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View Full Version : Tornado near Low Gap Shelter



neonshaw
04-27-2011, 22:53
Just heard it on local Atlanta news. its rough as crap around here and the AT above Helen and White Co is taking a direct hit it sounds like

they actually reported one at Low Gap Shelter!!

Trail_Name
04-27-2011, 23:21
I heard this, too, but when I looked in the guidebook for "low gap shelter," I didn't see the shelter listed in Georgia?

Trail_Name
04-27-2011, 23:24
Oh, found it; they just reported it heading towards Amicalola.

Sierra Echo
04-27-2011, 23:27
Its getting Amicalola right now. It thumped Blairsville too. I wonder how mountain crossing has fared.

hikingshoes
04-27-2011, 23:29
I heard this, too, but when I looked in the guidebook for "low gap shelter," I didn't see the shelter listed in Georgia?
Its in GA at 41.1 miles from springer.Hope this helps. HS

Trail_Name
04-27-2011, 23:33
Thanks for the info, hikingshoes!

hikingshoes
04-28-2011, 00:06
Looks like Gatlinburg/Newfound gap is getting hit right now.HS

hikingshoes
04-28-2011, 00:11
Thanks for the info, hikingshoes!

Your welcome.HS

Trailweaver
04-28-2011, 01:20
As the tornado warnings were all around us all day today, it's been a scary thing. Tonight as rain was pelting the house and the wind was sideways, my husband asked me how I'd feel if I was "out there on the trail." I told him I would be plenty worried, even in a shelter, and was plenty worried about the people I knew who were out there tonight. I soooo hope everyone will be O.K. I can't imagine living through a tornado on the trail.

Jim Adams
04-28-2011, 07:42
Hey, lets get back to important topics....so, how about those hiker feeds!

I hope no one was injured on the trail or in Blairsville last night. I was talking to Boudin @ 02:00 last night when the tornados were going thru Blairsville and suddenly lost contact. I don't know if it was a cell tower problem or whether he was actually hit...will find out today.

....and there are actually people worried about hot dogs and drinks out there. Unreal!

geek

ddarlington
04-28-2011, 13:00
My best friends husband was hiking the trail from Georgia crossing into North Carolina yesterday. She has not heard from him or been able to reach him - which I know cell phone use is non existent or limited most places on the trail. Just trying to get some information as to how bad the weather was in that area. We know he was heading to Nantahala Outdoor Center and expected him to be there last night. They do not show him as signing in. His final destination is Fontana Dam. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

jbwood5
04-28-2011, 13:21
My best friends husband was hiking the trail from Georgia crossing into North Carolina yesterday. She has not heard from him or been able to reach him - which I know cell phone use is non existent or limited most places on the trail. Just trying to get some information as to how bad the weather was in that area. We know he was heading to Nantahala Outdoor Center and expected him to be there last night. They do not show him as signing in. His final destination is Fontana Dam. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I hope he is OK.
Keep in mind that if he just crossed from GA into NC yesterday, he could not make the NOC that quickly. Give him a day or more (probably 2 unless he is moving at a near running pace)

It would help if we knew his trail name. Perhaps folks that have been going into Franklin will remember his name and could post something when they are in town.

max patch
04-28-2011, 14:56
My best friends husband was hiking the trail from Georgia crossing into North Carolina yesterday. She has not heard from him or been able to reach him - which I know cell phone use is non existent or limited most places on the trail. Just trying to get some information as to how bad the weather was in that area. We know he was heading to Nantahala Outdoor Center and expected him to be there last night. They do not show him as signing in. His final destination is Fontana Dam. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

60 miles from the GA/NC border to the NOC. Thats 4 days for most hikers; 3 days for a strong hiker. Add a day if he took a day off in Franklin (like most) to those estimates.

daddytwosticks
04-28-2011, 15:20
I'm pretty sure cell phone signals (Verizon for me) are sketchy in that area. Prayers for the safety of all hikers on that section. :)

Praha4
04-28-2011, 17:03
Low Gap shelter is approx 10.5 miles north of Neels Gap.

the trail workers will be plenty busy trying to clear the blowdowns from this storm.

royalusa
04-28-2011, 17:33
Walked Hogpen Gap to Low Gap Shelter today and not a single tree was down anywhere on that route. Don't know about north of Low Gap Shelter.

WingedMonkey
04-28-2011, 17:44
Walked Hogpen Gap to Low Gap Shelter today and not a single tree was down anywhere on that route. Don't know about north of Low Gap Shelter.

See any hot dogs stuck in the trees?
:banana

Tinker
04-28-2011, 17:51
See any hot dogs stuck in the trees?
:banana
You've gotta stop talking to Jim Adams. :D

earthbound
04-28-2011, 20:25
My Dad is on the trail right now and last night he was around Blue Mtn shelter in Georgia and he heard there was a tornado nearby. Apparently pretty bad lightning and lots of trees/branches down between there and tray mtn. He is okay and I hope your friend's husband is too. Your friend's husband is about 30-45 trail miles north of where my father is. Just give him some time to get in contact, the signals aren't always great up in the mountains.

bloodmountainman
04-28-2011, 21:37
Len Foote Inn at Amicalola Falls was damaged. The Woody Gap area was hit. Damaged homes and plenty of downed trees just south of Neel Gap.

MkBibble
04-28-2011, 22:54
Tell your friend not to worry. Cell phone coverage through there is terrible, and as others have said NOC is several days from the border. My wife got a little worried about me during the (much smaller) storms in October of last year when I couldn't get a signal for three days.


My best friends husband was hiking the trail from Georgia crossing into North Carolina yesterday. She has not heard from him or been able to reach him - which I know cell phone use is non existent or limited most places on the trail. Just trying to get some information as to how bad the weather was in that area. We know he was heading to Nantahala Outdoor Center and expected him to be there last night. They do not show him as signing in. His final destination is Fontana Dam. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

MkBibble
04-28-2011, 22:58
Oops. Also meant to say that there is a pretty good chance he found someplace dry to hang out for a day or so...

AHIKERAHIKER
05-01-2011, 11:13
I arrived at Cooper Gap Wednesday around 6 and pitched my tent. At 8:30 the action started. Torrential rain, wind sounding like a freight train, Lightining CONTINUOUS with amazing loud crashes. I was terrified and wanted off the mountain. I had cell phone service which was in itself amazing and after numerous calls got in touch with Suches fire dept. They told me to be at the road (42, 80 and 15 junction) so they could find me. I put on all my rain gear, packed up and took down the tent (that wasn't a great idea!). I sat in the rain, lightning etc for 1 - 1/2 hours waiting for them. Realized if there were blow downs I'd be there with no shelter!!! They finally arrived at 1:15am and took me to Suches where I spent the night in the fire station. I am now planning to write an article called "Ordeal at Cooper Gap" for the AT concervancy. I must admit to be more scared than ever in my life and I'm 72 years old!!! What a unbelievable experience. One other thing, on the phone they told me to expect tornadoes in my area in about 30 minutes. Great morale booster!! I hope everyone else on the trail was ok. I must admit I wished I had been at the Hawk Mt, Shelter with others. Also, very happy that my Big Agnus Copper Spur 2 tent kept me dry during the time I was in it (about 3 hours cowering on my air mattress). My sincere thanks to everyone who worked to get me to safety.
Gordon "Renaissance Man" Ripley - Thru hiker 2008

springerfever
05-01-2011, 11:22
Gordon, pretty amazing story. Looking forward to reading your write-up. Power of nature is scary as well as awe-inspiring .

Speer Carrier
05-01-2011, 11:32
I think the Low Gap mentioned as being hit by the tornado was Low Gap camp ground which is on F.S. road 44. That area has more than 100 blow downs.

Jim Adams
05-01-2011, 14:14
See any hot dogs stuck in the trees?
:banana


You've gotta stop talking to Jim Adams. :D


Now that is funny!:D:D:D

Airmed802
05-01-2011, 17:54
I stayed at Neels when the storm came through and hiked from there on Thursday. Stayed at Low Gap shelter Thursday night. Everything looked good. Blue Mountain shelter looked good on Friday.

star
05-01-2011, 17:56
Section hiked Unicoi Gap to Dick's Creek Gap this weekend. A few trees down but nothing serious.

I live in Helen and there was a tornado touchdown path between Helen and Unicoi Gap that crossed Hwy 17/75. Power crews/Arborist were still working on it today. Trey Mtn and Deep Gap Shelters were intact and without damage. Met thru hikers who had stayed at Blue Mtn and Low Gap shelters earller this week (Thurs/Fri nights). Shelters were intact.

tenn_hiker
05-01-2011, 21:59
i was in the blueberry patch hostel with about 9 other people that night.. we were more worried about the saftey of other hikers on the trail then our own..

AHIKERAHIKER
05-06-2011, 15:04
Here is an article I wrote for the Appalachian Trail Concervancy. I don't know if they will pblish it or not.
Gordon

It was Wednesday April 27, 2011 and a wonderful day to start north from Springer mountain on a thirteen day section hike to Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC. I had flown down from Manchester, NH that morning and met my shuttle driver, Marty Rogers, at 10am for a ride to FS-42 just south of Springer Mt. summit. Having already done the first mile from Springer twice on my first through hike I decided to start right at FS-42. Also, At 72 years old it is getting harder starting out on these long distance hikes so I decided to take it easy on the first day and slack pack to Cooper Gap with Marty meeting me down the trail with my pack and water for the overnight.

There had been mention of a possible thunder shower at around 3pm that day but one never materialized. The weather was warm with a nice cooling breeze and from FS-42 to three forks I was humming along at a speedy 4 miles per hour. By the time I got to Hawk Mountain shelter, however, my stomach wasn’t feeling very good and I belatedly realized that I had been going too fast and not eating enough to compensate for my fast pace. I met Marty at high Tower and since I was doing fairly well I continued on we arrived at Cooper Gap around 5:45 pm. My stomach was feeling pretty bad by this time so Marty helped me set up my tent and hang the nylon cord for my bear bag. After Marty headed back to Atlanta I forced myself to eat some of a freeze dried meal and was in my tent by 8 pm. At around 8:30 the nightmare began!

We have all seen heat lightning but how many of us have actually been in the clouds as it is happening? For what it is worth it is like being in a room full of photographers all continuously firing off flash bulbs. From that point on it got really scary. The storm intensified drastically with extremely loud crashes of thunder and blinding lightning strikes going on all around me. It got so bad that I had to cover my eyes with my rain jacket to keep from being blinded. This continued for more than three hours as I cowered in my tent praying. The rain was torrential and the winds were roaring like a freight train. Fortunately I had cell phone coverage and I finally decided that my life was truly in danger and that it was a matter of necessity to get off that (Sassafras) mountain. My shuttle driver, Marty Rogers, kept in touch with me via cell phone during the whole three hours and from his home in Atlanta he contacted people at the nearby Ranger Camp as well as the police department at Dahlonega, Georgia. He even offered to drive the 2+ hours from Atlanta to rescue me. Although I was grateful for his offer I was hoping for a timelier rescue. I used a telephone number provided by Marty to contact the police department at Dahlonega. They in turn referred me to the volunteer fire department at Suches. When I contacted Suches they told me they would send someone to get me and that I should be on the road so they could find me when they arrived. During my telephone conversations with Dahlonega and Suches I was told to expect tornedoes in my area within the next 30 minutes. Suffice it to say this was not exactly a great morale booster for me. You can imagine it wasn’t what I wanted to hear and certainly added to my concern! I had visions of tying myself to a large tree but then realized that with tornedoes even something as big as a house is no obstacle to its destructive force so a tree wouldn’t stand a chance.

My camping spot at Cooper gap was near the road at the junction of routes 42, 15 and 80. After talking with Suches I packed up my things and put on my raingear consisting of rain pants and rain parka. I then ventured out into the deluge to take down my food bag. Lastly I took down my tent, which I should add had kept me dry throughout it all and I put everything in a pile by the side of the road. Finally I went to sit by the side of the road where the visibility was about 8 feet. I sat there for over 1 ½ hours amidst the roaring winds, torrential rain and continuous brilliant lightning. To say I was petrified would certainly be an understatement. Soon after taking down my tent I realized that if my rescuers faced downed trees they might not be able to reach me and now I didn’t even have shelter to retreat into! I belatedly thought that taking down the tent wasn’t such a great idea and as time dragged on I kept wondering where my rescuers were.

Then sometime after midnight I was starting to feel hypothermic as I had only a tee shirt on under my rain parka. Gratefully there was a short period where the rain let up and I took advantage of it to rush over to my backpack to get at my down parka and put it on. It was pure luck that I was able to get it on without getting too wet. That solved the hypothermia issue. At about 1 am the Suches volunteer fire department truck arrived and I piled everything into the back of it while apologizing for getting their truck wet and at the same time thanking them profusely for rescuing me.

In Suches I was taken to the fire department building where I went to bed around 2am on a couch in their lounge. The next day I decided I had had enough and got a ride to the Knoxville airport and a flight home. Days later I am still reliving the ordeal in my mind and experiencing the terror of feeling so helpless against the violence that nature can unexpectedly throw at you. In the end I feel I was very fortunate to have had cell phone service and friends who stayed in communications with me helping to ease my fears throughout this terrible ordeal. While I feel that I am ready to go back out on the trail again soon, I must say that my wife has her own opinion on the subject!

Gordon “Renaissance Man” Ripley
Through hiker: 1968 start with finish in 2008

Bonjour
05-12-2011, 23:41
This is old news now but I totally understand what Ahikerahiker is saying. I was camped alone at Chattahoochee Gap that night about 4 miles north of Low Gap shelter. Its difficult to explain the power in that storm and it was plenty scary. The only hiker injury that I know of was someone who hit their head as they ran to the basement of a motel in Helen GA. Many others were not so fortunate.