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  1. #21
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    from that link you posted----"At the next junction (mile 6.0), bear left on Hangover Lead Trail # 56 . At mile 6.2, detour right 0.3 miles to The Hangover for great views of lakes and ridges. "



    it dead ends at the top of hangover so one would have to backtrack to complete that loop in the link....

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by madfarmer View Post
    Yep, there was a sharp switchback to the right (we were descending from Saddle Tree toward Big Fat) at a rock, so we continued straight on the rock to that amazing view and then saw a false trail leading down into really thick Rhodo/laurel. Real pain in the ass. Had to backtrack and only then saw the switchback we missed.

    Hold up, though. I thought that view after the tricky switchback WAS the "HANGOVER" view? Is it not? I saw something about a spur trail from Saddle Tree that dead ends at a view, but we missed that completely (I don't recall seeing a short spur on my map). I just assumed the Hangover lead trail (#56) was the view.

    Does the Cherohala close in the winter like parts of the BRP? Wondering where to start/end in Feb...

    Tipi, I may have posted about it, but no trip report. I did this loop the last week of July. https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/...ilderness-loop
    Didn't see another person for 3 days. Thousands of bees up on the ridge having a feast on the neck-high purple flowers (joe pie weed?). Bear sighting at the campsite at the top of the Big Stack Gap trail (#139). Amazing campsite. From Fodderstack all the way back to the car on the "old bmt?" there was neck-high weeds, especially bad on the old roadbed sections, and tons of stinging nettle destroying my legs.
    The actual Hangover overlook is higher than the overlook in my picture---significantly higher. It's off the spur trail in Saddle Tree Gap---Here's a pic of the real Hangover---You are looking directly into the Smokies/Gregory Bald and Mt LeConte towards the top right. Below is Calderwood Lake/near Fontana Lake/Dam.


    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    i dont think it officially closes as opposed to be more like---"the snow is so deep, that i cant get through without a 4X4".....


    i have been up there and driving through it with a sedan with 3-4 inches on ground.........
    Sadly the Cherohala Skyway stays open all year long but in the winter the godawful roaring and screaming motorcyclists aren't out racing the thing.

    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    that spur trail from saddle tree gap that goes up to the rocks-----that's the hangover....
    Yes, as in my above pic. It's off the main BMT route so if backpackers want to see it they need to blue blaze about a quarter mile to the overlook---perhaps the best view in the Southeast.

  3. #23

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    Okay Madfarmer---I got your route---

    ** Beech Gap Entrance/54A South to Bob Bald.
    ** Seven Mile Ridge (what is also called Trail 53) East to Hangover Mt.
    ** Down Hangover Lead South to Big Fat Gap/Big Fat down to Slickrock Creek.

    ** Slickrock trail to Wildcat Falls.
    ** Up Big Stack trail to Fodderstack Ridge.
    ** South on Fodder Ridge past Cherry Log Gap to "BMT Connector" trail.
    ** Trail 149 to Cold Spring Gap.
    ** Out to Beech Gap.

    I just got back from an October trip and pulled Big Stack down to Slickrock Creek etc.

    The last time I pulled Fodderstack Ridge trail it was in terrible shape and full of thickets and blowdowns and almost impenetrable brush. Here's the ridge trail near Glenn Gap---

    Welcome to the Citico---

  4. #24

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    TW - do you have much trouble keeping track of the trail when it gets that bad?

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by CalebJ View Post
    TW - do you have much trouble keeping track of the trail when it gets that bad?
    Sometimes I get a little turned around but in the pic you can see the "obvious" foot trail underneath all the crap. It's slow going of course but I carry Felco pruners on all my trips and cut as I go---all backpackers should carry pruners in the summer etc.

    And as you know the trail itself is more packed and feels more solid under foot so you know when you're on the trail vs off trail.

  6. #26
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    on some of the trails in that area----there are some faint, probably decades old blazes along with some ax marks in the trees.....along with some years old ribbons in some places as well...

    those are what i was following for brush mountain for the last 2 miles or so getting to the top.....

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    on some of the trails in that area----there are some faint, probably decades old blazes along with some ax marks in the trees.....along with some years old ribbons in some places as well...

    those are what i was following for brush mountain for the last 2 miles or so getting to the top.....
    Thanks for bringing up Brush Mt---a Citico trail which is a whole other ball of wax from all the other Citico trails. Every time I backpack Brush I put up new ribbon from top to bottom---and the stuff you saw probably was my contribution.

    And in fact the top section of Brush from 149 down about a mile is sometimes very difficult to follow---and then you climb hard on Satan's Tit and the very steep and very faint trail down to Bug Hollow and beyond to Testicle Creek etc. (Not names on anyone's map except for my map, thank you). This drop is the steepest part of the whole trail.

    Some neato Brush pics for drooling purposes---

    trip 96 078-L.jpg
    Ripped out bottom Brush trailpost thrown into South Fork Creek. Vandalism is common on the Brush trailposts.

    TRIP 126 194-L.jpg
    The engine block on the bottom part of the Brush Mt trail---it's now been moved and hidden.

    TRIP 125 227-L.jpg
    Me somewhere on the Brush trail.

    TRIP 150 028-XL.jpg
    If you're gonna backpack the Brush make sure you bring trail tools.

    TRIP 149 267-L.jpg
    The top trailhead to Brush Mt in Citico. Yes, the trail leaves right from my pack and behind the post. Have fun, boys.

    TRIP 172 084-XL.jpg
    About 2 miles from the top you fall steeply off Satan's Tit and reach this little gap---I call it Bug Hollow Camp.

  8. #28
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    Every time I backpack Brush I put up new ribbon from top to bottom---and the stuff you saw probably was my contribution.


    i havent been back up there since my first time in either 2013 or 2014....

    the ribbons i was following were sun faded and looked to be years old.......

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  10. #30

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    Satan's Tit, Bug Hollow, Testicle Crk

  11. #31
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    New ones are up now.



    nice....

    if i ever get back into backpacking---i wanna stroll along brush mountain for a few hours......

    maybe even get lost.....

  12. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    nice....

    if i ever get back into backpacking---i wanna stroll along brush mountain for a few hours......

    maybe even get lost.....
    A crew of high school kids backpacked down Brush Mt last year and got lost and had to bushwhack down off the trail to South Fork Creek and popped out on the SF trail.

    The Brush trail is sandwiched between the North Fork above and the South Fork below so it depends which way you bushwhack to reach either creek.

  13. #33
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    The Brush trail is sandwiched between the North Fork above and the South Fork below so it depends which way you bushwhack to reach either creek.


    yeah..........

    that's what was going through my mind when i wrote the lost part....

    either way, still going to hit a creek and get out.........

  14. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    yeah..........

    that's what was going through my mind when i wrote the lost part....

    either way, still going to hit a creek and get out.........
    But it won't be fun. Here's a typical Brush Mt blowdown . . . on the actual trail---


  15. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    One time I was backpacking up Crowder Branch on the Citico side and ran into 17 or 18 Mormon backpackers pulling an intricate loop---


    Their route? Beech Gap to Bob/Hangover Mt down to Slickrock Creek/Wildcat Falls and up Big Stack to Crowders (this picture) and south on Fodderstack Ridge to Beech Gap.


    Filling up their water bottles at Crowder Spring. Obviously this group is too big and outside wilderness limits.
    I did the same route as the Mormon group, it’s tough. The only trip that I honestly thought there was a chance that I might die.

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    Do you have an online trip report or pics of your Citico trip? I'd like to see it.

    It sounds like you got lost on the switchback going up to Hangover Mt on the Hangover Lead South trail from Big Fat Gap to the Hangover (now it's part of the BMT). What's weird is the very first time I went up this trail I too got lost---and turned right at the Tee instead of left etc. But I ended up at this pretty rock so it wasn't a waste of time---

    This pic shows an overlook just below Hangover Mt (and on the "lost" section of the Hangover Lead South trail)--- and looking down into Slickrock Creek valley with Fodderstack Ridge on the left---running from Cherry Log Gap on left to Rockstack Mt and Big Fodderstack Mt as the high teat in the middle of the picture. The ridge continues to the right (north) to Little Fodderstacks and Farr Gap etc.

    I thought this rock was the Hangover on my first Slickrock trip. Turned around like a half mile too soon


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  17. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by Traffic Jam View Post
    I did the same route as the Mormon group, it’s tough. The only trip that I honestly thought there was a chance that I might die.
    I do all my trips in the same area where you "thought there was a chance that I might die." I think that's why my trail journals are so . . . uh . . . weird and twisted.

    Pretty much all of Citico/Slickrock has numerous 3,000 foot elevation gains are some crappy trails---but heck you therefore won't see many people.

    On my last trip in October I pulled "the hardest trail" in the Southeast---Upper Slickrock Nutbuster---and was greeted by a fellow hiker who didn't make it to the top---and got shrunk up in the process---


  18. #38

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    I do all my trips in the same area where you "thought there was a chance that I might die." I think that's why my trail journals are so . . . uh . . . weird and twisted.

    Pretty much all of Citico/Slickrock has numerous 3,000 foot elevation gains are some crappy trails---but heck you therefore won't see many people.

    On my last trip in October I pulled "the hardest trail" in the Southeast---Upper Slickrock Nutbuster---and was greeted by a fellow hiker who didn't make it to the top---and got shrunk up in the process---

    Having obscure, overgrown trails and not having great maps is very scary. It forces you to use your brain and figure things out. Can’t say I want to repeat the experience but it helped me become a better hiker and boosted my confidence.

    (on that trip, it was a magical experience to hear a vixen. It sounded like a screaming woman and initially scared the crap out of me. I cherish that experience and will never forget it.)

  19. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Traffic Jam View Post
    (on that trip, it was a magical experience to hear a vixen. It sounded like a screaming woman and initially scared the crap out of me. I cherish that experience and will never forget it.)
    Fox in heat maybe? They make some crazy, scary noises


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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