RATtreks

RAT`s Annual Birthday Hike – 9-15 to 9-20-2013

This years annual birthday hike was a spur of the moment one as there almost wasn`t one due to a situation at my job. Thankfully it worked out that I was able to go for a week but, it left little time for planning anything elaborate. For this reason my friend Bol’Dar and I decided to do something close by with easy logistics. I really did not want to do any AT sections but it was better than not going at all as any time in the woods is better than anytime in the city. The choice was to go from Sams Gap to Erwin. A mere 25 miles or so but, with my being out of shape along with my desire to be able to take my time and do low miles in order to enjoy every day of my well earned vacation, this would be perfect. Besides, it has been a few years since I hiked from Sams Gap to Big Bald and from Spivey Gap to Erwin plus it would give me a chance to enjoy all the hard work I have done on my trail section this year between Little Bald and Spivey Gap. We dropped my car at the parking area on the other side of the Nolichuckey River bridge at Chestoa, and my girlfriend Linda drove us up to Sams Gap where the adventure would begin.

It was a warm, sunny, September Sunday as we began the climb out of Sam’s Gap. This would be on the newer trail relocation 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 beside an old tree 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 to where we would camp that night.

From there the trail begins the steep climb up past the old talc mine site until it reaches the top at the field 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. 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.

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 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.

The sun woke me up 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.

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, 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.

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.

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 until about 10:30am.

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.

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 !

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 located on the East side of the summit. This is reached by a short side trail 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.  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.

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 building this relocation on my section. We met many people 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,  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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

From there it did not take long to get down to Spivey Gap where it actually started to rain about the time we found a secluded place to set up camp. I got my tent up just in time to not get wet and since it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, I set up my stove under the makeshift awning I created with my tarp and cooked my supper from inside my tent. Bol’Dar opted to not cook anything and ate snacks instead.

The rain was light but ended by morning and we even had some sunshine to try and dry our tarps off with before packing up and heading out. We had plenty of good water from the creek that flows through the gap so we hiked across the creek and then the road there to head up towards our next rest stop, Oglesby Branch. This was always our first stop on the many trips we used to take from Spivey Gap to Erwin back in the old days so,  hanging out here brought back many memories. There is a new bridge there now and it is a beautiful place to be such a small branch.

From there it is uphill for a ways before reaching the gravel forest service road near Devil Creek Gap. The trail skirts around the edge of Flattop Mountain before it crosses the road and goes out the ridge above the Devil Creek watershed area. One of the ancient gated roads at this crossing used to be our secret and easiest way to get to Lost Cove. I hope to see if the old ninja trail still exists one of these days. We took another rest/snack break at the road crossing where I had some of the Lembas bread that Bol’Dar had baked up for us.

The trail then goes above the Devil Creek Valley, winding in and out, crossing the numerous finger ridges that reside high above Devils Creek until eventually reaching the Shelter on No Business Knob.  We were about a mile or so in when during a short rest break to get a snack and take some pics of a view of Flattop Mountain, that Bol’Dar’s pack decided to jump off the trail and plummet down the steep slope ! Luckily it was stopped by a small snag of growth otherwise it would have went a long way down ! It was a bit of work for Bol’Dar to retrieve it. Once he got it drug back to the trail, we then noticed something that had fallen off it so he had to go back down to get it !

After a stop for water we climbed the short hill to the shelter and found a campsite nearby that would be our camp for our last night on the trail. That night we did not have a fire but I did burn the candle I was carrying. This provided the perfect subject for the fire art picture creations we had been practicing for. Before it was over, I managed to make a music note, a few letters among other unique fire drawings. This was done by setting the camera for a longer exposure and moving it around just right while taking the picture.

Bol’Dar suggested I make a music note so I tried,,,,

During the night we heard many different kinds of owls  and at one time some kind of war between them broke out as it sounded like some kind of serious fighting was taking place. Lots of screaming and squawking with sounds like I have never heard before. This lasted about ten minutes followed by complete silence. After that it was a quiet night and I slept well. It was a full moon night with very few clouds so it was very bright as it shone down through the trees. I was awoken by the sun the next morning so I got up and cooked the last thing I had in my food bag,,,,bacon !  After frying up the bacon and a pot of coffee, we packed up and took some pics around the old pine trees that are behind the shelter. These are very large trees.  I remembered taking a picture of Bol’Dar and some pics of the old RAT > Patrol Hiking Club  along with my dog Schwartz there some 20+ years ago. I also remembered feeding thru-hikers there back then when we met ‘Cruise Control’ and the legendary ‘Model T’. We were cooking hotdogs for the hikers (with chili and all the fixin’s of course) and Bol’Dar was cooking ribeye steaks for us beside the shelter using a small grill he had packed in ! I recall a large bottle of Southern Comfort sitting on the picnic table that used to be there back then, but everything else is a bit fuzzy ! We did have some good times back in those days. We got our usual almost noon start as we left the shelter and continued onward towards Temple Hill, Cliff Ridge, and the Nolichuckey River.

After we left the shelter, Bol’Dar was tripped by a ‘mischievous root orc’ which did bring some blood out of one leg, but it was mere flesh wound that would be the only merit badge earned on this trip. We stopped at Temple Hill Gap long enough to drink some water and eat a snack, plus I knew I would finally have a cell phone signal there so I made a call to my girlfriend to let her know when I would be home. From there we climbed the hill to nearly the top and then on to Cliff Ridge where we stopped to get a few pics of the river valley and Erwin view before descending down the steep ridge to the road and the river below.

The trail used to go straight down the spine of the ridge in the old days but now it has been relocated to include several long switchbacks making it easier. It did not take long to reach the road where Uncle Johnny’s Hostel is at the trail head. A short walk across the bridge to the car and it was over. It had been a great five days in the woods and another annual birthday hike was over. Next year I plan to do another section of the Mountains To Sea Trail if at all possible.