Ga BMT-AT loop?.....

[cameron.denton]

OK a quick question. I'd like to hike a section of the BMT-AT. I have a 4-5 y/o topo map that says (if its correct) that i can go from Amicalola falls, follow the AT. Then a little bit after springer mtn i can follow the BMT then a little ways into that it splits (?) and can either go north to NC/TN or east back toward the AT. I noticed a section on the BMT website about a BMT-AT loop but it was under construction. is this correct?

-Also if it is correct how long is it if I make the loop back to amicalola? and about how long (time frame for an average hiker)?? supply points..ect ect..???

......Thanks alot for any help or advise you can give!:banana

[SGT Rock]

How much hiking are you thinking of doing?

Your options are to hike the AT from Springer to the Smokies and then back to Springer on the BMT but that would be a few hundred miles.

The other option, probably the one you are thinking about, is to hike the AT/BMT/DRT loop which would be about 60 miles +/- a few depending on what options you take.

I did the BMT/AT/DRT loop earlier this year and can give you some info on that option, and I have hiked all the AT and the BMT on the other loop if you are looking for something bigger.

[SGT Rock]

Audio journal of my AT/BMT/DRT hike: http://hikinghq.net/sul.html#hike

[Dances with Mice]

OK a quick question. I'd like to hike a section of the BMT-AT. I have a 4-5 y/o topo map that says (if its correct) that i can go from Amicalola falls, follow the AT. Then a little bit after springer mtn i can follow the BMT then a little ways into that it splits (?) and can either go north to NC/TN or east back toward the AT. I noticed a section on the BMT website about a BMT-AT loop but it was under construction. is this correct?

-Also if it is correct how long is it if I make the loop back to amicalola? and about how long (time frame for an average hiker)?? supply points..ect ect..???

......Thanks alot for any help or advise you can give!:banana
The Duncan Ridge Trail leaves the AT at Long Creek Falls and is concurrent with the BMT to Rhodes Mtn. There the DRT skirts the west & northern borders of the Cooper Creek WMA until it joins the Coosa Backcountry Trail, south of Vogel State Park. After the CBT turns north near Slaughter Gap the DRT continues east a few miles to rejoin the AT on the southern slopes of Blood Mountain.

It makes a great loop. There are several threads about it. Ask here or PM if you have any questions.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8770&highlight=duncan+ridge+trail

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=54177&highlight=duncan+ridge+trail

[mister krabs]

Here's a great plan (http://backpacking.roundtablefh.org/backpacking/trips/More%20than%2050%20Miles/Georgia%20Loop%20Backpacking%20Plan.pdf) of the loop in PDF format with maps profiles and descriptions

[SGT Rock]

That is pretty sweet mister krabs. How recent is the data?

[mister krabs]

Document properties say nov. 2008 I found it the other day when looking for cohutta info for my trip tomorrow.

[schnikel]

Here's a great plan (http://backpacking.roundtablefh.org/backpacking/trips/More%20than%2050%20Miles/Georgia%20Loop%20Backpacking%20Plan.pdf) of the loop in PDF format with maps profiles and descriptions

VERY COOL indeed!
Schnikel

[cameron.denton]

Ive been on many different forums and for many different topics but you guys take the cake! thanks for the responses and for the speed of them! and SGT. Rock-I guess it is the duncan ridge trail, didnt see that on the topo untill you said that. so 60 mi. ... about 6-9 day depending on weather and supply runs??? (sound right?) i mean I'm in the army reserve and nearly fresh out of training (little over a year) so im pretty fit and can carry a 90 lbd ruck more that 12 miles in a day but i plan on enjoying myself so im gonna take it easy. BTW are you prior Military? just curious. Also, I'm sort of farmiliar with the area since I live in dawson county, but what kind of supply areas are there in case i run out or need something?


-Again many thanks for all the help!:banana-also, you gotta have the dancin bananna :D

[SGT Rock]

Ive been on many different forums and for many different topics but you guys take the cake! thanks for the responses and for the speed of them! and SGT. Rock-I guess it is the duncan ridge trail, didnt see that on the topo untill you said that. so 60 mi. ... about 6-9 day depending on weather and supply runs??? (sound right?)
Yep, you could do it in less depending on how you pack. Resupply options would be Martin's Dixie Depot on the BMT and Mountain Crossings on the AT - a little side trip off Blood Mountain for you which would be worth it IMO.


i mean I'm in the army reserve and nearly fresh out of training (little over a year) so im pretty fit and can carry a 90 lbd ruck more that 12 miles in a day but i plan on enjoying myself so im gonna take it easy. I wouldn't try it on the DRT LOL. But yep, you could do it. A more reasonable load would be between 20-30 pounds and shoot for about 10-15 miles per day.


BTW are you prior Military? just curious. Also, I'm sort of farmiliar with the area since I live in dawson county, but what kind of supply areas are there in case i run out or need something?
Retired from the Army 2008.

There is a short term resupply option with hot food at Martin's Dixie Depot on the BMT and Mountain Crossings on the AT is well know for taking care of hikers. I would recommend getting a copy of one of the thru-hiker guides for planning the AT part, and look at www.bmtguide.com (shameless plug) for the BMT section. The only part that isn't well documented yet is the DRT.

[cameron.denton]

cool, thanks again for the input. yea, i know 90 lbs is a little extreme, just used it as a reference, my load would be much lighter (maybe as low as 10-15 lbs + food) and yea ill shoot for 10-15 miles per day.
i know in BCT i almost slept-walked that, lol. and hearing from my units training NCO (10 mins ago) im going to a training school in mid august so the trip should be in mid to late september.

-as always thanks for the input!:banana

[Dances with Mice]

Document properties say nov. 2008 I found it the other day when looking for cohutta info for my trip tomorrow.It doesn't list a lot of relocations which have made the DRT a bit easier. The trudge up Akin is no longer directly up the ridge, for example, and the trail now bypasses the Wildcat summit between Wolf Pen Gap & Coosa, and there have been extensive relocations around Walhalla Mtn & from GA-60 all the way to the river. But those are really a matter of style rather than substance since the relocations still traverse the same mountains. So while the details may be off, the directions are still good.

I don't understand why that guide would recommend spending the night at Fish Gap rather than Sarvis Gap. Fish is the dead end of a road and pretty trashy. Sarvis, 40 minutes away, is more remote and much nicer.

Speaking of Fish Gap, I walked from there to Licklog Gap a couple weeks ago. Watch for poison ivy and briars on the DRT, it's not a short pants kinda trail. Quite a few blowdowns also. I heard the maintainer of that section is a drunk who spends much more time on his computer than working on his section. He should be replaced immediately.

[SGT Rock]

I gotta agree. Fish gap was about as appealing as a dead fish. Sarvis gap had water and potential for good camping. I was also wondering about those relocations. I don't have your familiarity with the trail, but the profile looked sort of like it was pre-relocations.

[Dances with Mice]

I gotta agree. Fish gap was about as appealing as a dead fish. Sarvis gap had water and potential for good camping. I was also wondering about those relocations. I don't have your familiarity with the trail, but the profile looked sort of like it was pre-relocations.Yeh, some of it's probably old crank syndrome: "You whippersnappers don't know how easy you got it! Back in my day the trail was just straight up and down! We didn't have none of them fancy switchbacky things!"

In all case the relos added switchbacks so the profile would be about the same, the mileage just increasing a little. Mostly it's a case of the trail being tweaked rather than totally relocated.

The only two places where I think the relos make a real difference is between GA-60 and the swinging bridge; and around Walhalla. I believe the relos have added a mile to the distances painted on the sign on the south side of GA-60. Walhalla used to be a strict up & down ridge hike, just like that stretch between Rhodes - Gregory - Payne mountains. Now the trail is mostly a long loopy sidehill that moseys up to the ridge then loops back down. Much improved really, but I think it added close to half a mile of trail.

[SGT Rock]

I agree. when I hiked the BMT it went STRAIGHT up the mountain but I saw some flagging for the relo, and at that time the old trail was so poorly marked and overgrown there were times I just aimed up and eventually hit a trail marker. The way back down is hazy in my memory - probably I was just glad not to be climbing anymore.

When I hiked it this time I saw where the trail use to go, and about 15 minutes of nice hiking later I saw where it use to come straight up to. I don't know if it is a half mile of re-location though. According to my changes in mileage from 2008 to 2010 it's 0.2 miles more from GA60 to Wallalah Mountain, 0.4 miles more between Wallalah Mountain and the Gap, and 0.1 more miles between the Gap and Licklog Mountain.

[royalusa]

We just completed the BMT-AT loop hike last month. Our journal is http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=10946 if you want to collect some info. SGT Rock's Guide book is the BEST! Be sure to get it!! It's just as good if not better than all the highly praised AT guidebooks. http://bmtguide.com/

[SGT Rock]

I read your journal last month, sounds like ya'll had a great time.

[TheChop]

I started in Amicalola State Park went up the approach trail, got on the BMT and then headed east on the DRT to Neels Gap where I got on the AT and headed back to ASP. Resupplied at Mountain Crossings. Took me 7 days for 85 miles. The AT part felt like a breeze after the DRT. The DRT is a serious trail and goes straight up and straight down. Not a lot of water close to the trail. I had to go straight down 250 feet to get to a water supply after passing Rhodes Mountain where the DRT and BMT split.

It was one of the physically hardest things I've ever done but I'm not in terribly great shape.