Conversations
Testnatee Gap to Unicoi Gap (15.5mi)
Quote from nathanu on September 27, 2022, 1:41 pmOk, so the next trip is starting to take shape and looks like it'll be from Tesnatee Gap to Uniocoi Gap, about 15.5 miles. Looking at stopping at the Low Gap Shelter for lunch (looks like about 5.5 miles in) and then camping at the Blue Mountain Shelter (looks like about 12.8 miles in). Will be cool / cold weather and it looks like the sun will set sometime around 6:30pm ET. Looks like a good supply of water on trail and it looks like some very cool ridge walking and, with the leaves gone, some awesome views!
Ok, so the next trip is starting to take shape and looks like it'll be from Tesnatee Gap to Uniocoi Gap, about 15.5 miles. Looking at stopping at the Low Gap Shelter for lunch (looks like about 5.5 miles in) and then camping at the Blue Mountain Shelter (looks like about 12.8 miles in). Will be cool / cold weather and it looks like the sun will set sometime around 6:30pm ET. Looks like a good supply of water on trail and it looks like some very cool ridge walking and, with the leaves gone, some awesome views!
Quote from Hikes in Rain on September 29, 2022, 12:24 amA really nice section. I did pretty much the same as you're planning, when I went through there. Stayed at Whitley Gap, and headed back out the next morning in the fog and rain. 1.2 miles back to the Trail, then a little more than 1000 ft to Hogpen Gap. Fog made it hard to find the trailhead across the road, and of course I initially turned the wrong way. Hiking by Braille. 🙂
Don't remember much between Hogpen and Low Gap Shelter, probably because I couldn't see it. I have a couple of pictures of woods in heavy fog. I think they were taken at White Oak Stamp about a mile from the road. It's a Special Interest Area, designated by the Forest Service. It's a rare "flat" area in the higher elevations, with virgin old growth. Hopefully, you'll see some scenery on Poor Mountain and Sheep Rock Top. I need to do that section again in clear weather! Low Gap is a great place. Nice shelter (at least back in the early 90's, with a pretty stream in front of it for water. Great place for lunch.
Ups and downs, with a little rock hopping, from there to Chattahoochee Gap. Chattahoochee Spring, the source of the Chattahoochee River, in down at the bottom of a really steep trail. Don't recall how far down it was, but I swear it was vertical distance, not just trail distance! It's a LONG way down. But it's a pretty little spring, and always seems to be flowing. Had good water even during the drought I mentioned. And such a little spring to be the beginning to such a big river. I filled up there. Blue Mountain Shelter has a spring maybe seven tenths of a mile before you get there. It's a small, trickily little spring that on a different trip took what seemed like forever to fill up. Being really thirsty may have had something to do with that.
Blue Mountain Shelter has changed for the better since I was there. It now has a nice overhang with benches, that wasn't there when I stayed. Unfortunately, it faces the incoming storms, and without that overhang rain poured into the shelter. Being the only one there, I made my bed length-wise, rather than front to back, to stry to stay dry. Ended up huddled against the back wall with my tarp over me, to keep dry. i got lucky, and got to experience an aural confrontation between owls. The shelter faces a shallow ravine. There were two smaller owls (from the calls) on the left side, and a larger one (again, from the call) on the right. They hooted back and fourth across the little valley, moving slowly farther and farther downhill, until finally they passed out of hearing range. I really wish I'd had some way of recording it!
That was my last night on this hike, which started at Woody Gap. I'd driven up to Woody from Tallahassee, and left my truck there to start walking. My wife was coming up the next morning to pick me up. We'd rented a cabin up there for the next few days. The distance (and going through Helen) gave me a lot of free time the next morning. I brought one of those little single cup camping Espresso makers with me, that my brother gave me as a gag gift, never thinking I'd used it. Silly thing really works! Drank cup after cup, until I figured I'd best get down to Unicoi Gap. With all that Espresso, I was quivering enough that I was a little blurred around the edges :-), and didn't slow down until I hit the road. Pouring rain again, with no good place to sit, so I stood under the the little awning over the signs and waited. When she arrived, she just backed up to me and popped the truck from inside, so I could toss my pack and drippy rain gear in.
Off the the cabin for a hot shower and good food!
A really nice section. I did pretty much the same as you're planning, when I went through there. Stayed at Whitley Gap, and headed back out the next morning in the fog and rain. 1.2 miles back to the Trail, then a little more than 1000 ft to Hogpen Gap. Fog made it hard to find the trailhead across the road, and of course I initially turned the wrong way. Hiking by Braille. 🙂
Don't remember much between Hogpen and Low Gap Shelter, probably because I couldn't see it. I have a couple of pictures of woods in heavy fog. I think they were taken at White Oak Stamp about a mile from the road. It's a Special Interest Area, designated by the Forest Service. It's a rare "flat" area in the higher elevations, with virgin old growth. Hopefully, you'll see some scenery on Poor Mountain and Sheep Rock Top. I need to do that section again in clear weather! Low Gap is a great place. Nice shelter (at least back in the early 90's, with a pretty stream in front of it for water. Great place for lunch.
Ups and downs, with a little rock hopping, from there to Chattahoochee Gap. Chattahoochee Spring, the source of the Chattahoochee River, in down at the bottom of a really steep trail. Don't recall how far down it was, but I swear it was vertical distance, not just trail distance! It's a LONG way down. But it's a pretty little spring, and always seems to be flowing. Had good water even during the drought I mentioned. And such a little spring to be the beginning to such a big river. I filled up there. Blue Mountain Shelter has a spring maybe seven tenths of a mile before you get there. It's a small, trickily little spring that on a different trip took what seemed like forever to fill up. Being really thirsty may have had something to do with that.
Blue Mountain Shelter has changed for the better since I was there. It now has a nice overhang with benches, that wasn't there when I stayed. Unfortunately, it faces the incoming storms, and without that overhang rain poured into the shelter. Being the only one there, I made my bed length-wise, rather than front to back, to stry to stay dry. Ended up huddled against the back wall with my tarp over me, to keep dry. i got lucky, and got to experience an aural confrontation between owls. The shelter faces a shallow ravine. There were two smaller owls (from the calls) on the left side, and a larger one (again, from the call) on the right. They hooted back and fourth across the little valley, moving slowly farther and farther downhill, until finally they passed out of hearing range. I really wish I'd had some way of recording it!
That was my last night on this hike, which started at Woody Gap. I'd driven up to Woody from Tallahassee, and left my truck there to start walking. My wife was coming up the next morning to pick me up. We'd rented a cabin up there for the next few days. The distance (and going through Helen) gave me a lot of free time the next morning. I brought one of those little single cup camping Espresso makers with me, that my brother gave me as a gag gift, never thinking I'd used it. Silly thing really works! Drank cup after cup, until I figured I'd best get down to Unicoi Gap. With all that Espresso, I was quivering enough that I was a little blurred around the edges :-), and didn't slow down until I hit the road. Pouring rain again, with no good place to sit, so I stood under the the little awning over the signs and waited. When she arrived, she just backed up to me and popped the truck from inside, so I could toss my pack and drippy rain gear in.
Off the the cabin for a hot shower and good food!
by nathanu