Shuttle Need From Mt. Mitchell

“I'm hiking the Bowlen Creek Trail up to Celo Knob and then the Black Mountain Crest Trail to Mt. Mitchell Parking area. I was hoping to park my car at Mt. Mitchell so it will be there for me when I finish, and I am desperately searching for a shuttle.

I'm doing the 13 miles as a day hike, also, if anyone wants to join me as well, youre very welcome. Will be Saturday, possibly Sunday.

Let me know, thanks!

pjbarr@unc.edu”

“You are the man!!! Won't be up your way this weekend, but have trip planned for Oct. 15/17 for Crest trail, down Old Mitchell trail, up Gibbes, down to Potato Hill, to Balsam Gap, take Big Butt trail to Cain River Gap. You are more than welcome to join us, look for TT Black Mnt. Crest & Big Butt on site. Have fun, allow yourself plenty of time, did it in July and trail is extreme BUSHWHACK!!! Have you done this trail previously?”

“Haven't done it before, but I'm gonna start really early. I've heard that Bowlens Creek to Celo Knob is pretty overgrown and the rest of the way is well defined trail. Any tips?

Also have heard that the trail to Celo Knob is overgrown and not easy to find, did you go to the summit of Celo?

How far is the Gibbs bushwhackoff the trail?”

“Bolens Creek to Celo knob is on a good trail, steep in many places but easy to follow. The fun starts when you get south of Celo. You have to feel your way through the brush to stay on the trail. It's pretty much a bushwack all of the way from Celo to Deep Gap. Once passed Deep Gap the trail is well defined all the way to Mitchell's summit. It's an up and down hike the entire way. It's my favorate trail, it's hard though. Be ready for weather that can change without warning. Wear good boots and gators and don't forget the trekking poles.”

“if you don't find someone to shuttle with. A possible loop hike you could do is:

start at the Mitchell summit, hike to Potato Hill or if you want, past Deep Gap to Winterstar (bag some sixers) and then back track back to Big Tom Gap and take the Big Tom trail down to the Buncombe Horse Trail. Stay on the Horse trail till you get to the Mt. Mitchell trail and then hike the Mt. Mitchell trail back up to Mt. Mitchell.”

“yeah, but it will kill me to leave celo out of my sixers on the trek since it's so for out there/so far up there.

i found a shuttle service, itll cost my probably about $40, but oh well. still looking for a favor from anyone though! please let me know if you can help!!! :)”

“check out the trips page for backpacking trips.
Here is the link to the Black Mtn Crest Trail and Big Butt - kicker trip”

“You could take a bicycle up to the summit and lock it up. Sounds like the hike is an up-hiller, so the bike back to the car would be mostly down hill. Not the best after a tough dayhike, but better than thumbin'.”

“hope you have good brakes on the bike.”

“Dude, thats one helluva dayhike - no matter how early you start.

The trail to the summit of Celo is to the left right out of the gap between Celo and Horse Rock. Its very faint.

The "trail" (cough cough) to the summit of Gibbs is VERY obscure. Once you pass Horse Rock (going south) start looking for some little orange ties on tree branches. Follow the ties up the hill for about 300 yards. some are prolly on the ground, but just keep going uphill. At the summit of Gibbs theres a HUGE rock massiff - clamber up to the top of it, but don't walk off the west edge.

Enjoy - your gonna be wiped out if you do the whole 13 in one day.”

“Also, the only water source is @ Deep Gap. Take side trail to right, there is steep approx. 50 yds. past Crest trail. Let us know how you make out and join us in Oct.”

“give us a trip report.”

“heeheehee yeah, we wanna see a trip report.”

“Did you get my email? Please help me out, I'm leaving at 3:30am.”

“incoming”

“Uh, btw, I meant to road-ide the bike back to the car, not down the trail you just came up. I re-read my post and wasn't sure that was clear.”

“Trip Report Forthcoming....”

“How was it , I bet the wind was kicking.!. Got any scratches on your arms, or do you have any arms on your scratches?”

“lol blalock. Do you have any arms or legs left?”

“No joke when I got home 4th of July I looked like I'd been in the ring with Sigfeild & Roy!!!”

“You've got mail!!!”

“I've been having problems with my msn email account the last few days. Hopefully I can get into it tonight.”

“Dude, your killin' us with the suspense!!!!”

“Sorry guys for the suspense. Tok me a while to write the report, and then a while to get over here. I posted it over on griztrax.net, follow the link from EarthnSky above.

Yeah, I look like I got into a fight with a bobcat. I'm scrathed everywhere. I have a large gash on my left leg too, above the knee. I figured I was in for serious poison ivy too, so I went home and washed off with Tecnu soap. Never broke out, nor did my two friends with me, so I dont know how, but I guess no exposure.

My arms and legs right now look like self mutilation...people look at me weird but I'm kind of proud of them. All fo your descriptions on the trail were dead on, so thanks for the heads up. I'm really glad the trail was overgrown and virtually nonexistant, it was an awesome experience.

Because of it, I no longer have any inhibitions about bushwhacking and cant wait to tackle the sixers in the Smokies. The Blacks were awesome, and cant wait to go back to finish out the sixers there.”

“come with us on the October trip”

“EarthnSky,

This is aa pretty specific question so if you cant remember, I understand. How close was the Baalsam Cone benchmark to the actual trail? It should have been the BM that was on top of like a tripod looking root cluster, above the ground.”

“I didn't find it the last time I was there but I know I have seen it before. If I remember correctly, it is in with a bunch of rhodes in between the cliff edge and the trail. I think it was right next to an over look. It's merely just feet off of the trail. Did you take any pics?

You should seriously look into the October trip to the blacks though. We're hitting every sixer from Celo to Blackstock (every sixer in the Blacks) and then bagging all the peaks on the Butts range. It's a 3 three dayer and will be a serious buttkicker. There will be 10-15 people on the trip. It will be nice and cold too!!”

“also keep your eye on the trips page. You can even organize trips on the page. This is a great place to meet fellow hikers and has the best trip organizing page on the web.”

“Thread for the Black Mtn Crest Trail Buttkicker Fall Trip.

and

Black Mtn Crest Trail Buttkicker Trip page”

“Balsam Cone was the summit i "missed". Walked right over it without looking for the benchmark. I was pissed, seeing how I had been so meticulous to touch the exact spot of each high point and take a picture of the BM or ribbon at the summit.

Id love to come in October, but that weekend, I'm already working at Charlotte Motor Speedway (too pick up quick cash) when the nascar race comes there. Plus I have a 30 degree bag, and no winter clothes that arent cotton..not to mention no tent. Plus I'm not partial to the cold anyways ;)

Also, I have two passions, one being hiking and the other being North Carolina basketball. And Midnight Madness is the weekend also, which I wouldnt miss for the world. So come mid October, my hiking season is over pretty much until it warms in April, when coincidentally, UNC will be finishing off the neational championship.”

“lol”