Art Loeb basics
How many days and nights do I need?
Are there shelters?
Bears?
Certain areas (like shining rock) have a pretty bad bear problem.....
canisters are needed...
and as far as I know---there are no shelters.....
According to the Nat Geo map there are 2 shelters. One at Deep Gap and another at Butter Gap.
We've got a bunch of wildfires out here in WNC right now... a bunch of smoke is hanging in the air. (I didn't know if you were planning on a trip this week or not.)
Ah well.good to know about fires bc i just cancelled a Smokies trip this weekend bc of smoke and fires
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The smoke travels a long way - it kind of smells like a campfire outside even though the fires are quite a ways from here.
Welp, maybe ill try Roan... though thats 4 hr+ drive from Atl...
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But anyway, bear canister for all Art Loeb??
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no.....just think for the section in shining rock......
Ok i think i should just do a couple of sections, 2 nights. Faves?
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No shelter at deep gap - only down in the lowlands near Davidson River. High country section is all I have done - black balsam to cold mtn (80 pct of which is in shining rock area). Bear canister requirements are in place near black balsam too (@ graveyard fields). I would say the high country section is what you would want to do but with bear issues, likely water/dry spring issues and smoke obscuring the fantastic views you might want to wait until conditions are more favorable.
How strenuous is this area. Looking for a good AT shakedown hike. 2-3 days
There's even more smoke today than yesterday at the Brevard (Davidson River) end.
Art Loeb basics
We used to do the Art Loeb as part of our Selection process (SOF). Parts of it are really strenuous assuming you are going south to north (e.g. Pilot MTN, and the climb up from the Blue Ridge). Not discounting bears, but I have walked the entire trail around 13 times and never saw one. Lucky I guess. Butter Gap shelter has water and is a pretty large A-frame. Overall, the AL is a great place to get a rep in for the AT. I will be doing it as well in Dec for an AT start date in Feb 17.
Thanks Ddtrey im starting AT in march 17. Depending on weather around the 8th
I'm off Friday for a week and a half and I planned on doing the AL trail during that time but I was in Brevard/Asheville over the weekend and it's thick with smoke. I'm debating between that and Roan Mountain now.
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