Author: steve houghton

One night backpack from Amicalola Falls

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Summary
Distance: 25.7 miles
Elevation gain:5,580 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Dirt road, passenger car accessible. (map)
AllTrails Day 1: map 10.3 miles
AllTrails Day 2: map 15.4 miles

It’s thru hiker season on the Appalachian Trail and I always enjoy staying at a shelter on the AT so I can meet and talk to the folks who are just starting their hike northward. This year an overnight stay at a shelter was not a good idea due to norovirus. According to the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, the virus is very widespread on the trail throughout the Georgia section. To make matters worse, hand sanitizer doesn’t kill the virus, only diligent hand washing will protect you from the awful stomach bug. Of course, running water on the trail is difficult to find, making proper cleanliness all but impossible.

There is a really pretty campsite that I’ve seen before that was a prefect distance for me, so I decided to give that site a try instead of staying at a shelter. The site was great, right next to a small stream and somewhat protected from the strong winds that blew overnight.

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Carters Lake – Doll Mountain to Coosawattee River

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Summary
Distance: 12.2 miles round trip
Put in: Paved lot, parking fee credit card only (map)
AllTrails map: (here)

I’ve wanted to paddle on Carters Lake for quite a while and finally made time to go. We had beautiful fall weather that made a perfect day on the water. Anne paddled her NDK Sportive, a 16 foot boat, and I paddled a 17 foot Necky Chatham. The wind kicked up late in the day so we were happy to have longer boats to handle the waves. We were pleasantly surprised at how few boats were on the lake, and all the boats we did see were fairly small fishing boats that did not have large wakes.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect as we hadn’t done this trip before; our goal was to paddle to where the Coosawattee flows into the lake. The scenery was absolutely beautiful with the hills displaying fall colors. There were quite a few small beaches on the lake shore. We found a small waterfall that was one of the highlights of the day. It’s located on “river right” just before we got to the flowing water.

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More photos from Roan Mountain trip

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On my way to Roan Mountain State Park from visiting my sister in North Carolina, I stopped for a hike to see Elk River Falls and Jones Falls. Elk River Falls is a short walk from a trailhead, while Jones Falls is a few miles away on the Appalachian Trail.

Elk River Falls near Elk Park, North Carolina
Jones Falls on the Appalachian Trail
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Appalachian Trail – Yellow Mtn Gap to Hump Mtn

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Summary
Distance: 9.1 miles
Elevation gain: 2,400 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Gravel road (for last mile), passenger car accessible (map)
AllTrails map

This hike on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina has great views, a mix of forested sections and open balds, and plentiful fall wild flowers.

Starting from this trailhead gives easy access to balds that are away from the very popular area at Carvers Gap. I saw very few other hikers. The trailhead is over 4,000 feet high and it’s less than a mile on a gated gravel road to get to the AT.

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Appalachian Trail – Carvers Gap to Grassy Ridge Bald

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Summary
Distance: 5 miles
Elevation gain: 1,200 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Paved lot (map)
AllTrails map

This section of the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee is famous for open, grassy balds and is very popular because it’s easy to access from a paved road that runs through Carvers Gap..

I really wanted to catch sunset from Grassy Ridge Bald and then return to my car under the light of an almost full moon. I was camping at Roan Mountain State Park, so I left the campground around 4PM to drive the 8 miles or so up to Carvers Gap. I had dinner with me, so I could enjoy a leasurly hike.

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Amicalola Falls to Springer Mountain

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Summary
Distance: 15.5 miles
Elevation gain: 3,490 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Paved lot, state park parking fee. (map)
AllTrails map here

It has been a while since I’ve been able to get up to the mountains for a hike, so I chose something that I’m familiar with to see how I’d do. I also wanted to test a new pair of shoes, a zero drop trail runner from Topo Athletic, called Pursuit. This hike has a few pretty solid climbs, so I thought it would be a good test of my fitness and the shoes. As it turned out, I’m in better shape than I expected, and had a fun, fast hike. The Pursuits performed well. The vibram soles have great traction, and I appreciated the thickness of the soles in comparison to some other zero drop shoes.

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Blackstock Knob

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Summary
Distance: 6.2 miles
Elevation gain: 1,657 feet
Type: Out and back
Start: Paved lot on Blue Ridge Parkway. (map)
AllTrails map here

We chose Blackstock Knob as our first peak in the South Beyond 6,000 (SB6K) Challenge because it was an easy day hike and we had limited time.

The hike started from Walker Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The parking area was pretty full when we got there, but we were able to sort out a place to park.

Route to Blackstock Knob and Patton Knob
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South Beyond 6,000 (SB6K)

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The South Beyond 6,000 Challenge involves climbing 40 peaks that exceed 6,000 feet in elevation. The Carolina Mountain Club has information here.

The rules are really simple. You must hike at least 5 miles and gain at least 500 feet of elevation.

There are more than 60 peaks over 6,000 feet, but the peaks that were selected for the list must have a drop of 200 or more feet to a saddle between one peak and another qualifying peak or, there is a distance between the peaks of .75 miles.

All but one peak are in North Carolina or on the North Carolina / Tennessee border. Mt Le Conte is in Tennessee.

Many of the mountains are along the Blue Ridge Parkway. As a note of caution, the parkway may be closed in winter.

Bike Ride – Smynra, GA to Piedmont, AL

~ steve houghton ~ 1 Comment

Summary
Distance: 152 miles
Elevation gain: 3,800 feet
Type: Out and back
Trailhead: Paved lot. (map)

It’s been a while since I’ve done a birthday ride, and, given the work I put in getting fit for the Georgia Loop, this seemed like a good year for a long ride. My previous birthday rides were in 2007 and 2008. Those rides were 200 miles long. I’m fit this year, but not as fast as I was back then, so I set a goal of 150 miles.

I did this ride, and the previous rides, on the Silver Comet trail in Georgia and the Chief Ladiga trail in Alabama. The trails meet at the border.

These trails are rails-to-trails projects, and it’s really nice not having to deal with cars. Another benefit is that there are water stops available every 15 to 25 miles. While most of the ride is on an abandoned rail bed, some of the Silver Comet needed to be constructed on other property. The result is a few pretty steep hills which can be challenging.

This year, the weather was really hot and the humidity was high too. I struggled to be able to pedal at my normal pace, and ended up accepting what I could do for the conditions at hand. Instead of 15 or 16 mph, I was at 12 or 13 mph for some of the day. The heat just sapped my strength.

In spite of my issues with the heat, it was a good day. 150 is a lot of miles, and, for me, spending that much time on a bike takes the ability to get into a certain frame of mind. I need to be able to get into the moment, and just pedal. It’s kind of a meditative state. I am totally relaxed while enjoying the rhythm of pedaling.

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Georgia Loop 3-day Backpacking Trip

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Summary
Day 1: 18.8 miles / 4,843 feet elevation gain AllTrails map
Day 2: 19.9 miles / 4,656 feet elevation gain AllTrails map
Day 3: 22.2 miles / 4,616 feet elevation gain AllTrails map
Total: 60.9 miles / 14,115 feet elevation gain
Type: Loop
Start/End: Paved lot. (map)

The Georgia Loop is a hike that combines parts of three trails, the Appalachian Trail, Duncan Ridge Trail and Benton MacKaye Trail, to make a loop. The terrain is rugged in places, water can be scarce in certain sections and campsites can be hard to find too. In other words, perfect for an adventure, and one that I’ve wanted to do for a while.

We hiked the loop in a counter-clockwise direction over Memorial Day weekend. By starting at Woody Gap and hiking counter-clockwise, we would be Duncan Ridge out of the way while we were fresh.

One of the more interesting aspects of the hike was how I came about hiking with a partner. I answered a question on a Reddit post and my answer mentioned that I was scouting Duncan Ridge for a future Georgia Loop hike. Someone replied to my post asking when I planned to hike and suggested Memorial Day weekend. After a few emails, we decided to do the hike together in four days. I didn’t know it at the time I started emailing them, but my hiking partner turned out to be a woman. My father-in-law had the best question about my plan to hike with a woman I had never met in person — “Does Anne know?”. As it turned out, our hiking preferences matched perfectly. We both liked to start hiking early, stop rarely and briefly when we do, and we hike at the same speed.

We did two things to make the hike easier. First, we left a car near the mid point of the loop, the spot where Benton MacKaye crosses Hwy 60. This allowed us to keep two days of food in the car making our packs lighter. Secondly, we stashed 10 liters of water in Mulky Gap a week before the hike in case water has hard to get. As it turned out, the water source was flowing at that location, but it was still easier to get water from our containers. It was very comforting to have certainty about water when hiking a long first day.

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