mountain off in the distance...so with 4 hours until her testing would be over I started driving in the direction of the uknown mountain. 35 minutes later and after a long twisting road I found myself at a closed gate to the Blue Ridge Parkway--I grabbed the Camelbak out of the back of the truck and started walking to the road thinking a road walk better than nothing but saw a trail darting off to the right in short time. Soon I was climbing and climbing and climbing, it was 30 degrees when I left the vehicle and the wind was roaring, plugged in the mike on the HamRadio and dialed in the Mt.Mitchell repeater---suddenly I was not hiking alone anymore and within 20 minutes had QSO's with 6 people....one of them, a retiree named Bill was familiar with the area-deer hunted it his whole life, he told me to be careful and I told him that is why I carry the radio-esp when hiking alone and by that time in snow and ice a a windchill approaching 5F...hit the summit and looked to the right and noticed 1/4mile away another summit which was maybe 250-300 feet higher...my radio contact told me that was Mt.Pisgah.....turned around after 47 minutes and started chilling relative to the heat of climbing up....near where I parked I finally noticed a trailsign, one of the radio contacts thought I was on the AT, the little sign near the end identified the trail as the Mountains to Sea Trail. I remember doing a little bit of it near Clingmans and another small section near Linville...
Got back to school in time to pick up the daughter who asked how I spent my time, as we drove out I pointed the peak out in the distance and told her I spent my time over there.