Black Mountain Crest Trail Trip July 4th weekend

“high 30s to low 40s at night and low 50's low 60's during the day. When we first start out it will be warm but as we climb it will get cooler.”

“ynami, are you ready to hump some mountains?”

“I prefer humping women myself. I like to hike up mountains. But to each his own.”

“yep, don't mind a bit of altitude now and again”

“I like the word "hump" to describe a hard march.

"Yeah, we can hump it in a few hours."”

“I can't wait to crest 6k”

“The hump comment was meant to be humorous maybe I shoulda thrown in an emoticon :)”

“lol

I'll let youins know ifn I was able to get the map machine to work.

Lightning on a ridge for July 4? Now those are real fireworks!

Ever been a TT'er struck by lightning yet?”

“Stay tuned.......”

“I used to hike the welsh mountains with a former Royal Marine, that always used to be an interesting trip. That guy could get up a hill. I swear he could have sprinted up the mountain if he'd have to.”

“Be careful what you say about my uncle.



Wait, no, he's the fat Marine who likes to fish.


Never mind.”

“Fri
Jul 02 Scattered T-Storms 75°/65° 40 %
Sat
Jul 03 Showers 76°/66° 40 %
Sun
Jul 04 Scattered T-Storms 81°/65° 40 %
Mon
Jul 05 Scattered T-Storms 79°/66° 40 %
Tue
Jul 06 Scattered T-Storms 78°/65° 40 %”

“However, I watched clouds swirl on one side of the ridge for a day and a half before it rained on me in Shining Rock two weeks ago. Sometimes being high has advantages.”

“yeah, everytime I have been there rain was forecasted and I have yet to get a drop of rain. We could be up above the storms too.”

“found this website

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/lbrieda/webpage/backpacking/mitchell/crest/crest.htm”

“it would be nice to bag some of the peaks on Roan on the way home Monday. hmmmm”

“Ok, the Nat'l Geo mapmaker thing does an ok job, but the area is almost too big north to south to fit on the paper they use, so to me - the map is hard to read.

I did find out that the South Toe River Trail Map (Forest Service) covers the whole area and is a larger scale and easier to read. I like it a LOT better.

Anybody who wants me to grab one of those let me know, they are 6 bones each.

I'll print one of the Nat'l Geo things too if anyone wants, but I didn't like the way it turned out. The page is too small to get the whole area on and to print two maps (which would work perfect probably) would cost 15 bucks. Not worth it to me.”

“I've got a South Toe River map, but it's too big for the copier here at work. I can go down to Kinko's during lunch and get copies if any would like. Don't know what the cost would be, but it would be less than 6 bucks. It wouldn't have all the neat discussion about Leave No Trace on the back, however :-(”

“The South Toe River map is the one that I emailed out. It doesn't print to well though.”

“Roam - That's exactly what I found at REI the route was simply to long lengthwise to fit on one sheet. I'll stop at the USGS on my way home from work, the two quads should be $13 so whoever wants a set let me know.”

“I've got the Toe River map, so I'm good with that.”

“I'll go with the Toe River map, thank you.”

“the Toe River map is pretty good.”

“It looks kinda dated, just based on the pics they printed on the back side of it, last revised in 1981. Do ya think the mountains moved since then?

lol”

“yeah it is a relic for sure. They were there as of yesterday when I checked the website, although slightly obscured by clouds.”

“We gonna move some mountains!”

“Bison

Get me a set of the quads please.
Between the quads and the Toe Maps, we'll be covered.

$13 ?

Thanks”

“No problem JO, I'll hit the USGS after work, I'm gonna load up on Quads for many of the trips I plan to take in the distant future.”

“just stay away from the Quids, I hear they're bad for you....”

“Hey Roam......What's a good nearby town to the trailhead to get a decent motel room? Marion?”

“I'm trying to get Pennsy to go on this trip. He said before that there was a slight possibility that he may go. I am sure he is beat from the trip to AK though.”

“JO, I'm going to stay at Burnsville. There's two local motels there and it's closer to the rendevous point than Marion. If you're coming from that direction, though, Marion would be a good place to stop.”

“Yeah, Burnsville is the closest town, don't know nuthin about it though. Old Fort is the town right on I 40 (I think).

Tellyawhat, I'll explore a little via word of mouth and see what I can turn up and post it tomorrow.”

“I would say Burnsville is your best bet. You're right near the mountain when you are in Burnsville.”

“wow, I believe this will be a awesome trip to those how decide to go. (11 people?)...Im so jealous even though Im not ready for this challenge. Can't wait either you guys write a trip report with tons of pics.”

“oh you can count on several hundred pics from this group combined!

lol”

“I wish someone can bring the video camera to this trip...lol..”

“I predict we will have about 20 people with us.”

“HOLY #&%!$!

hope we can find enough places to put all our tents!

ahhhh, them are big mountains.”

“MarkO plus 2
JO
Blalock plus 1
Y2
ENS
Roam
Gem
Bison
Couchtater
topherac
Bigpoppa

and there maybe some coming from the Wild Country forum, although I don't think they will be camping.

I guess that is 14 for sure.”

“deep gap is a pretty big open grassy area with a lot of sites. It is an awesome place to camp. One of those perfect spots so to speak. It's popular, but we should be ok. I got there at 6 last two times I camped there including last july 4th and there were plenty of places to camp. I poked around a lot on the summit of Mt Mitchell at the museum and gift shop, tower and snackbar. This time we will be hiking straight through. I imagine we will get to deep gap before 3.”

“You guys can have a big party after the trip also. lol”

“the forecast still pretty much sucks. Dang. Bring your rain gear.”

“oh crap I need to go to REI before I forget. Tomorrow is already thursday...”

“Packed and ready to acend!! Taking a tent + stingray 11.5 tarp in case we have to dine in the precip. Looking foward to meeting all of you, and especally seeing Mr. Bison sleeping under the star in his B-day suit at 6K'.lol”

“Are the trees tall enough to hang a bear bag? Pretty populated around there, neborhors around the golf course see them all the time.”

“yeah, the trees in Deep Gap are sufficient height for hanging bear bags. Yeeah, the ranger at Mt. Mitchell state park warned me the other day when I called about the bears. Plus we have Bison with us. Animal siting are in our destiny.”

“Burnsville.
Thanks couchtater and Roam.
Send along a phone number if you can.

Hey....that's my 2 who are coming along. My son Ben and daughter Sally.

Let me see....what should be their trail names?

Mac and Cheese?
Surf and Turf?

Stay tuned.”

“JO - I just googled Burnsville, nc. Here's the link I came up with. Pardon my not being able to put in a hard link, new here and haven't spent the time to learn how.
http://www.burnsville-nc.com/motels.html
See ya on the mountain!”

“Call Norman at the Bates Motel, he willhook you up.”