Alright something confuses me here. I'm a GA native & have hiked Blood Mountain a few times, & I don't remember the BH Reece Trail going straight after running into the AT the first time from the trail head. Even the website says it climbs a few hundred feet before reaching a 3-way intersection with the AT. Was that part of where you messed up & went wondering around in the woods, or is there a continuation of that trail that I don't know about? It looks like it would be a perfect loop to make Blood Mountain a more substancial day hike.
tommangan
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tommangan commented on tommangan's trip Blood Montain and Neels Gap on the Appalachian Trail on Jan 05, 2013
Neels Gap, Georgia, United States •
8.1 miles
tommangan commented on tommangan's trip Blood Montain and Neels Gap on the Appalachian Trail on Jan 05, 2013
Neels Gap, Georgia, United States •
8.1 miles
Ohh gotcha, I see now where you mentioned the Freeman Trail in your write up, must have missed that before.
I do vaguely recall seeing a blue marking straight ahead last time I was at that intersection approaching from BH Reece & thinking it must have signified the end of the trail--the rockiness straight ahead made it seem too foreboding to continue. However, I didn't put any effort into looking further ahead because I was just doing an in-&-out to Blood Mountain & knew I needed to go right, so I'll have to check it out when I head up there tomorrow!
Oh & just curious, why do you recommend taking the loop counter clockwise?
I do vaguely recall seeing a blue marking straight ahead last time I was at that intersection approaching from BH Reece & thinking it must have signified the end of the trail--the rockiness straight ahead made it seem too foreboding to continue. However, I didn't put any effort into looking further ahead because I was just doing an in-&-out to Blood Mountain & knew I needed to go right, so I'll have to check it out when I head up there tomorrow!
Oh & just curious, why do you recommend taking the loop counter clockwise?
Well, since you've already done the out-and-back to the summit, you already know how nasty the descent is so you're used to it. I went up that way but did not do the descent -- but it was was steep enough going up to tell me it'd be a bear coming back down. That descent is the main reason why Blood Mountain is so notorious with thru-hikers.
By contrast, the descent down the Freeman Trail is much more pleasant, as I recall. Freeman Trail actually is a pretty nice hike, in the springtime anyway, because it does not get a lot of traffic and it's a pretty good trail. Winter will be much different, though.
Speaking of winter, the AT descent from Blood Mountain could be very precious if there's any ice on those rocks.
By contrast, the descent down the Freeman Trail is much more pleasant, as I recall. Freeman Trail actually is a pretty nice hike, in the springtime anyway, because it does not get a lot of traffic and it's a pretty good trail. Winter will be much different, though.
Speaking of winter, the AT descent from Blood Mountain could be very precious if there's any ice on those rocks.
Yeah it's a pretty brutal stretch--the couple of times I've done the in-&-out, I've gone up BH Reece & come straight down the AT to Neels Gap, just to avoid the nasty descent down BH Reece. The out & back is relatively short so I never find myself aching too much, but I'm sure I'll be grateful not to have to descend Blood Mountain after adding another 2 or so miles to the trip.
Thanks for the warning about the ice, I've never really done any winter hiking so I'll keep my eyes for sure. It's showing a pretty warm afternoon tomorrow but it's been either raining or freezing up there every day for the last week so ice certainly wouldn't be out of the question, especially at that altitude. Anyway, thanks again for the info & happy hiking!
Thanks for the warning about the ice, I've never really done any winter hiking so I'll keep my eyes for sure. It's showing a pretty warm afternoon tomorrow but it's been either raining or freezing up there every day for the last week so ice certainly wouldn't be out of the question, especially at that altitude. Anyway, thanks again for the info & happy hiking!
tommangan commented on tommangan's trip 5-mile moderate hike on Owl's Roost Trail in Greensboro Watershed on Nov 11, 2011
Greensboro, North Carolina, United States •
5.1 miles
Couldn't get the gpx file to work--Garmin Basecamp said "Invalid GPX file" I tried to manuallly load it and it wouldn't show up in the menus. I have a Garmin Oregon 450
jcool: you may have to convert it to GPX using a website like GPS visualizer. I've had lots of trouble with Garmin files not talking to each other. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com
That worked! Thanks for the tip--enjoyed the trail!
tommangan created a new trip Clockwise loop at Julian Price Park on Oct 22, 2011
Julian Price Park, North Carolina, United States •
7.8 miles
tommangan created a new trip Two hikes in one at Stone Mountain State Park on Oct 17, 2011
Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina, United States •
9.5 miles
tommangan created a new trip Hike at Hanging Rock for park's 75th Anniversary on Oct 09, 2011
Hanging Rock State Park, North Carolina, United States •
5.4 miles
tommangan created a new trip Osprey and Townsend Trails-Greensboro Watershed on Oct 02, 2011
Greensboro, North Carolina, United States •
12.3 miles
tommangan created a new trip Carvers Gap to Roan High Bluff on Sep 20, 2011
Roan Highlands, North Carolina, United States •
7.3 miles
tommangan created a new trip 8-mile hike at McAfee Knob on the Appalachian Trail on Jul 11, 2011
Appalachian Trail, Virginia, United States •
8.8 miles
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I do vaguely recall seeing a blue marking straight ahead last time I was at that intersection approaching from BH Reece & thinking it must have signified the end of the trail--the rockiness straight ahead made it seem too foreboding to continue. However, I didn't put any effort into looking further ahead because I was just doing an in-&-out to Blood Mountain & knew I needed to go right, so I'll have to check it out when I head up there tomorrow!
Oh & just curious, why do you recommend taking the loop counter clockwise?
By contrast, the descent down the Freeman Trail is much more pleasant, as I recall. Freeman Trail actually is a pretty nice hike, in the springtime anyway, because it does not get a lot of traffic and it's a pretty good trail. Winter will be much different, though.
Speaking of winter, the AT descent from Blood Mountain could be very precious if there's any ice on those rocks.
Thanks for the warning about the ice, I've never really done any winter hiking so I'll keep my eyes for sure. It's showing a pretty warm afternoon tomorrow but it's been either raining or freezing up there every day for the last week so ice certainly wouldn't be out of the question, especially at that altitude. Anyway, thanks again for the info & happy hiking!