Daydream Believer
01-01-2010, 00:12
Hey All,
I thought I'd post these pics and commentary. We just got home a little bit ago from our section hike in GA. We rented a cabin at Blood Mountain Cabins for a few nights and had originally intended to spend 3 nights there and two nights out camping. We ended up changing our plans a bit as the trip unfolded. Forecasts were for days in the 40's (F) and nights in upper 20's....sounded very reasonable. It did stay clear up until today when we left...or mostly clear.
So we got dropped off where we left off in October when we started from Springer and ended at Gooch Gap. Here's a pic of the same spot we have our tent set up...just looks a lot more barren. It was lovely and clear and in the mid 20's or so..good hiking weather.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270001.jpg
I didn't get too many pics from that first day as we were hiking fairly hard to reach our goal. We did stop for lunch at Woody Gap. Here is Tim, my husband, chilling out and our gear. That is my pack on the opposite side of the table from Tim. I was only carrying about 27 lbs this trip...much better than the last one. I love this Osprey pack also...so much nicer than my old one.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270003.jpg
We pushed on shortly and headed up to the top Big Cedar Mountain...a good climb for us out of shape folks...and a nice spot for a break. The leaves being off the trees and the clear crisp air gave us some amazing visibility. This was my first winter mountain hike and it truly was spectacular.
This is me. Not a great shot but I'm showing it mainly for the scenery.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270010.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270012.jpg
I did not get any more pics of that evening but we reached our goal of 7 miles by 1 p.m, felt good, and decided to push on a little more. As we did, the sky got cloudy and the wind really started to pick up strongly. Temps were dropping also. We were not concerned so much about that as we had warm clothes, good gear, and a tent but we decided to push on a bit farther to Wood's Hole Shelter where I knew there would be 3 walls and a roof and a sheltered area to camp. By the time we got there around 4 p.m, we had done 10.5 miles (started around 8:30 am)...a good hike for us but we were pretty tired at that point.
We got into camp and the wind at this time was probably 30 to 40 mph sustained and just roaring over the ridge. The shelter it turns out is set out on a spur on the side of a mountain and not out of the wind at all...the wind was hitting it broadside...so much for that plan. :o Making dinner inside the shelter was even hard and my stove blew out several times as the wind was coming up under the floor boards!
We set up our tent inside the shelter that we shared with 3 young men who graciously agreed to let us do that as there was plenty of room for everyone. They did not have a tent along and just had to huddle in the shelter in their bags. They did lay a tarp on the floor to try and break the wind coming up from the bottom somewhat. Here I did not think I'd sleep in a shelter with the mice. Well the mice did not come out. I think it was too cold for them! Everyone stayed in their holes that night! ;)
Our sleeping bags are 20F North Face bags with a Thermarest insert supposed to make them about 15 degrees warmer. I can tell you that I was never warm all night long.:cool: My husband was fine but I'm a cold sleeper so I guess I need a bit more to be comfy. We had good insulated mats (15F) and our tent. It was snowing at one point and the wind continued to pick up overnight. I was awakened once by a crash on the roof of the shelter as a branch must have broken off a tree and hit the roof. It was a big one we saw in the morning. I was glad to have a strong roof over us and not just a tent. The winds were roaring over the mountain like a freight train...it was truly humbling to be out in a storm like that. We guessed the winds were at least 40 to 50 mph at times.
Next morning was clear, colder, with no snow but the wind had not let up at all and we had another four miles or so to go up over Blood Mountain and down into Neel's Gap where our cabins were. It was bone chilling cold...we figured out that if it was around 20F, the wind chill was around 0F. Here in SE Virgina we think 20F is danged cold! :eek: I haven't been out in that sort of cold in a long long time....so I hope I don't sound like too much of a weenie.
We ate breakfast in our tent and sleeping bags...almost frozen breakfast bars and water we'd managed to keep from freezing by keeping it in the tent with us (thanks to pointers from here on Whiteblaze!;)) We packed up as fast as we could trying not to take our gloves off any more than we had to and decided to just head up Blood Mountain and down into Neel's Gap and get to our cabin for lunch. It took us quite a bit of hiking to warm up which was quite different from the day before.
We got up on Blood Mountain, and, as you can imagine, the wind was worse. It was probably close to hurricane strength at this point. If the wind hit you with your pack on, it would stagger you and push you off balance...so that is what I'm basing my guess of wind speed on...kind of like a hurricane force wind here on the coast. Tim got some pics of me in the old AT shelter and some amazing views. I was cowering inside trying to warm up after a trip to the privy in that wind! Our water froze on the way up the mountain after we left Woods Hole Shelter so the temps had to be quite cold...I'd guess in the low 20's with that wind making it feel much worse.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280017.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280026.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280020.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280022.jpg
We made to our cabins by early afternoon and managed to get the heat turned on and warm ourselves up. My husband had twisted his knee on the descent off of Blood Mountain and was hurting, so we decided to take a day of rest and then do a day hike on Wednesday instead of the two day trip we'd originally planned.
After a shopping trip up at Mountain Crossings on Wed, we went on a nice drive around the area. I had to stop at this cut out on the side of the road. That ice frozen to the side of the cliff was amazing. This was on 348 between Tesnatee and Hogpen Gap.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC290042.jpg
This pic was taken that afternoon also. I am not sure of the name of that mountain. Can anyone tell me? Is it Kelly Knob? It is cool looking anyway.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC290050.jpg
Another one...a neat play on the shadows as it was late in the day.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC290044.jpg
Wednesday, we headed out slackpacking from Hogpen Gap back to Neel's Gap...now going SoBo instead. It was kind of different going the other direction and the views were absolutely spectacular. I did notice many less blazes going south in this section. Is that normal?
Morning from Wildcat Mountain. We got dropped off about 8 a.m. I think that is Cowrock mountain where we are about to climb up from Tesnatee Gap!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300056.jpg
The next pics were from Cowrock Mountain and probably some of the prettiest I think. Several times we could see a 360 degree view and without the leaves on the trees to obscure the view, we were treated to constant spectacular scenery. It was not so cold that day...maybe 30's with some wind...certainly not bad compared to the dangerous cold of Sunday night and Monday's hike.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300058.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300064.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300061.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300063.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300066.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300065.jpg
Those were the last of the great mountain pics. We hiked the next few miles into Neel's Gap and then called it day. We got treated to some frozen precip last night in the form of several hours of sleet. We managed to get out OK this morning but it was a close thing. We almost got stuck getting out of the office area at Blood Mountain Cabins! It was a long drive home (9 hours) but we are safely here in time for the New Year.
I hope you all don't mind my huge post and endless pics! I just wanted to share some of the pics we got and tell you how much fun we had!
I thought I'd post these pics and commentary. We just got home a little bit ago from our section hike in GA. We rented a cabin at Blood Mountain Cabins for a few nights and had originally intended to spend 3 nights there and two nights out camping. We ended up changing our plans a bit as the trip unfolded. Forecasts were for days in the 40's (F) and nights in upper 20's....sounded very reasonable. It did stay clear up until today when we left...or mostly clear.
So we got dropped off where we left off in October when we started from Springer and ended at Gooch Gap. Here's a pic of the same spot we have our tent set up...just looks a lot more barren. It was lovely and clear and in the mid 20's or so..good hiking weather.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270001.jpg
I didn't get too many pics from that first day as we were hiking fairly hard to reach our goal. We did stop for lunch at Woody Gap. Here is Tim, my husband, chilling out and our gear. That is my pack on the opposite side of the table from Tim. I was only carrying about 27 lbs this trip...much better than the last one. I love this Osprey pack also...so much nicer than my old one.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270003.jpg
We pushed on shortly and headed up to the top Big Cedar Mountain...a good climb for us out of shape folks...and a nice spot for a break. The leaves being off the trees and the clear crisp air gave us some amazing visibility. This was my first winter mountain hike and it truly was spectacular.
This is me. Not a great shot but I'm showing it mainly for the scenery.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270010.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC270012.jpg
I did not get any more pics of that evening but we reached our goal of 7 miles by 1 p.m, felt good, and decided to push on a little more. As we did, the sky got cloudy and the wind really started to pick up strongly. Temps were dropping also. We were not concerned so much about that as we had warm clothes, good gear, and a tent but we decided to push on a bit farther to Wood's Hole Shelter where I knew there would be 3 walls and a roof and a sheltered area to camp. By the time we got there around 4 p.m, we had done 10.5 miles (started around 8:30 am)...a good hike for us but we were pretty tired at that point.
We got into camp and the wind at this time was probably 30 to 40 mph sustained and just roaring over the ridge. The shelter it turns out is set out on a spur on the side of a mountain and not out of the wind at all...the wind was hitting it broadside...so much for that plan. :o Making dinner inside the shelter was even hard and my stove blew out several times as the wind was coming up under the floor boards!
We set up our tent inside the shelter that we shared with 3 young men who graciously agreed to let us do that as there was plenty of room for everyone. They did not have a tent along and just had to huddle in the shelter in their bags. They did lay a tarp on the floor to try and break the wind coming up from the bottom somewhat. Here I did not think I'd sleep in a shelter with the mice. Well the mice did not come out. I think it was too cold for them! Everyone stayed in their holes that night! ;)
Our sleeping bags are 20F North Face bags with a Thermarest insert supposed to make them about 15 degrees warmer. I can tell you that I was never warm all night long.:cool: My husband was fine but I'm a cold sleeper so I guess I need a bit more to be comfy. We had good insulated mats (15F) and our tent. It was snowing at one point and the wind continued to pick up overnight. I was awakened once by a crash on the roof of the shelter as a branch must have broken off a tree and hit the roof. It was a big one we saw in the morning. I was glad to have a strong roof over us and not just a tent. The winds were roaring over the mountain like a freight train...it was truly humbling to be out in a storm like that. We guessed the winds were at least 40 to 50 mph at times.
Next morning was clear, colder, with no snow but the wind had not let up at all and we had another four miles or so to go up over Blood Mountain and down into Neel's Gap where our cabins were. It was bone chilling cold...we figured out that if it was around 20F, the wind chill was around 0F. Here in SE Virgina we think 20F is danged cold! :eek: I haven't been out in that sort of cold in a long long time....so I hope I don't sound like too much of a weenie.
We ate breakfast in our tent and sleeping bags...almost frozen breakfast bars and water we'd managed to keep from freezing by keeping it in the tent with us (thanks to pointers from here on Whiteblaze!;)) We packed up as fast as we could trying not to take our gloves off any more than we had to and decided to just head up Blood Mountain and down into Neel's Gap and get to our cabin for lunch. It took us quite a bit of hiking to warm up which was quite different from the day before.
We got up on Blood Mountain, and, as you can imagine, the wind was worse. It was probably close to hurricane strength at this point. If the wind hit you with your pack on, it would stagger you and push you off balance...so that is what I'm basing my guess of wind speed on...kind of like a hurricane force wind here on the coast. Tim got some pics of me in the old AT shelter and some amazing views. I was cowering inside trying to warm up after a trip to the privy in that wind! Our water froze on the way up the mountain after we left Woods Hole Shelter so the temps had to be quite cold...I'd guess in the low 20's with that wind making it feel much worse.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280017.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280026.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280020.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC280022.jpg
We made to our cabins by early afternoon and managed to get the heat turned on and warm ourselves up. My husband had twisted his knee on the descent off of Blood Mountain and was hurting, so we decided to take a day of rest and then do a day hike on Wednesday instead of the two day trip we'd originally planned.
After a shopping trip up at Mountain Crossings on Wed, we went on a nice drive around the area. I had to stop at this cut out on the side of the road. That ice frozen to the side of the cliff was amazing. This was on 348 between Tesnatee and Hogpen Gap.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC290042.jpg
This pic was taken that afternoon also. I am not sure of the name of that mountain. Can anyone tell me? Is it Kelly Knob? It is cool looking anyway.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC290050.jpg
Another one...a neat play on the shadows as it was late in the day.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC290044.jpg
Wednesday, we headed out slackpacking from Hogpen Gap back to Neel's Gap...now going SoBo instead. It was kind of different going the other direction and the views were absolutely spectacular. I did notice many less blazes going south in this section. Is that normal?
Morning from Wildcat Mountain. We got dropped off about 8 a.m. I think that is Cowrock mountain where we are about to climb up from Tesnatee Gap!
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300056.jpg
The next pics were from Cowrock Mountain and probably some of the prettiest I think. Several times we could see a 360 degree view and without the leaves on the trees to obscure the view, we were treated to constant spectacular scenery. It was not so cold that day...maybe 30's with some wind...certainly not bad compared to the dangerous cold of Sunday night and Monday's hike.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300058.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300064.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300061.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300063.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300066.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l215/ssluss/Appalachian%20Trail%20pic/PC300065.jpg
Those were the last of the great mountain pics. We hiked the next few miles into Neel's Gap and then called it day. We got treated to some frozen precip last night in the form of several hours of sleet. We managed to get out OK this morning but it was a close thing. We almost got stuck getting out of the office area at Blood Mountain Cabins! It was a long drive home (9 hours) but we are safely here in time for the New Year.
I hope you all don't mind my huge post and endless pics! I just wanted to share some of the pics we got and tell you how much fun we had!