Heading Back East to the Appalachian Mountains

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

I called both concessionaires who operate CGs in Ocala Forest and both were ordered this AM to shut down their 5 combined campgrounds in the forest. Oh, well, drive south some more. I went to Blue Cypress Lake Park which I found at freecampsites.net. It's amazing. Old Florida Paradise in the middle of nowhere. Nearest grocery store is 30 miles away in Vero Beach. It's near the Yeehaw Junction exit from the Turnpike. I'm the only camper but a few people live on a short narrow canal off the lake and the lady who owns the 'fish camp'.
And it's a free county park with a shower. My Verizon Jetpak is slow out here so no link available.
I think by now all privately run CGs in the forests have been shut down.

Yep, and the reservations.gov site is shut down.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Could be, but depending on the timing of normal seasonal closing dates, you might have faced that to begin with. I'm seeing nothing suggesting that disbursed camping is in anyway not allowed during the shut-down.

Foy

Any news on the road through Shenadoah NP? Can they close gates?

 

[Foy]

Any news on the road through Shenadoah NP? Can they close gates?

Stew,

A quick search says what I thought it would: The Skyline Drive, often considered a northern extension of the BRP but actually not, is closed during this shut-down. The subtle difference between the SD and the BRP is that the SD is wholly within Shenandoah NP (SNP)and is not a separate unit. Only 2 highways cross the Blue Ridge Mountains within SNP: US 33 @ Swift Run Gap and US 211 at Thornton Gap. Those highways are of course open, but the SD, running the length of SNP and entirely within it, is closed. The gates at 33 and 211 are closed, as are the gates at Front Royal on the northern end and Rockfish Gap (near I-64) to the south.

The BRP, by contrast, is a unit of the NP system all to itself. It was conceived and built to connect SNP and GSMNP. The BRP is thus 469 miles long and very narrow, often mere yards from side-to-side. With what must be hundreds of highway and county road crossings, and with the BRP serving as a local route in many places, it is nigh on impossible to close during fair weather. Many short segments are even plowed and maintained during winter inasmuch as they are crucial links between county and state roads on opposite sides of the BRP corridor.

And, regional bias showing blatantly here, I'd just skip the SD and SNP, anyway. The "real" Blue Ridge Mountains are in North Carolina and far southwest Virginia (ie Mount Rogers). Where the Blue Ridge butts up against the Black Mountains and the Smokies in southwestern NC is where the +6,000' balds and crags are. Modest elevations by Rockies, Cascades, and Sierras standards, granted, but they're the sole large collection of elevations in that range east of the Mississippi, and the 4,000' to 5,000' of local topographic relief is quite dramatic. The Blue Ridge Mountains within SNP are, by contrast, but a single broad ridge, topping out at just over 4,000', with the relief down to the Shenandoah Valley and the Piedmont in the 2,000-2,500' range. Nice, no doubt, but decidedly non-knarly. Pastoral comes to mind.

Foy

 

[MarkBC]

When I was in the area I enjoyed several hours of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It follows on or on either side near a ridge crest with many many fine views to either side and lots of pullouts to enjoy the view, many with interpretive displays (and places for slower drivers to pull over).

Now, a scenic drive is a bit different than your holy quest of peak bagging ...but you will be driving, and you're on "vacation", so I wanted to endorse Foy's recommendation of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

I was afraid there were gates that could be closed in SNP. Looks like I'll be skipping that and head (in)directly to the Blue Ridge and Mitchell and Rodgers.

Back in the 70s I hiked up Clingman's Dome from the valley on west and remember more than 4k feet of elevation gain, which is respectable even on a CO 14er. Just ask Ski3pin and the Lady.

Mt Washington, the 6000er up there in NH, also has more than 4k of gain plus truly terrible weather.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

When I was in the area I enjoyed several hours of driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It follows on or on either side near a ridge crest with many many fine views to either side and lots of pullouts to enjoy the view, many with interpretive displays (and places for slower drivers to pull over).

Now, a scenic drive is a bit different than your holy quest of peak bagging ...but you will be driving, and you're on "vacation", so I wanted to endorse Foy's recommendation of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Indeed, one must drive between mountains!

 

[Foy]

But of course, and in terms of connecting the two NPs and following the crest of the Blue Ridge, and in some places, the Eastern Continental Divide, the BRP does quite nicely. I would avoid it on weekends from the present right through October, (hordes of leaf-peepers) but it's a great way to get from Peak A to Peak B, since most of the Southern Appalachians' highest (Mount Rogers and Whitetop being notable exceptions) are either on it or are very close to it.

Be aware, Stew, that the GSMNP is closed just like SNP is. US 441 through Newfound Gap is open, but all roads off of it and otherwise accessing the Park are closed. There are some grumblings about the AT through the Park being closed, but no reports of hikers/backpackers being cited or otherwise hassled about being along the AT within GSMNP.

The weather in the Southern Appalachians can be severe, too. Nothing in the East tops Mt Washington for bad wx, but the 5,000-6,000 elevations in NC occasionally snag the lowermost layer of the jet stream, and sustained winds of 80-90 mph occur from time to time, with gusts up to 114 mph having been documented at 5,280' on Grandfather Mountain. Hurricane Sandy last year brought "wrap-around" winds and precip to the Southern Appalachians, to the tune of sustained 70-80mph winds and 24-30" of snow which proceeded to drift to 5-6' within GSMNP, marooning some AT southbounders who foolishly entered the Park when anybody with a brain knew better.

It seems as though you have a lengthy trip planned. If you like that kind of thing, look at a half-day's bicycle ride along the Virginia Creeper Trail, a rails-to-trails facility running from Whitetop Gap, VA, through Damascus, VA, to Abingdon, VA. The segment from Whitetop Gap to Damascus is 17 miles and all downhill, losing about 2,000' along the way. There is a small cafe' at Taylor's Valley featuring the world's best chocolate cake, and the trail is nice and smooth, running mostly along narrow gorges and their hosted mountain streams, with at least a couple dozen trestles, 3 of them being 50-100' above the stream. Like the BRP, I'd avoid the VCT on weekends in October, particularly Saturdays, but a midweek ride on a fair weather day is a terrific way to see the Blue Ridge up close and personal. I recommend Blue Blaze Bike Rental and Shuttle Service in Damascus. A nice sit-up-straight Trek Navigator 21-speed fat tire rental and a van shuttle ride up to Whitetop Gap will run you just shy of $30, and the trail takes you directly back to the Blue Blaze shop. Door to door will take you around 3.5 hours, with 2.75 or so being on the trail, stopping for a view, and scarfing that chocolate cake and a cup of coffee at Taylor's Valley. Damascus is a cool little outdoorsy "trail town" too, with the AT running right down Main Street. They bill themselves as "Trail City, USA" as a matter of fact.

Foy

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

The weather in the Southern Appalachians can be severe, too. Nothing in the East tops Mt Washington for bad wx, but the 5,000-6,000 elevations in NC occasionally snag the lowermost layer of the jet stream, and sustained winds of 80-90 mph occur from time to time, with gusts up to 114 mph having been documented at 5,280' on Grandfather Mountain. Hurricane Sandy last year brought "wrap-around" winds and precip to the Southern Appalachians, to the tune of sustained 70-80mph winds and 24-30" of snow which proceeded to drift to 5-6' within GSMNP, marooning some AT southbounders who foolishly entered the Park when anybody with a brain knew better.



Foy

On my frist trip to the Smokies back in Feb of 73 or so I had to cut my trip short in order to hike from one of the shelters on the AT out to civilizataion to contact the rangers. The day before temps had dropped and rain had turned to snow suprising many hikers who didn't have the proper gear for the change in weather. One guy in my shelter had gotten his boots wet in the rain and then they frooze in the snow when the temps went below freezing. With feet cold and white and unable to walk, he tasked me with contacting the park rangers for a rescue.

It was a sobering experience for me, the rooky backpacker.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Good morning Stew,



Over near Boone, NC, lies Grandfather Mountain, now in the NC SP system. The tourist's drive-up is still in private hands, but the back country trails are free. With the BRP, a unit of the NP system, closed due to shut-down, you'll have to access the Grandfather Mountain backcountry trails from the US 221 trailhead south of Blowing Rock or the NC 105 Profile Trail trailhead. From US 221, I'd take the trail from 221 to the Boone Fork Trailhead on the BRP (merely crossing over the closed BRP), thence up the Nuwati Trail to the Crag Way, and Crag Way up to the Daniel Boone Scout Trail which takes you to Calloway Peak, the highest of several summits of Grandfather, at a shade under 6,000'. A decent topo and trail map can be downloaded and printed off of the Grandfather website.


Safe travels,

Foy

Am in KY now and soon to be in WV. Thanks for the lead on Grandfather Mnt. I had only known about the private amusment park on the top and had no real interest in that. The hike you mention from 220 in the new state park looks like great fun. What is the elevation gain on the Daniel Boone Scout Tral? Thanks for all the info, Foy.

Stew

 

[Foy]

Stew,
Unless something changes between now and your arrival in the area, the BRP is OPEN and you can therefore use the Boone Fork Trailhead at about MP 299-300, just south of Price Lake and Holloway Mountain Rd. This is better than starting off a little lower and further out on US 221.

The elevation gain from Boone Fork Trailhead to Calloway Peak is about 1,900' and the trail route I highly recommend (noted below) is 3.50 to 3.75 miles.

Although you can hike virtually the whole way up on the Daniel Boone Scout Trail (DBST), I don't recommend it. The last time I used that route, the majority of it below where the Crag Way intersects it was deep within a badly eroded "channel" and wholly covered over by rhododendron, providing a poor walking surface within a "green tunnel". By taking the Nuwati Trail starting just a short distance from the Boone Fork Trailhead, and then turning left on the Crag Way, you have a much better walking surface (although much steeper in places), and there are some fine, fine view points of the Boone Fork Basin and points dozens of miles away along the "Crags" traversed by the Crag Way Trail. Be sure to walk the few yards out to the High Balsam shelter after the Crag Way intersects the DBST. Available for backpacker overnights by permit, the sunrise from High Balsam can be a quasi-religious experience.

The trail map is in PDF form here: http://www.grandfather.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Trail-map.pdf

Pffffft: Something fouled up with the attachment. It's hard being a digital illiterate sometimes. Go to www.grandfather.com and work your way to the downloadable trail maps.

I hope to see some pics of your ascent!

Foy

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Hey, Foy and MarkBC I took your advice on driving the Blue Ridge and getting to the top of Mt Mitchell. Foy, I also wandered up Mt Rogers and Granfather Mt, your suggestions. The Nationl Forests campgrounds were just reopening when I came down from Mt Mitchell so I stayed a few nights in Blackmountain CG, right where the trail starts and used it as a basecamp for further explorations.

 

[Foy]

Stew,
Thanks for the update. I was wondering if you made it down to "The Old North State". Hope you enjoyed Grandfather Mountain. If I get a good weather window, I'll be ascending with my eldest son over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Foy

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

I needed to post this photo so Foy and MarkBC could see that I actually made it.

 

[MarkBC]

I needed to post this photo so Foy and MarkBC could see that I actually made it.

MM01s.jpg

Yep, that's Stew -- doin what he do!

 

[ski3pin]

I needed to post this photo so Foy and MarkBC could see that I actually made it.

Looking good there Stew!