Send Me 'Packing

“So, here's the deal (there's always a deal!). I had a trip planned for this weekend that had to be cancelled due to flood damage from Ivan the Terrible (we hate him). I'm still leaving tomorrow morning as planned, I just don't know where I'm going yet, lol. I have some "backup" hikes that I keep for "just in case", and I may use one of them, but none of them is particularly exciting so I'm hoping for some better ideas from yous guys.

Here are the criteria:

1. Within a 4.5 hour drive of Augusta, GA.

2. High enough in elevation to escape bugs (4000 ft +) and rugged enough to escape tourons.

3. Must have a short hike out on Monday so I can get back to town in time for my son's after-school activity.


So put your collective heads together and get me out of this town!”

“Head to the AT in Ga”

“I was looking for something a little more creative than that, besides the fact that the southern terminus is over 5 hours drive time from here.”

“Just make sure you tell us where your going and when you'll be back...dont want you ending up like that ralston guy.”

“Lol @ Free! How can I tell you where I'm going if I don't know yet? Silly girl!”

“I suppose West Virginia is out of the question.”

“skullcap, I have no idea what is down your way other than the AT. Is there something in SC..email gemini since she lives there she might be able to help”

“Aha! So you see the nature of the dilemma MarkO. Most of my favorite places to hike are out of reach this time. I had The Perfect Plan but then half of I-40 slid in the river and my 4.5 hour drive home on Monday turned into a 6-7 hour drive home. You know what G00SE said when he found out about that? "We might as well go to that place in West Virginia that you like so much for that kind of drive time!" LOL!!! I had already been thinking the same thing.”

“I'd suggest the Cheaha area in East Alabama, but it's not high enough.”

“Hike Kansas! I will personally guide you up Mount Oread.”

“I'm afraid I'm not all that creative with my hiking ideas........uh, West Virginia?”

“This would be so easy if I didn't have to be back by 5:30 on Monday.


Damb kids ; ) .”

“Skully, where had you planned to go?”

“Well Lizs, I had planned on doing the Maddron Bald loop in the Smokies. The only problem is that I can't get back from there in a reasonable amount of time on Monday with I-40 down to one lane in each direction. I cancelled the campsite reservations on Monday : ( .


I guess a better question would be what areas in western North Carolina aren't waterlogged and muddy right now, since those are the quickest mountains to get to from here. I guess water sources probably won't be an issue, lol.”

“Skully, I can't think of any 4000' mountains within 4.5 hrs of Augusta that aren't in places affected by Ivan...unless you parachuted in of course.”

“from the NC border to down by Clayton.”

“Yeah Bitpusher, that's the same problem I'm having.”

“I had planned to be in West Virginia this weekend, but my leg decided otherwise.”

“There's always Bussey Point up at Clark's Hill... It's got the bugs (~340 ft. above mean sea level) and it's pretty boring... but it's only a 40-minute drive! %^ )”

“LOL @ Tilt! Been there, done that. Actually, it's only a 20 minute drive for me ¦ P .”

“Actually, it looks like we'll be mud-doggin' it somewhere off of 441. Too bad, I have a new pair of boots that will be losing their virginity this weekend and I was hoping to be gentle with them.”

“Slap on a quarter-inch of Sno-seal to protect that 'virginity', LOL!

(you could always SWIM out to Bussey Point for a little variety....)”

“In that 6:09 post that was supposed to be ¦ P . Dang word wrap!”

“ Within a 4.5 hour drive of Augusta, GA.

i guess that knocks out PA. prejudice!!!”

“How about helping us pack for an evacuation? That'll be fun.”

“how about joyce kilmer area? not sure about the elevation requirement tho.
you might be driving back into jeanne on monday...maybe...maybe not.”

“Yes, we drove back into Jeanne today. Man was the wind ever rockin' all night long last night!

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody! We ended up using the plan that we had to scrap last weekend because of flooding due to Ivan (we hate him!) and headed up to Neels Gap for an overnight over Blood Mtn.. It wasn't exactly what I had been hoping for but it was still pretty nice. The bottom dropped out on the rain just as we hit the road. Timing is everything!”

“How were the trails on Blood?”

“There were a lot of blowdowns from Ivan and it was pretty slow going in a few places. We ran into someone who had just come off of the Duncan Ridge trail and he told us it was pretty bad. And when he found out we were planning on dropping our packs a doing a little dayhiking up it, he very strongly recommended against it. Apparently the blowdowns on it were pretty abundant. The worst that we encountered on the AT were at Bird Gap where it intersects the Freeman Trail. We took the Freeman Trail out on Monday and it was one blowdown after another. And there were quite a few trees that were wobbly and I'm sure they probably came down when Jeanne came through.

All in all I'd say anyone doing trail maintenance up there is going to be busy for awhile. G00SE and I both wished we had brought along a saw to help out a bit. I think we will be packing a saw the next time we go up there.”