Sunday, March 14, 2010

Natahala National Forest - where trees go to die and fall on the Appalachian Trail, the Natahala Hiking Club hasn't done trail maintenance since the Roosevelt Administration( Teddy, not Franklin), and the trail was designed by a simpleton

Greetings from Fontana Dam, gateway to the Smokies. Left the NOC at
9pm Friday and was confronted immediately with a 3000 ft climb over
six miles. The first few miles went well - no snow, not too muddy.
However, for some reason, after that every tree that was dying decided
to fall down right on the AT, and they all fell in such a way that you
couldn't climb over them or crawl under them. Why the hiking club
hasn't come out and cut them apart is beyond me, there are tons of
roads to access the trail. Anyways, it's cold outside so I'm gonna
make his short. Lots of rain, blown down trees, and bad trail the last
two days. Did a rest day in Fontana today, heading into the Smokies
tomorrow where supposedly there is 8 feet of snow. I'm sick of hearing
about how bad it is going to be and I can't wait to get after it
tomorrow. I'll write again I'm Gatlinburg

Sent from my iPhone

2 comments:

  1. Bartless, it's nickel. Still in the NOC (tuesday, march 16) but hopefully heading out tomorrow. The knee is almost 100%. Hope things are going well for you and that the smokies aren't too horrible. Let me know what they're like if you get the chance.

    Also, I got a headlamp for around 20 bucks that was so much better than the one I gave you, so when I run into you again, I totally owe you 20 bucks and a headlamp switch. Hope the one I gave you is at least serving you well!

    Cheers,
    Nickel

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  2. Nickel, the smokies are tough, no nice way to put it, but they should be better when you roll through, all the snow in the branches has dumped and so they won't be in your way until clingman's, which isn't that bad. The real killer is rocky top and thunderhead, they don't look bad in your profile but you
    need to pace yourself up them. Tell vish I said wassup. Havin trouble finding a 6 volt battery, but othhwise headlamp is ok

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