Marathon training put a major dent into the amount of time I had to devote to hiking. Now that the marathon is behind me, I can refocus onto to other things that I truly enjoy. After studying my calendar, I finally decided that I could take last Friday off without the world coming to an end. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I changed my planned hike at the last minute. Some hikes I have planned have a destination of some sort at the end. It might be a waterfall, a tower, or an amazing view. Others are just meandering strolls or death marches through the woods. I like to do the destination hikes when someone goes with me. I prefer to be on my own for the death marches so no one is contemplating pushing me over an edge or throwing rocks at me.
For this hike I chose a 21 mile semi-lollipop hike leaving from Cosby Campground. Over the course of the 21 miles, I gained and lost over 5000 vertical feet. I climbed up Low Gap II, then descended Low Gap I. I turned right onto Big Creek trail until it became Camel Gap trail. I followed Camel Gap back up to the Appalachian Trail. At the AT I turned left and hiked up to the Snake Den Ridge trail intersection then turned around and hiked back down the AT all the way to Low Gap. I finished by hiking back down Low Gap II to my car.
The lower reaches of the Low Gap II trail are a nice, pretty trail. It skirts the edge of the campground following a stream. There were wildflowers galore. There are several pretty cascades along this section of trail.
Soon after the trail left the stream, I saw these Painted Trillium growing alongside the trail. I spent many hours with a hiking pal looking for these in seasons past. For that reason I always get excited when I find them. These were growing so close to the trail that I didn't even have to leave the trail to take a picture. I saw more later on the Camel Gap trail as well.
After I saw the Painted Trillium, Low Gap II quickly became the trail that I remembered from a previous trip: steep and rocky. But any day on the trail is a good day so onward and upward I continued. At the end of my first trail I came to the intersection on Low Gap II, Low Gap I and the Appalachian Trail. I paused for just a moment and then quickly headed down Low Gap I. I found it a much more pleasant trail. There were large numbers of wildflowers along the trail. Near the bottom of the mountain I saw several rockwalls and a chimney. I had miles to go so I wasn't able to give them more than a cursory glance today.
At the end of Low Gap I, I came to Big Creek Trail. I had previously hiked up Big Creek trail to this intersection, but had been no further. It is always interesting to me to come to an intersection that I have been to before. I always take a moment to recall my previous time or times there and to reflect on what has changed since then. My previous visit to this intersection had been on a hike with a friend to visit the Mount Sterling Fire Tower.
Turning to the right quickly brought me to the end of Big Creek Trail and the start of Camel Gap trail. There is no clear reason to me why the trail changes names. The trail does become a bit narrower after it becomes Camel Gap, but it is still a very pleasant trail.
Camel Gap continues along the stream with some nice views of small waterfalls along the way. About a mile from the end of the trail, Camel Gap swings to the right and begins to climb the mountain much more steeply. Along this section I did see several more Painted Trillium.
The end of Camel Gap brought me back to the Appalachian Trail. I did some quick calculations and decided that I had plenty of time and water to make an out and back trip to the Snake Den Ridge trail head to tie up a loose end on my map. I can't say this was the most pleasant section of trail I have hiked. It had some great views, but I had to be focused on the many rocks on the trail. Some would slide with me, others would just stub my toe.
I did manage to look up and see this great view of Balsam Mountain across the valley. Low Gap I and Camel Gap had taken me into the valley between the mountains today. Another day, I will be hiking along the ridgetop across the valley.
The junction with Snake Den Ridge was my turn around for the day. The last time I was at this intersection was under much different circumstances. I was doing a loop from Cosby Campground and decided to do the short segment to finish Snake Den Ridge. In my effort to finish the trail, I was blind to the storm clouds gathering overhead. By the time I made it to this intersection I was in the middle of one of the worst thunderstorms I have ever been in. Thunder was booming overhead and on more than one occasion I heard lightening strike trees on the mountain top above me. I ended up sprinting two miles down the mountain in an attempt to get below the storm. By the time I had gotten out of the storm, I was running through six inches of water on the trail. Not a scenario that I hope to repeat again.
This hike brought much more pleasant conditions. I paused briefly at the intersection before turning to head back along the AT. Following the AT brought me back to the Camel Gap intersection. The section of AT between the Camel Gap and Low Gap intersections was much more pleasant. There were huge patches of Spring Beauty and Trout Lily blooming. I was walking through a a high altitude flower garden. I quickly came back to the Low Gap intersection where I turned down Low Gap II towards Cosby Campground.
Near the end of Low Gap II, there are multiple connector trails to the campground. I completed a couple of these to be able to mark them off my map. The footbridge and waterfall above were along one of these connectors.
It felt great to be back in the woods. I can't wait to start marking more miles off my map.
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