Appalachian Hwy US 76 to Jacks River Intersection at Dally Gap
Day 1 | Saturday June 20, 2015
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Start Location: CR 158 (49.5 miles).
End Location: Double Hogpen Gap Campsites (65 miles). Parking Location: CR 158 (49.5 miles). Views: Cherry Lake (50.8 miles) Water Sources: Plenty of water during private property/road walk, but I wouldn't trust it. First "trustworthy" water at stream (60.6 miles) Halloway Gap (63.8 miles); and Double Hogpen Gap Campsites (65 miles). Campsites: Indian Rock Shelter (51.1 miles);McKenny Gap (59.5 miles); Hatley Gap (60.5 miles); Halloway Gap (63.8 miles); and Double Hogpen Gap Campsite (65 miles). BMT Distance: 15.6 miles Hiking Distance: 15.6 miles |
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I was late. The usual. I was about 20 minutes late. Then I took the wrong forest road. I turned around and finally I found Forest Road 22-2. It was an extremely hard right turn basically going up 180 degree. The road to Dally Gap was rough on my passenger car in certain sections but doable. I get there and Rusty isn't there. Apparently he also got very lost. About 15 minutes later, Rusty shows up and we leave his car there and I drive us both back to CR 158. I park my car, and off we go around 10:40 am.
The trail continues on CR 158 gravel road until it reaches Appalachian Hwy US Hwy 76. The trail crosses this 4 lane highway. Be careful crossing here. Once we get to the other side, we turn left and walk along the highway briefly until on your right you will see a double blaze on a tree and a the BMT goes off into the woods. |
Apparently, I can't read. Long ago, I looked at SGT Rock's guide and I thought there was a nearly 6 mile road walk. However, I misread the guide. There is road walking in this section, but the 6 miles box really means you are on private property. There is no camping from CR 158 to McKenny Gap 10 miles later, except for Georgia BMT's only shelter at Indian Rock Shelter (51.1 miles).
The trail here crosses numerous water sources, but I didn't trust the water here. Simply too close to people. That always worries me. We went also 11 miles before we refilled our water.
At 49.9 miles, the trail crosses Cherry Log Creek Bridge. Apparently, this is the lowest point on the BMT in Georgia. Shortly thereafter, you come to Cherry Lake (50.8 miles). It is a peaceful place. Here, the BMT becomes a boardwalk, which is pretty unique. Shortly after leaving the lake, we arrived at Indian Rock Shelter (51.1 miles). It is a nice little shelter for 4-5 people. It also has some tent locations. The shelter is on private property and there are homes close by.
From here, the trail begins to climb Patterson Mountain (51.9 miles). There are 3 false "summits" on this climb, but not one of them really offers a view this time of year. There are homes at or near the summit, which have great views I bet, but the trail doesn't offer any.
From Patterson Mountain, the trail joins Boardtown Road (53.3 miles) where the trail turns left and continues down the road for nearly a mile. The BMT then turns right on Bushyhead Road (54.2 miles) and continues for 1.2 miles where you reach Bush Head Gap (55.4 miles). The trail continues on a gravel road for a short time and then pulls off to the left into the woods (55.6 miles). Since Bushyhead road, the trail climbs contantly and continues to climb after leaving the road walk.
Shortly after entering the woods, two dogs come running out of the woods. I yell at them to go home. I look for their owner. I try to find where they came from. I found no one and nothing. I hike 5 minutes back towards the road hoping they would go home and stop following me. No use. They sticked to me like clue. I continue to yell at the dogs to go. I hit my trekking poles together. The dogs back off, and I lose sight of them. Thinking they had gone home, I start hiking. Shortly before I get to Rusty who has stopped for lunch, the dogs come back darting from the woods and following me. This time we both try to get the dogs to go back. No use. They wouldn't leave. We started hiking hoping the dogs would eventually get bored and go home. I was wrong. They followed us for nearly 20 miles!!!
We continue to climb and descend shortly and climb again. Eventually we cross FS 793 at Hudson Gap (58.0 miles). The dogs are still with us. Shortly after leaving Hudson Gap, we tried to get the dogs to go back to no use. Rusty threw a stick at their direction making sure not to hit the dogs. This seemed to do the trick. We didn't see the dogs for some time after this.
We were off again. The BMT here levels off and then descends briefly before it starts to climb and crosses FS 793 in McKenny Gap. Just before we crossed McKenny Gap (59.5 miles). We hear something to our right. We look off into the woods, and Rusty sees something black moving. He says it may be a bear. Luckily, it wasn't a bear. It was the dogs! Here they come back darting out of the woods towards us. Without knowing what else to do, the dogs it appeared the dogs were going to be our traveling companions.
Leaving FS 793 McKenny Gap (59.5 miles), there is a dry campsite shortly after the gap. The closest water to his campsite is 1.1 miles away. Unless you have ample water, this makes this campsite less than ideal. The trail here climbs briefly and then descends to Hatley Gap (60.5 miles). Here again there is a dry campsite but, unlike McKenny Gap campsite, there is water 0.1 miles north on a stream. We keep hiking to the stream. We were both out of water. Of course, the dogs hadn't had water for more than 5 miles and they helped themselves to the water first. I drink a liter of water immediately and have a snack. I then bring a litter of water with me. I should have brought more as I underestimated the climb up to Fowler Mountain (61.8 miles). We begin the climb. It is a 1.2 mile, 1,000+ foot climb from the stream to Fowler Mountain. It is a significant climb mostly because most of the elevation comes in the beginning where it is pretty damn steep.
This climb hurt me. I was tired and by the time I get to Fowler Mountain I am again out of water. I wanted to quit. I tell Rusty I am stopping at Halloway Gap (63.8 miles). That I couldn't hike any further today. I would wake up very early in the morning and night hike a little to catch up. If I could, I would have walked off the trail right there.
Leaving the top of Fowler Mountain, the trail begins a series of short climb and descents while overall gaining elevation for the next 1.2 miles until Horse Ridge (63 miles). Rusty had pulled out ahead and the small black dog stayed back with me until I was even too slow for him and he ran up ahead to the others. I had given that damn dog a snack too. He bailed on me! I finally made it to the top of Horse Ridge (63 miles), and I was sure I was going to stop at Halloway Gap (63.8 miles). I WAS DONE. I slowly start to make my way down to Halloway Gap. The trail loses 400 feet of elevation over the next 0.8 miles. The climb down actually gave me a little energy. When I got to the bottom, I didn't see Rusty. I climb up a little and take a break. I yell out for Rusty just in case he was down at the water since I told him I was going to stop here. Rusty yelled back. He had hiked a little above me and stopped for me. He hiked down, and we decided to keep going.
From here, there is a 500+ foot, 1.2 mile climb to Double Hogpen Gap (65 miles). The guide shows no camping in the open field, but there was water there. We decided to make it there and then decide what to do. Slowly, we make our way up to Double Hogpen Gap. Immediately before the open field, however, there is this amazing campsite with water. We put our packs down and seem to decide immediately that this would be the campsite if there was good water, which there was. I sit down on a rock near the fire pit and pull out my BMT guide. We had originally planned to do a 19+ day, but the late start and my slow ass seemed to throw a wrench in that plan. I look at the next 3.6 miles and I see that the trail has a short descent followed by a moderate climb to the top of Flat Top Mountain. From there, the trail descends 2.6 miles to the originally planned campsite. It looked simple and easy. I ask if Rusty wanted to go. I bet he thought it was odd. Not more than 1 hour ago, I wanted to quit hiking. Not just this trip, but hiking altogether. Now I sit here saying let's keep going. I want to say it was around 6:00 pm. We knew we had a good campsite here with good water. We ultimately decided to stay.
The decision seemed to work well. The dogs were still with us, but they ran off into the woods doing who knows what. The decision to stay allowed us a lot of time to set up our tents, gather water, cook, and even set up a fire. The fire, of course, was Rusty's doing. I have yet to have the desire to make my own fire. If we had kept going, we would have been doing this with the sun setting if not in darkness. After eating and hanging our bear bags, we sat around the fire talking for some time until it started getting dark. The weather this night was perfect. I was in my shorts and above my sleeping bag for most of the night. Then I was 1/2 in 1/2 out of my bag. The temp was perfect. It was one of the best, if not the best, night of sleep I had on the trail. Of course, I didn't sleep through the night by any means, but I did get more hours of sleep this night then I did the first 2 days in the smokies.
The trail here crosses numerous water sources, but I didn't trust the water here. Simply too close to people. That always worries me. We went also 11 miles before we refilled our water.
At 49.9 miles, the trail crosses Cherry Log Creek Bridge. Apparently, this is the lowest point on the BMT in Georgia. Shortly thereafter, you come to Cherry Lake (50.8 miles). It is a peaceful place. Here, the BMT becomes a boardwalk, which is pretty unique. Shortly after leaving the lake, we arrived at Indian Rock Shelter (51.1 miles). It is a nice little shelter for 4-5 people. It also has some tent locations. The shelter is on private property and there are homes close by.
From here, the trail begins to climb Patterson Mountain (51.9 miles). There are 3 false "summits" on this climb, but not one of them really offers a view this time of year. There are homes at or near the summit, which have great views I bet, but the trail doesn't offer any.
From Patterson Mountain, the trail joins Boardtown Road (53.3 miles) where the trail turns left and continues down the road for nearly a mile. The BMT then turns right on Bushyhead Road (54.2 miles) and continues for 1.2 miles where you reach Bush Head Gap (55.4 miles). The trail continues on a gravel road for a short time and then pulls off to the left into the woods (55.6 miles). Since Bushyhead road, the trail climbs contantly and continues to climb after leaving the road walk.
Shortly after entering the woods, two dogs come running out of the woods. I yell at them to go home. I look for their owner. I try to find where they came from. I found no one and nothing. I hike 5 minutes back towards the road hoping they would go home and stop following me. No use. They sticked to me like clue. I continue to yell at the dogs to go. I hit my trekking poles together. The dogs back off, and I lose sight of them. Thinking they had gone home, I start hiking. Shortly before I get to Rusty who has stopped for lunch, the dogs come back darting from the woods and following me. This time we both try to get the dogs to go back. No use. They wouldn't leave. We started hiking hoping the dogs would eventually get bored and go home. I was wrong. They followed us for nearly 20 miles!!!
We continue to climb and descend shortly and climb again. Eventually we cross FS 793 at Hudson Gap (58.0 miles). The dogs are still with us. Shortly after leaving Hudson Gap, we tried to get the dogs to go back to no use. Rusty threw a stick at their direction making sure not to hit the dogs. This seemed to do the trick. We didn't see the dogs for some time after this.
We were off again. The BMT here levels off and then descends briefly before it starts to climb and crosses FS 793 in McKenny Gap. Just before we crossed McKenny Gap (59.5 miles). We hear something to our right. We look off into the woods, and Rusty sees something black moving. He says it may be a bear. Luckily, it wasn't a bear. It was the dogs! Here they come back darting out of the woods towards us. Without knowing what else to do, the dogs it appeared the dogs were going to be our traveling companions.
Leaving FS 793 McKenny Gap (59.5 miles), there is a dry campsite shortly after the gap. The closest water to his campsite is 1.1 miles away. Unless you have ample water, this makes this campsite less than ideal. The trail here climbs briefly and then descends to Hatley Gap (60.5 miles). Here again there is a dry campsite but, unlike McKenny Gap campsite, there is water 0.1 miles north on a stream. We keep hiking to the stream. We were both out of water. Of course, the dogs hadn't had water for more than 5 miles and they helped themselves to the water first. I drink a liter of water immediately and have a snack. I then bring a litter of water with me. I should have brought more as I underestimated the climb up to Fowler Mountain (61.8 miles). We begin the climb. It is a 1.2 mile, 1,000+ foot climb from the stream to Fowler Mountain. It is a significant climb mostly because most of the elevation comes in the beginning where it is pretty damn steep.
This climb hurt me. I was tired and by the time I get to Fowler Mountain I am again out of water. I wanted to quit. I tell Rusty I am stopping at Halloway Gap (63.8 miles). That I couldn't hike any further today. I would wake up very early in the morning and night hike a little to catch up. If I could, I would have walked off the trail right there.
Leaving the top of Fowler Mountain, the trail begins a series of short climb and descents while overall gaining elevation for the next 1.2 miles until Horse Ridge (63 miles). Rusty had pulled out ahead and the small black dog stayed back with me until I was even too slow for him and he ran up ahead to the others. I had given that damn dog a snack too. He bailed on me! I finally made it to the top of Horse Ridge (63 miles), and I was sure I was going to stop at Halloway Gap (63.8 miles). I WAS DONE. I slowly start to make my way down to Halloway Gap. The trail loses 400 feet of elevation over the next 0.8 miles. The climb down actually gave me a little energy. When I got to the bottom, I didn't see Rusty. I climb up a little and take a break. I yell out for Rusty just in case he was down at the water since I told him I was going to stop here. Rusty yelled back. He had hiked a little above me and stopped for me. He hiked down, and we decided to keep going.
From here, there is a 500+ foot, 1.2 mile climb to Double Hogpen Gap (65 miles). The guide shows no camping in the open field, but there was water there. We decided to make it there and then decide what to do. Slowly, we make our way up to Double Hogpen Gap. Immediately before the open field, however, there is this amazing campsite with water. We put our packs down and seem to decide immediately that this would be the campsite if there was good water, which there was. I sit down on a rock near the fire pit and pull out my BMT guide. We had originally planned to do a 19+ day, but the late start and my slow ass seemed to throw a wrench in that plan. I look at the next 3.6 miles and I see that the trail has a short descent followed by a moderate climb to the top of Flat Top Mountain. From there, the trail descends 2.6 miles to the originally planned campsite. It looked simple and easy. I ask if Rusty wanted to go. I bet he thought it was odd. Not more than 1 hour ago, I wanted to quit hiking. Not just this trip, but hiking altogether. Now I sit here saying let's keep going. I want to say it was around 6:00 pm. We knew we had a good campsite here with good water. We ultimately decided to stay.
The decision seemed to work well. The dogs were still with us, but they ran off into the woods doing who knows what. The decision to stay allowed us a lot of time to set up our tents, gather water, cook, and even set up a fire. The fire, of course, was Rusty's doing. I have yet to have the desire to make my own fire. If we had kept going, we would have been doing this with the sun setting if not in darkness. After eating and hanging our bear bags, we sat around the fire talking for some time until it started getting dark. The weather this night was perfect. I was in my shorts and above my sleeping bag for most of the night. Then I was 1/2 in 1/2 out of my bag. The temp was perfect. It was one of the best, if not the best, night of sleep I had on the trail. Of course, I didn't sleep through the night by any means, but I did get more hours of sleep this night then I did the first 2 days in the smokies.
Day 2 | Sunday June 21, 2015
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Start Location: Double Hogpen Gap Campsites (65 miles).
End Location: Jacks River Split (Dally Gap) (75.3 miles). Parking Location: Watson Gap FS 64 (72.6 miles) and Dally Gap (75.3 miles, 0.8 miles to Dally Gap on Jacks River Trail). Views: N/A Water Sources: Double Hogpen Gap Campsites (65 miles); stream (65.7 miles); stream (68.6 miles); stream (69.2 miles); stream (73.4 miles); and stream (74.9 miles). Campsites: Double Hogpen Gap Campsite (65 miles); campsite (68.6 miles); campsite (69.2 miles). BMT Distance: 10.3 miles Hiking Distance: 11.1 miles |
I had set my alarm for 6:00 am. We wanted to get an early start to make it home early for father's day. I turned off my alarm and stayed awake for about 10 minutes. I look outside and the dogs were off in the woods. Then I feel back asleep for 40 minutes and woke up around 7:00 am. Rusty was still sleeping hard. I decided to let him sleep a little more, and I just stayed awake in my tent for 20 minutes. Eventually I started to move around and started getting my stuff together to break camp. I gave myself a 15 minute head start before I woke Rusty. We make breakfast and filter water. After finishing packing, we are off around 8:20 am. Much later than we would have liked yesterday, but the weather was so perfect that it was hard to get out of the tent.
From the top of Double Hogpen Gap, the trail descents briefly and the climbs moderately to the top of Flat Top Mountain (66.5 miles). From here, the trail descends over 1,100 feet over the next 1.6 miles to Dyer Gap (68.1 miles) where the trail crosses FS 64. This descent was pretty easy except for a short rocky section that slowed me down quite a bit. From Dyer Gap the trail continues to descend and then levels of to a great campsite (68.6 miles) we had originally wanted to stop at yesterday. We made it here quickly. We did 3.6 miles in less than 1 1/2 hours. We take a break here and then continue hiking. The trail here levels and travels on an old forest road and eventually intersects South Fork Trail (68.7 miles). Shortly thereafter, we come to another amazing campsite, although I don't know exactly where unfortunately.
The trail eventually begins to climb and almost immediately into the climb we come to the junction with the northern terminus of the Pinhoti Trail (70.3 miles). Maybe one day I will hike it. After all, it is the longest trail in Georgia, but I dislike how much of it is road walks. From here the BMT continues to climb and allegedly comes to an area with views that we missed. It was the summer after all. Maybe it was a Winter, Spring, Fall view. The trail then more or less levels and there is a short but step climb and a longer and step descent.
Here we begin the ascent to Unnamed Knob (72.3 miles). We were able to call the number on the dog collar, and we left a message telling him we would be at Dally Gap around 1:00 pm. I had been out of water for some time. The decision to carry only 1 litter with me was another mistake. I kept thinking I will stop to get water on the way, but I hate stopping for water and I never do until I haven't had water for some time. That is what happened here. We made it to the top of unnamed knob and then descended down to Watson Gap FS 64 (72.6 miles). We take a break here. I was starting to slow down, but we were 3.5 miles from the car so we were almost there.
For the next 0.7 miles, the trail gains elevation. The BMT travels on FS 22-2 for a short distance, and pulls off to the left and continues to climb until it reaches Mill Branch (73.4 miles), the location of an old farm house site. I was starting to struggle here. I desperately needed water and there was a creek at this site. I drink over a liter of water here and take a short break. From here, the trail descends for the next mile and then begins a gradual ascent to the Jacks River Trail junction (75.3 miles). Here we leave the BMT and travel on the Jacks River Trail for 0.8 miles to Rusty's car at Dally Gap. We arrived at his car around 12:45 pm. We had done 2.5 miles per hour in this section, even with all the breaks. This section was much easier than yesterday's hike. We arrive at the gap and change out of our socked clothes into our camp clothes. The owner of the dogs weren't there. It was clear during this hike that this wasn't the first time these dogs had hiked a trail. In fact, when we tried to leave, they didn't even try to leave with us. They just stayed in the shade at the gap. There was no cell service at the Gap. Reluctantly, we left the dogs at the gap and tried to get service further up. We eventually did and got a message from owner that his daughter would be there around 1:00 pm. As we continue to drive, we pass a young woman in a truck and we asked her if she was there to pick up her dog and she said she was. We talked a little about the dogs and we said goodbye. We later called the owner, and his daughter found the dogs there in the shade where they had been when we left.
Previous Section: Wilscot Gap to Appalachian Hwy US 76.
From the top of Double Hogpen Gap, the trail descents briefly and the climbs moderately to the top of Flat Top Mountain (66.5 miles). From here, the trail descends over 1,100 feet over the next 1.6 miles to Dyer Gap (68.1 miles) where the trail crosses FS 64. This descent was pretty easy except for a short rocky section that slowed me down quite a bit. From Dyer Gap the trail continues to descend and then levels of to a great campsite (68.6 miles) we had originally wanted to stop at yesterday. We made it here quickly. We did 3.6 miles in less than 1 1/2 hours. We take a break here and then continue hiking. The trail here levels and travels on an old forest road and eventually intersects South Fork Trail (68.7 miles). Shortly thereafter, we come to another amazing campsite, although I don't know exactly where unfortunately.
The trail eventually begins to climb and almost immediately into the climb we come to the junction with the northern terminus of the Pinhoti Trail (70.3 miles). Maybe one day I will hike it. After all, it is the longest trail in Georgia, but I dislike how much of it is road walks. From here the BMT continues to climb and allegedly comes to an area with views that we missed. It was the summer after all. Maybe it was a Winter, Spring, Fall view. The trail then more or less levels and there is a short but step climb and a longer and step descent.
Here we begin the ascent to Unnamed Knob (72.3 miles). We were able to call the number on the dog collar, and we left a message telling him we would be at Dally Gap around 1:00 pm. I had been out of water for some time. The decision to carry only 1 litter with me was another mistake. I kept thinking I will stop to get water on the way, but I hate stopping for water and I never do until I haven't had water for some time. That is what happened here. We made it to the top of unnamed knob and then descended down to Watson Gap FS 64 (72.6 miles). We take a break here. I was starting to slow down, but we were 3.5 miles from the car so we were almost there.
For the next 0.7 miles, the trail gains elevation. The BMT travels on FS 22-2 for a short distance, and pulls off to the left and continues to climb until it reaches Mill Branch (73.4 miles), the location of an old farm house site. I was starting to struggle here. I desperately needed water and there was a creek at this site. I drink over a liter of water here and take a short break. From here, the trail descends for the next mile and then begins a gradual ascent to the Jacks River Trail junction (75.3 miles). Here we leave the BMT and travel on the Jacks River Trail for 0.8 miles to Rusty's car at Dally Gap. We arrived at his car around 12:45 pm. We had done 2.5 miles per hour in this section, even with all the breaks. This section was much easier than yesterday's hike. We arrive at the gap and change out of our socked clothes into our camp clothes. The owner of the dogs weren't there. It was clear during this hike that this wasn't the first time these dogs had hiked a trail. In fact, when we tried to leave, they didn't even try to leave with us. They just stayed in the shade at the gap. There was no cell service at the Gap. Reluctantly, we left the dogs at the gap and tried to get service further up. We eventually did and got a message from owner that his daughter would be there around 1:00 pm. As we continue to drive, we pass a young woman in a truck and we asked her if she was there to pick up her dog and she said she was. We talked a little about the dogs and we said goodbye. We later called the owner, and his daughter found the dogs there in the shade where they had been when we left.
Previous Section: Wilscot Gap to Appalachian Hwy US 76.