Need some feedback on my 2 night 3 day hike (GA)

Hi all,

Here is my Plan. My concern is this. My GF is not what I would consider very fit(Although she did Springer to Neels Gap with me).
My main concern is the last day, 9.7 Miles. Would you consider low gap shelter to Unicoi Gap difficult? Looking at the elevation change, it appears relatively easier than other section in GA, so I think 9.7 Miles would work.
I try to keep the daily mileage under 7 Miles or close to it to keep it enjoyable for my GF.

Day 1
6.7Miles
Neel Gap 31.7
Whitley Gap Shelter 38.4

Day 2
4.8
Miles Whitley Gap Shelter 38.4
Low Gap Shelter 43.2

Day 3
9.7 Miles
Low Gap Shelter 43.2
Unicoi Gap 52.9

Yeah leave the gf home ! Might be more enjoyable for you! :D.

That sounds like a very reasonable plan, but if the 9.7 is going to be tough then consider putting the hardest day as the first instead. By the third day you may not have slept as well and may be looking forward to being home. It’s sometimes nice to have a short day for the last one.

Whitley Gap shelter is a long walk from the AT although it is a nice, quiet one with a good spring. The last 1/2 mile down is steep and so makes for a steep start the next morning. If you take a tent, skip the shelter and camp on the open mountain top just before the drop off to the shelter. Your mileage seem fine for anyone in semi-ok shape.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FreeGoldRush

That sounds like a very reasonable plan, but if the 9.7 is going to be tough then consider putting the hardest day as the first instead. By the third day you may not have slept as well and may be looking forward to being home. It’s sometimes nice to have a short day for the last one.

---

The flip side to that is if you save the longest day for last, you're carrying the least load and don't have to set up camp.

...and she's had two nice days to enjoy. If the first day is the hardest, she might kill you - that would put a damper on the rest of the days.

Bring Oreos or wine or both.

About that last day: the first five or six miles NOBO from Low Gap Shelter is the easiest AT hiking in Georgia. -- a fair amount of it is on a long abandoned forest road with easy grades and ultra-smooth treadway. Then there is a mile or two where the treadway is real rocky in spots up to Blue Mountain Shelter. Then the hiking gets easy again on your downgrade into Unicoi Gap. So to summarize, the hiking is much easier north of Low Gap Shelter than south of it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hmkr

Hi all,

Here is my Plan. My concern is this. My GF is not what I would consider very fit(Although she did Springer to Neels Gap with me).
My main concern is the last day, 9.7 Miles. Would you consider low gap shelter to Unicoi Gap difficult? Looking at the elevation change, it appears relatively easier than other section in GA, so I think 9.7 Miles would work.
I try to keep the daily mileage under 7 Miles or close to it to keep it enjoyable for my GF.

Day 1
6.7Miles
Neel Gap 31.7
Whitley Gap Shelter 38.4

Day 2
4.8
Miles Whitley Gap Shelter 38.4
Low Gap Shelter 43.2

Day 3
9.7 Miles
Low Gap Shelter 43.2
Unicoi Gap 52.9

---

Whitley Gap Shelter is 1.2 miles off trail. So, Day one is 7.9 with the last part on a steep downhill. Day 2 is now 6 miles with the first 1.2 miles a steep uphill. The only thing it has going for it is that most hikers don't use the Whitley Shelter since it is so far off trail. It had mice in 2016 and mice/squirrels got in our hung food bags on the cables in a horrible rain and lightning storm.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JC13

Whitley Gap Shelter is 1.2 miles off trail. So, Day one is 7.9 with the last part on a steep downhill. Day 2 is now 6 miles with the first 1.2 miles a steep uphill. The only thing it has going for it is that most hikers don't use the Whitley Shelter since it is so far off trail. It had mice in 2016 and mice/squirrels got in our hung food bags on the cables in a horrible rain and lightning storm.

---

Google 'shelter mouse mobile' and/or check out the following article to see what to do with the mouse problem.
https://sectionhiker.com/mouse-mobiles/

Mice have become a big enough of a problem at bear cables in the Smokies that I always carry some sort of a mouse mobile for my trips to GSMNP.

While I agree that pushing it on the last day can be ok (less food, no setting up camp, and you can pig out for dinner when done...), it can also be very depressing to start day 3 and be staring at 10 miles if she is already "over it" physically

Day 1 will be more like around 8 miles instead of 6.7 because of the 1.2-mile side trail to Whitley Gap Shelter. Since you're planning on staying in shelters, you might not even have to worry about the bear cables because GATC has recently been replacing them with special bear boxes that lock instead. I'm not sure if they placed at that particular location, but I know they have them at Black Gap (Approach Trail), Springer Mountain (two of them actually), Stover Creek, Hawk Mountain, and Gooch Mountain. Not sure about the shelters farther on. I'm not sure if Low Gap has one, but they should have cables. Anyway, I would assume that they should have this project done by now on most of the GA shelters.

On day 2, I would try to extend your mileage a little bit depending on if you would consider tenting, just to make the third day easier. You could try to make it up to Poplar Stamp Gap which is 1.4 miles north of Low Gap where there are campsites and water.

I'm going to assume that you want to sleep in shelters. So your exact mileage would be

Day 1 | 7.9 miles | Neel Gap --> Whitley Gap Shelter
Day 2 | 6 miles | Whitley Gap Shelter --> Low Gap Shelter (for the side-trail back to the AT from Whitley Gap is 1.2 miles long)
Day 3 | 9.7 miles | Low Gap Shelter --> Unicoi Gap

Probably the most difficult stretch of the trip is on Day 3. The first five miles are very easy. You'll be walking on an abandoned logging road about 2.5 miles from Low Gap. You'll probably be on that road for about 1.8 miles. You have a couple of ups and downs after the road, then the trail gets a little difficult because of the rocks. I thought that was a difficult part for me because I was tried, hiked from Hogpen Gap that day, and wanted to set my tent up there by the shelter and relax. The trail is pretty steady in elevation before the shelter, but you might want to watch your step because the rocks can get slippery. Once you get to the shelter, you only have a tiny downhill, uphill, downhill, and a bigger uphill. From there, it's all downhill from there to Unicoi.