Section Hike in October

[grrickar]

I am hiking SOBO between Hot Spring, NC and the NOC the first two weeks in Oct. If my estimates are correct the mileage is about 134.4 miles. I am going to call the USFS office in H.Sp. on Monday to see if Ivan did any damaged that resulted in the trail being closed. Does anyone know of anything?

I am looking for phone numbers for the Duckett House Inn in Hot Springs (where my and my hiking buddy plan to stay overnight before the hike), and the phone number for Standing Bear Hostel. We plan to stay there for a night. Does anyone know if they will hold a package if you stay with them? Of course I do not expect them to do it for nothing, so I was going to call them and see what we could work out. We were thinking about Mtn. Momma's but I believe it is a couple of miles off the trail and back.

Also, anyone have any recommendations for resupply at Fontana Dam (Village). The notes I found stated that the food items were sparse and overpriced. We would only need a couple days food to make it to the NOC.

[White Oak]

Also, anyone have any recommendations for resupply at Fontana Dam (Village). The notes I found stated that the food items were sparse and overpriced. We would only need a couple days food to make it to the NOC.

If you call the Hike Inn at Fontana they can shuttle you to Robbinsville for resupply. But the cost of the shuttle would negate any savings on food, though you'd have a better selection in Robbinsville. A mail drop to the Hike Inn might be the best idea.

[bearbait2k4]

If you just need a couple of days worth of food, I would suggest sending a maildrop to Fontana Dam.

I resupplied in Fontana Dam for the Smokies this year, and had to get really creative with my meals. I made it through without starving, though.

I would personally not recommend Mt. Moma's, due to Ivan. The property that this place sits on is very prone to flooding, and I would suspect that the place got a few inches when Ivan passed over. There's no reason to bother with this place if you are planning on hitting up Standing Bear.

I couldn't see that the trail would be closed, due to the damage incurred by Ivan, but there could be a lot of downed trees that would call for creative detours, once you get to them.

Standing Bear's # is: 423-487-0014, and the # for the Ducket House is: 828-622-7621. I am pretty sure that Standing Bear holds maildrop packages, but definitely call to confirm.

Good luck.

[grrickar]

Thanks for the info BearBait!

[hustler]

In Fontana, Stay at the hike inn if there are two of you. It will set you back about $40 or so but it is well worth it. Call them from the dam, they will pick you up, and shuttle you free to Robinsville. I made the mistake of trying to hitchhike and then after failing restocking in the village. You should only need to pick up 2 to 3 days of food there, so the village might work. I heard nothing but good things about the hike inn.

[9 Mules]

Standing Bear holds packages for free, doesn't matter if you stay or not.
Do a mail drop for Fontana will save you some money.
You'll have to wait awhile for trail closures, thats alot of mileage to cover for the limited Federal employees/volunteers.

[Jaybird]

from the ATC site:



All trails and recreational areas in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests of North Carolina are closed. More details are available from the National Forests in North Carolina Web site.

[grrickar]

Shouldn't the Hot Springs NC office be able to tell me that? I called them and they weren't aware of any closings?

[Deerleg]

Shouldn't the Hot Springs NC office be able to tell me that? I called them and they weren't aware of any closings?

I was thinking of SB from Hot Springs too in early oct...guess we will have to stay tuned...I wonder about the Smokies?

[grrickar]

I just got off the phone with the NOC and the Cheoah Ranger Station and they both said that they did not know of any current closings, but that there had been some damage and there had been work on the trail. The lady I spoke with at Cheoah stated that they got mostly rain but that there was some blow down from Ivan. I'll keep you updated. What section are you going to hike? Cheoah pointed me to this website:
http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/

[Deerleg]

What section are you going to hike?

I have done about 90% of the trail from Hot Springs to Pearisburg, but have not seen much of the trail south of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comHot Springs</ST1, </st1:City>though I have been to the top of Max Patch and would love to get up there again. I haven’t pulled the maps out yet, but I am guessing I will do something around 70+ miles as I will only be able to take a week off work. Wasn’t planning on going till the 9<SUP>th</SUP> but I may have some flexibility. It would be nice to start with some other hikers so keep me posted on your plans.

[grrickar]

We are leaving the morning of Oct 4th from Hot Springs, and are setting our sights on either Fontana Dam or the NOC. We are hoping to make the NOC by Oct 14th. Both of us are in decent shape, but I have not backpacked in some time. He has done a few short trips recently.

[Deerleg]

Looks like the bottem line is everything will be open. Just confermed my sceduial and it looks like you will be a week ahead of me. The best I can do is the 9th.

Good luck on your hike.