View Full Version : Maxpatch Mountain
maxpatch67
01-13-2009, 23:29
Have you been to Maxpatch Mtn. recently and know if you are NOT able camp on top any more? I thought I read this somewhere, but I wasn't sure. In past years I've really enjoyed sleeping under the stars up there and waking to the sunrise over the Black Mountains. So does anyone know about this?
Have you been to Maxpatch Mtn. recently and know if you are NOT able camp on top any more? I thought I read this somewhere, but I wasn't sure. In past years I've really enjoyed sleeping under the stars up there and waking to the sunrise over the Black Mountains. So does anyone know about this?It's crap. You can still camp there.
Tennessee Viking
01-14-2009, 00:40
Have you been to Maxpatch Mtn. recently and know if you are NOT able camp on top any more? I thought I read this somewhere, but I wasn't sure. In past years I've really enjoyed sleeping under the stars up there and waking to the sunrise over the Black Mountains. So does anyone know about this?There is a section of grassland from the the summit down to the Max Patch loop trail along the road that is protected.
I never heard of not being able to camp on the top. Usually during the summer months, its not advised as that bears are usually very active in the area looking for food.
maxpatch67
01-14-2009, 01:37
Ok, well that's the same as before then. Have you been up there when they haven't mowed in awhile? That's kind of strange camping in the tall grass. I've never seen bears up there, but it sure is one of my favorite places.
Gray Blazer
01-14-2009, 08:44
Someone said there were bears there last summer. I know there were some maurading bears or a bear a few miles north according to some posts on WB.
Yeah. I camped on top in may once and it had not been mowed in a while. The grass was pretty high. I've never been there that the wind wasn't blowing about 20 miles per hour.
Midway Sam
01-14-2009, 10:03
Camped up there back in September... was beautiful. There's a shot of my Double Rainbow up there a couple of years back...
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/3/9/2/9/20071015_85_2_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=22671&c=member&imageuser=3929)
Camped up there back in September... was beautiful. There's a shot of my Double Rainbow up there a couple of years back...
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/3/9/2/9/20071015_85_2_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=22671&c=member&imageuser=3929)
Great Pic!! :banana
Midway Sam
01-14-2009, 10:11
Great Pic!! :banana
Thanks.
If Max Patch was 3-4 miles from a road, it would be the perfect place. I guess you can't have everything.
Almost There
01-14-2009, 11:06
Yeah. I camped on top in may once and it had not been mowed in a while. The grass was pretty high. I've never been there that the wind wasn't blowing about 20 miles per hour.
When I was there it was in the mid 80s and there was absolutely no breeze! Still hung out and ate lunch but it was hot!
joshua5878
01-14-2009, 11:40
Max Patch should be a destination on everyone's "bucket list"!
Lone Wolf
01-14-2009, 11:48
Someone said there were bears there last summer. I know there were some maurading bears or a bear a few miles north according to some posts on WB.
no way i would camp there. no place to hang food from bears
Gray Blazer
01-14-2009, 11:50
no way i would camp there. no place to hang food from bears
I know the bears are really upset about that.
Jim Obermeyer
01-14-2009, 11:56
My wife is not into camping so we stay here a couple of times a year. It's about a mile from the Max Patch parking lot.
http://www.richmountainbound.com/index.htm
Almost There
01-14-2009, 12:17
no way i would camp there. no place to hang food from bears
Since when do you hang food?:D
bulldog49
01-14-2009, 13:24
Since when do you hang food?:D
LW forgot to use his sarcasm font. ;)
no way i would camp there. no place to hang food from bearsthat is why you carry an entrenching tool (see #87 of the big 143 essentials list). dig a hole and bury the food bag, just like a dog:D
ChinMusic
01-14-2009, 16:11
Lone Wolf doesn't hang. He carries the Electric Bear Fence: http://www.nols.edu/resources/research/movies/bearfence_xl.shtml Cool video, by the way
I was there this past fall and thought I would pitch my tarp at the very top. The only tree up there is a whopping 10 feet tall. Just after sunset I got out to stretch and saw two giant bears about 40 yards away where some folks had a picnic earlier on. They were muching on the grass, so I betcha somebody left some scraps there. I grabbed all of my stuff that I couldn't cram into my pack and hiked a half a mile with my stuff in my arms. I burst into a campsite and made myself at home. Luckily the folks already set up there were very hospitable. I saw another bear the next afternoon and decided to go all the way to Hot Springs. I think that the area is just a little too active for camping without bear cables nearby. Not gonna do that again. I've only seen about 4 bears, and these guys looked VERY well fed. By the time I was halfway off the bald they were right where I had set up staring down at me like, "Aww, man, I think he had peanut butter. C'mon back and play!"
Tennessee Viking
01-17-2009, 00:29
Lone Wolf doesn't hang. He carries the Electric Bear Fence: http://www.nols.edu/resources/research/movies/bearfence_xl.shtml Cool video, by the way
Thats pretty cool. The Baa-tany Project used something similiar with the goat project on Roan.
My only question is: Has a brave someone tried to stand inside the fence with bears trying to cross it?