Black Mountain Crest Trail kicks my ass again.

“Well, I've hiked on the Black Mountain Crest Trail twice now. Last time (November of 2004), it kicked my ass.

This time, Saturday through Sunday July 2-3, it kicked my ass again. I hiked down from Mitchell to Deep Gap and set up camp on Saturday, and bumped into Blalock who was doing a loop hike. We shot the #&%!$ and he took me to a spring about 800 feet below the Gap which really did a number on my legs.

Next day I got up and headed over Winter Star toward Celo Knob. Typical Black Mountain weather kicked in: thick cloud cover. No views, at all. From looking at the map, I did not anticipate the ruggedness of the Crest Trail beyond Deep Gap--I thought it would be far more crest and a lot less gap. I was oh so wrong. Rougher than the section from Mitchell to Deep Gap. Totally overgrown--the huckleberry, ferns, rhododendron, firs, etc., just make it invisible in the summer.

By the time I summitted Celo (that is one excellent "manway" to the summit--it was more well-defined than the Crest Trail!), I realized I'd underestimated this trail once again. A downpour caught me and dogged me almost all the way back to Deep Gap. I got back to Deep Gap at 3:00 pm (soaked to the skin), had my camp packed away and was headed up Potato Hill by 3:30.

And I hit the wall about 3/4 of the way up Potato Hill. I wanted to puke, really bad, but willed myself not to. (I hadn't eaten anything, anyway, so that was part of the problem.) I could barely walk. It took me until 7:30 to make the Mitchell Picnic Area. And I was a wreck. Sick on my stomach, my thighs like noodles, no energy left.

Oy.”

“Hey BobSmith, this time last year i was waking up in Deep Gap. Had started at Celo headed South.

Yeah, that section between Celo and Winter Star is somehing else ain't it! Great hike though.”

“Its much more fun in the winter (at certain times, no mud) requiring a walk up from the South Toe just to get there all the while attempting to stay plumb on ice glazed trail rocks which can be terribly treacherous with a thin skiff of snow on them, several inches of snow makes for much easier walking.
last edited: 7/04/05 8:16:32 AM”

“When up there with a friend 18 months ago, he hit the wall (and we hit total darkness) on Mt Craig. I left my 10 essentials bag at home and Ticcka in car. We bivouacked, it rained, his hypothermia/dehydration worsened; I hiked out under moonlight (took me an hour to get to parking lot) and got help, etc. It was a long night. A cold front had come through that night, morning temps in 20's with hurricane force wind gusts.

The Blacks can be unforgiving. The crest trail is relentless, worse when iced. The 2 coldest nights I've spent in the woods have been up there. The worst weather I've ever hiked in has been up there.

I'm glad you made it out. That was an ambitious hike”

“and i bet you guys learned never to leave that stuff back at the car where it cant do you any good eh? Glad everyone made it back ok.”

“Last year we made that climb up Celo and it was HOT HOT HOT, then we got completely drenched on the way to Deep Gap, it was definitely one of the most strenous hikes of my life.”

“That's why I said do'nt go out and back @ 3 pm on Saturday. I climbed the Woody Ridge Trail for the first time Saturday, same elevation as Bolens Creek in half the distance. STEEEEPPPP!!!!!”

“I want to climb the Woody Ridge Trail sometime. They say it's the steepest in the Blacks.”

“This trail is steep. The only trails that approach this are some in Linville Gorge: Sandy Flats, Cabin, etc. While these are steeper, they only climb about 1000-1200 feet. Woody Ridge climbs 2880 with a gradient of 822 feet/mile. The only climb that approaches this (that I can think of) is the AT from Hughes Gap to Cloudland hotel site. It climbs 2050 with a gradient of 788 feet/mile”

“the trails up north tend to be steeper than the trails in the south, especially in the Catskills, Whites and Adirondacks. There you have some trails that climb in excess of 1000 feet in a mile.”

“The only New England trails that I've hiked are on Katahdin. The Black Mountain Trails are tougher, in my opinion.”

“New York has some of the steepest and most rugged trails I've seen anywhere, especially in the Adirondacks and Catskills.

The approach from Round Pond to Mt Dix in the Adirondacks gains about (I think) 2800 ft, 2000 of which occur within the last mile of the ascent. The trail pretty much just goes straight up the mountain along side the rockslide. VERY steep hill indeed...”

“P.S. Thanks again Phantom Sloth”

“At some point I need to come down to hike this trail.”