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<\/a>Above the clouds on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n
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It was a warm, sunny, September Sunday as we began the climb out of Sam’s Gap<\/a>. This would be on the newer trail relocation<\/a> since it had to be moved years ago when the interstate came through. It eventually rejoins the old AT on the main ridge where we stopped to take a short break and talk about the many memories we have of hiking that section in the old days. There is a small campsite<\/a> beside an old tree<\/a> there that we have stopped at countless times over the years. There is also a small spring near there which we got water from and carried it up the hill<\/a> to where we would camp that night.<\/p>\n RAT at the old tree at the campsite on the ridge where the new relo joins the old AT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n From there the trail begins the steep climb up past the old talc mine<\/a> site until it reaches the top<\/a> at the field<\/a> above Street Gap. There is a really nice campsite in the edge of the woods which would be our home for the first night. Two miles for the first day out is plenty ! There is a great view of Big Bald from the top of the field. The first memory that came to mind of that area was of an old yellow dog named Ace that belonged to my friend Sam Kilby<\/a>. There used to be cows in that field some 20+ years ago, and on one of our many trips through there, Ace had rolled in cow poop which we had to contend with for the rest of the day. Strange thing was, the gnats tormented us all day and I never seen any bothering the dog. Perhaps he knew something we did not although I do not plan on rolling in cow poop anytime soon no matter how bad the bugs get ! Sam was supposed to go with us on this trip but he was called in to work sooner than expected.<\/p>\n View of Big Bald across the field at our campsite above Street Gap<\/p><\/div>\n Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n There was an ample supply of firewood here so I opted to build a fire. This also prompted us to experiment with taking some crazy fire pics in an attempt to get some unusual fire art creations. The moon<\/a> was getting close to full so it was a very nice night. I carried in some hotdogs so I did not have to cook anything except some tea.<\/p>\n My supper on the first evening<\/p><\/div>\n Campfire<\/p><\/div>\n Campfire<\/p><\/div>\n Campfire with camera tricks<\/p><\/div>\n Fire art done with my camera<\/p><\/div>\n Fire art using my camera<\/p><\/div>\n Fire art<\/p><\/div>\n The sun woke me up<\/a> the next morning around 10am and Bol’Dar informed me that I had missed a group of people that hiked through earlier. We cooked up some breakfast and hit the trail before noon. It is downhill through the field and then into the woods to reach Street Gap where we met a couple of South-bounders who decided to stop for lunch there. It had been a long time since I climbed Big Bald but I quickly remembered the long drawn out hills that were to come as I started the ascent out of the gap. The weather was great and I expected that by the time we would reach the summit that evening that there would be some nice views. I was really wanting to camp as close to the top as I could even if it meant carrying water uphill for quite a ways. It took a lot of talking to convince Bol’Dar to agree to this ! We did fill up at one of the small springs about a mile or so before the top.<\/p>\n Bol’Dar hiking across the field with Big Bald in the background<\/p><\/div>\n View of Big Bald across the colorful field<\/p><\/div>\n Looking back across the field towards our campsite from the night before (campsite is just inside trees on top where light is showing through)<\/p><\/div>\n It was a fairly clear day as we could see a few visuals on the way up including a view over towards the Rocky Fork and Coldspring Mountain areas so I anticipated how nice it would be on top<\/a>, however, this was not to be. As we came out of the tree line and began our climb up to the summit, we started getting some nice views but the closer we got to the top we could see this huge front of clouds coming in from behind us. By the time we got near the summit, the clouds came right in with us wiping out any possible views at the same moment. It was windy on top as it usually always is but the clouds and fog became thicker and thicker until it was total whiteout. This was very disheartening after working so hard to get there. There was no reason to stay on top as the temperature was dropping quickly and it was becoming evening already so we opted to hike down the road and find a place to camp somewhere below.<\/p>\n Looking towards Rocky Fork<\/p><\/div>\n Zoomed view of Rocky Fork area. If you look close you can see Whitehouse Mtn. Cliffs aka Stonehenge<\/p><\/div>\n View of Coldspring Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n Jack in the Pulpit berries (Arisaema triphyllum) Not to be confused with Ginseng.<\/p><\/div>\n Elephant sitting on a rock<\/p><\/div>\n Tree Elephant on a rock<\/p><\/div>\n Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Coming out of the tree line to climb Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Getting darker as the clouds follow us up Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Trying to capture some mountain views before they disappear into the oncoming clouds<\/p><\/div>\n Watching the sky fall on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Summit of Big Bald Elevation 5,516 ft<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar trying to get some visuals before the fog and clouds takes over<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar watching the clouds roll in<\/p><\/div>\n Clouds overtaking Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n The old road makes a nice loop around the flat area just below the bald where we found a nice campsite to setup at. The fog continued to roll in and out making any visuals impossible so we fixed our supper and prepared ourselves for whatever weather the high bald had in store for us that night. I had a hotdog left over from the night before so I ate it as soon as I got there. There was also some huckleberries (mountain blueberry) left that we ate our fill of. I was hoping that there would be some clearing later that night so we could see some lights in the distance but it never happened.<\/p>\n Bol’Dar looking for a place to set up camp in the thick fog<\/p><\/div>\n Thick fog rolling in on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Our campsite on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Our campsite on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar and I eating blueberries (huckleberries) like bears<\/p><\/div>\n Eating my last hot dog on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n RAT camp on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n The huckleberry leaves turn red in the Fall<\/p><\/div>\n The beautiful surroundings near our camp on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Walking around the loop road from our campsite on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Looking at Big Bald from the loop road near our campsite during a time when the fog was lifted for a brief moment<\/p><\/div>\n Our camp as barely seen in the fog as I complete the walk around the loop road on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sunset as seen from our camp on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n The last of the sun with Venus as seen from our camp on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Me chillin` out at the RAT camp, using the makeshift chair I built\u00a0\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Picture of me taking a picture in the pitch black in the thick fog with a flash ! (Photo by Bol’Dar) This did take some intricate timing !<\/p><\/div>\n My next hope was that I could wake up before first light, hike up to the summit and get some spectacular sunrise pics. I was up there before 5am and did see the first light and stayed until about 8am but the fog never cleared up enough to get any decent shots so, once again I was disappointed. I hiked back down to the campsite and slept<\/a> until about 10:30am.<\/p>\n First light from the summit of Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sunrise from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n The clouds obscuring my sunrise on Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sun through the clouds from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sunrise through the clouds from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sun hiding behind massive clouds<\/p><\/div>\n Sun and clouds from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sunrise on the summit of Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Looking off from the summit of Big Bald as the sun lights up the clouds<\/p><\/div>\n Sunrise view from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sunrise view from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Sunrise view from Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Normally you would see mountains as far as the eye can see but this sunrise on Big Bald you would see only clouds<\/p><\/div>\n We got our usual almost noonish start which led us up and across Big Stamp. The ‘birders’ were there in numbers so we hastily got past them and made our way down into the woods and out to the shelter, the ‘Carolina Condo’, for the first break of the day. As Bol’Dar says, “Snack early and snack often” ! We also got some water there as it is the coldest and best water anywhere on the trail, in this area at least.<\/p>\n Looking back at Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Looking back at Big Bald<\/p><\/div>\n View across Big Stamp<\/p><\/div>\n Looking back at Big Bald across Big Stamp<\/p><\/div>\n There was lots of ‘closed gentian’ growing on the bald<\/p><\/div>\n ‘closed gentian’ growing on Big Stamp<\/p><\/div>\n Strange fake owl the bird people had setup, I assume to scare the birds towards their nets.<\/p><\/div>\n Cool place for a white blaze<\/p><\/div>\n Scary looking Ent just before the shelter<\/p><\/div>\n Obligatory sign<\/p><\/div>\n We did stop to check out a cool rock formation on the ridge just after the shelter. It looks small from the trail but further investigation of it revealed that it is MUCH larger and very cool !<\/p>\n rock formation as seen from the trail.<\/p><\/div>\n RAT and the rock\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Is it just me or does this look like a petrified dolphin ?<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar standing beside the rock<\/p><\/div>\n RAT standing beside the rock\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar admiring the rock and its camouflaged covering<\/p><\/div>\n It even has a small cave on the backside of it<\/p><\/div>\n Cooling looking orange fungus among us<\/p><\/div>\n At a distance this rock looked as if a tree were growing over it. Closer inspection revealed it was all rock. Part of the rock actually had texture like tree bark.<\/p><\/div>\n Close up you can see the bark like texture that is rock.<\/p><\/div>\n We continued out the ridge line and over the three false summits until we climbed the real summit of Little Bald aka Big Hairy. We took a lunch break there on the rock<\/a> located on the East side of the summit. This is reached by a short side trail<\/a> which I keep snipped out. After lunch we decided to hike out ridge to the other summit of Little Bald as it does have a double summit that many are not aware of.\u00a0 The AT used to go that way and followed the ridge line down many years ago but, it is now becoming overgrown with only a small animal trail in places. We made it out to the summit and back with only a couple of briar scratches.<\/p>\n The narrow ridge that leads out to the second summit on Little Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar on the second summit of Little Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Cool tree on the summit of Little Bald that looks off on the TN side. This is one cool tree. It even has balls !<\/p><\/div>\n The view off the TN side of the summit of Little Bald<\/p><\/div>\n Huge fungus<\/p><\/div>\n Huge fungus<\/p><\/div>\n Huge fungus<\/p><\/div>\n We took a moment to check out the view from the West side (TN side) of Little Bald and we could see a lot of clouds coming in again like the day before so, there were not any good visuals to be had. We descended from there down through the six switchbacks and out to the new relocation which led us down to the campsite we unofficially named ‘Juana`s Campsite’ where we made camp for the night. This would be about a 4 mile day ! I know you are now thinking,, why is it called Juana`s campsite ? This goes back to 1993 I think, when we worked with the Konnarock Trail Crews<\/a> building this relocation on my section. We met many people<\/a> from all over that volunteered their time to help rehab and build trails. On one of the weeks we spent here there were two girls in the group that had basically never been in the woods before, named Mary and Juana. Juana was a very pretty, petite, sweet, young girl,\u00a0 who ended up using a 15 pound sledge hammer to beat a huge rock out of the trail tread-way until it all but disappeared into the dirt ! This was at least a foot high rock vein and she beat that thing for about 7 hours that day ! So I named that spot ‘Juana`s Rock’ and when the campsite was developed later on, we named it accordingly.<\/p>\n Strange lip fungus<\/p><\/div>\n The upper relo that leads down to Camp Juana. Notice how the weeds still look good after the cutting we did a few months earlier !<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar taking a rest upon arriving at Juana`s Camp<\/p><\/div>\n The water source for this campsite is down the trail about two tenths of a mile and we found it in poor shape so we had to get creative to get water here and it ended up being muddy but, we filtered it and made it usable. It is a nice campsite which lies on an old property line so there is an old barbed wire fence there, some of which is in the ground making it a hazard for campers so I took some time before setting up my tent to pull a bunch of it out and create some wire art on the fence posts making it a bit safer to camp there.<\/p>\n Bol’Dar getting water from the only water source near the campsite<\/p><\/div>\n Some of the barbed wire I pulled out of the ground<\/p><\/div>\n Camp Juana<\/p><\/div>\n After supper I decided to have a fire since there was some good fire starter material in the area along with enough wood to make it worth while. This felt good as it was actually a colder night here in the woods than it was on the exposed bald the night before. We also tried some more fire pic creations before retiring for the night.<\/p>\n RAT rubbing sticks together,,,,,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Walla ! FIRE !!\u00a0\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Respectable fire<\/p><\/div>\n Campfire<\/p><\/div>\n Campfire<\/p><\/div>\n More fire art<\/p><\/div>\n Fire art<\/p><\/div>\n The next day we got our usual almost noonish start which was fine since we would only be doing another 3 miles or so ! It did not take long to reach the AT rock and then on down to Whistling Gap where we took a long snack break. Although I did not need any water, I still went down to check out the spring there. I could not help but remember my last trip through here a few months earlier when we were cutting the annual growth. It was pouring the rain and we got soaked ! I was certainly happy that it was a dry day and there was not any rain in the forecast for the entire week but, always remember that there is not a trail weatherman so that is subject to change at any time.<\/p>\n The AT Rock<\/p><\/div>\n Some CMC handiwork near Whistling Gap (my white blazes still looking good !)<\/p><\/div>\n Trail leading into Whistling Gap<\/p><\/div>\n Whistling Gap<\/p><\/div>\n We climbed uphill from the gap and then climbed up on top of High Rocks for another nice snack break. From there we did get a few visuals but just like on Big Bald we could see more clouds rolling in thick. I actually felt some mist and could see some light rain off in the distance from both sides. At that time we were thinking that we would most likely be camping in Spivey Gap that night.<\/p>\n View from High Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n View from High Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n View of Flattop Mountain from High Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar relaxing and taking some pics from High Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n Nice red laurel leaves<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar living on the edge,,,of High Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n The trail below High Rocks<\/p><\/div>\n After we climbed down from High Rocks and made our way down to the other new lower relocation trail that we helped build back in the early `90`s, we took some time to check out a small rocky outcrop that is reached from a faint trail that leads out of the main switchback. Since the leaves were still on the trees there was not many views but the small cliff is larger than it appears and is a cool place to hang out and explore which we did.<\/p>\n RAT standing on top of the first of two cliff areas found by taking a side trail out of the main switchback on the lower relo\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Area above the cliffs. Nice place to hang out.<\/p><\/div>\n Bol’Dar climbing above the second set of cliffs<\/p><\/div>\n RAT standing on top of the second cliff, always living on the edge !\u00a0 (Photo by Bol’Dar)<\/p><\/div>\n Looking off the top of the upper cliff, its farther down than it looks !<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>