Celo Knob to Mt Mitchell

“Somebody posted over on the rodale site asking what the most dangerous trails are in the south.. and "Celo Knob to Mt Mitchell" came up.. Also stated that "Numerous people have to be rescued. It gets much colder and wetter than anywhere else. Very foggy often, high winds. Not uncommon for 60+ MPH winds to kick up out of nowhere"..

heh.. sounds like my kind of place!!!.. Anyone hiked this area??.. What do you recommend as a weekender?”

“I have hiked from the Black Mountain campground up to Mitchell Summit and then out to Deep Gap where I camped. I never hiked as far as Celo Knob yet though. I hear there is a knife edge up near the Horse Rock and Celo Knob. It is regarded as the most strenuous trail in the east and some say in the entire US. There are many places where it is so steep that you have to use all fours. When you are done with the trail you end up bagging many of the highest peaks in the east. It's an incredible hiking trail. I would definitely recommend that you do it over two days and camp in Deep Gap. The best place to start is the Black Mountain campground because then you eseentially climb the mountain. It is a relatively steep climb for almost four thousand feet. The hardest part of the trail I experienced is the ascent up Big Tom from Big Tom Gap. The ascent up Balsam Cone is hard too and so is the one up Potato Hill. This summer I want to do the entire trail.”

“You may want to wait till May to do the hike too because it can be really severe weather wise there. the only place to camp is deep gap and it's more than 5k above sea level.”

“sounds like a pretty cool place, somebody plan a trip for July or something.”

“it's a totally cool place. Yeah July would be perfect. I did the trail twice last year. It wasn't too crowded during July 4th weekend last year so maybe we can do a trip that weekend. I think we should do the whole trail. It's like 20-25 miles. It will be a buttkicker. It's a 4000 foot climb at either end.”

“I really want to do the stretch from Deep Gap north to Bowlens Creek.

Here are some links to photos that I have taken on previous backpacks on this trail last year.

http://community.webshots.com/album/123943353WgCQLZ

http://community.webshots.com/album/124039701UzbFFc

Here is a link to a website devoted to the trail

http://www.tennessee.sierraclub.org/broome/blk_mtn_crest_bkpk.htm”

“Does this thread title qualify as innuendo?”

“Is anybody interested in a trip to the Black Mountain Crest trail for July 4th weekend?”

“Im interested.. but cant commit right now.. too much still goign on..”

“That's cool. I'll put something up on the trip page sometime soon. It's a really awesome trail. I highly recommend it.”

“you posted about the Crest Trail a few months ago and were interested in doing a trip there. Just wanted to see if you still were because we have a trip there July 4th weekend.”