I just finished a 70 mile sweet section of the BMT from the Appalachian Powerhouse on the Hiwassee River to Deals Gap. It was about 70 miles through the Cherokee Forest - and a tad in the Nantahala Forest.
Sunday April 13 - Powerhouse to Loss Creek - 3 miles (started @ 6 PM)
Monday April 14 - Loss Creek to Sandy Gap - 18 miles
Tuesday April 15 - Sandy Gap to Tellico River Rd (Green Cove Motel) - 14 miles
Wednesday April 15 - Tellico River Rd to Cherry Log Gap - 15 miles
Thursday April 16 - Cherry Log Gap to Slickrock Creek - 12 miles
Friday April 17 - Slickrock Creek to Deals Gap - 8 miles
Monday the weather was hellish with rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind and more snow.
Tuesday was nice, but Wednesday was gorgeous. I dried all my gear out atop Whigg Meadow. I saw a herd of about 20 wild boar in the Citico Creek Wilderness that afternoon. Thursday was another gem. The Stiffknee Trail kicked my tail dropping down to Slickrock Creek.
Friday was an easy 8 and out. SGT Rock met me at Deals Gap, and lunch was Baltimore Jack's leftover lasagna (very good)! Thanks Sarge and Dixiecritter!!
All in all a great trip. The trail was tough to follow on Tuesday along the Stateline Trail. The blazing is certainly sparse along most of this length, so a good map and the BMT databook are pretty much essential. I brought along a GPS too.
The wildflowers were amazing in stretches. So were the songbirds. I was awoken Friday by Wood Thrush singing along the creek.
I have only about 40 miles to go to complete the BMT. Hopefully I'll knock that off before summer hits.