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  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-13-2011
    Location
    Lookout Mtn, GA
    Age
    35
    Posts
    30

    Default Winding Stair to Wayah to Bartram

    Hi All,

    I've done Winding Stair to the NOC, a lovely and difficult stretch, but the shuttle around is a bit long.

    I'm wondering if anyone has done the Bartram section from Wayah Bald down toward Franklin (William's Pulpit). I'm leading a group of beginner-ish hikers in winter, and this seems to be a slightly easier/shorter option. Plus, the shuttle would only be a fraction of the distance (dropping a car at both ends). Thoughts? I know the ridge is somewhat dry, but is it nice? views? Supposedly there is water on a side trail from one of the campsites at a gap (about 3.7 miles from the finish).

    Thanks!

  2. #2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by madfarmer View Post
    Hi All,

    I've done Winding Stair to the NOC, a lovely and difficult stretch, but the shuttle around is a bit long.

    I'm wondering if anyone has done the Bartram section from Wayah Bald down toward Franklin (William's Pulpit). I'm leading a group of beginner-ish hikers in winter, and this seems to be a slightly easier/shorter option. Plus, the shuttle would only be a fraction of the distance (dropping a car at both ends). Thoughts? I know the ridge is somewhat dry, but is it nice? views? Supposedly there is water on a side trail from one of the campsites at a gap (about 3.7 miles from the finish).

    Thanks!

    I hiked the Bartram back in October of 2021 and I remember that stretch, though I did it northbound, not southbound as you're describing. I think Wayah Bald to Wallace Branch is about 11 miles.

    What I remember is the relentless uphill walking. You'll be going mostly downhill if you hike southwards on the Bartram. The best views are, naturally, near the top, say the mile or two south of Wayah Bald, though there are others as well. The walking will be mostly through hardwoods, including a burned section which gives great views. There is water near the top, about a mile before Wayah Bald if you're traveling north, or in your case, about a mile after you start.

    You're right about there being water at one of the gaps (Locust Tree Gap?) but when I was there it was a pitiful trickle that required a lot of time to gather. If I were to do that section again, I'd not depend on that water source. There is water at the bottom where you'll end up at Wallace Branch.

    Views from William's Pulpit are lovely and well worth the few extra steps it takes to get there from the trail. I think it took me something like five or six hours to hike from Wallace Branch to Wayah Bald, stopping for lunch on the way. It should be less if you're going downhill. I don't recall anything really technical or dangerous to the trail itself, just a lot of elevation gain going northbound.

  3. #3

    Default

    I did the Batram Trail in June 2021, this section definitely easier southbound.

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