New Year's at Big South Fork

“no itinerary yet. this is someplace i have never been and am looking forward to going and am open to suggestions”

“Never heard of the place. Should I sign up?”

“only if you like to hike in pretty places”

“oh well, i only like dank dreary ugly places.”

“I've been there once for TCII, but would like to go again and do some hiking.
I'm off between Christmas and new years and am looking for some backpacking a couple of days after Christmas to a day or so before new years.
I might be a go.”

“Im the newbie in the office so its likely i'll get stuck working all the holidays, so its only a maybe for me.”

“i thought you were the boss, bw”

“I am, at night. I have the place all to myself :)

But its all about senority.

Everyone has been there for about 20 years each :|. No one ever wants to leave. Its tough to get a job in my department.”

“ Its tough to get a job in my department.”

says the girl who practically fell into a cush office job. shut up”

“i only like dank dreary ugly places.”
BlackWidow

well, hammond is a good place to start”

“LOL! It IS. I was very lucky. People want my job all the time. Freakin back stabbing leeches! LOL! The only prob...is dealing with hospital politics can give you a huge headache sometimes :P”

“BSF is gorgeous. Loads of deadfalls though. If I wasn't taking Kamper to Asheville for her birthday(New Years), we'd go.”

“I am planning on hiking up to the AT after Christmas with Towndawg. Depending on when you plan this, I could come back down, recycle gear and be in BSF for this hike.”

“dang, 2 good hikes so close together. I am a maybe on TD's Christmas hike. Guess I will sign up as a maybe on this one also. I would like to do what chili has in mind but not sure I can”

“Ewker, I will give you a call tomorrow.”

“ok, if I don't answer just leave a msg. I might be in the middle of something that could be happening...lol”

“Big South Fork, TCII

http://community.webshots.com/album/57130324WkXlMU
http://community.webshots.com/album/57135745ZXRACM”

“BSF is awesome. I live a mere 2 hours from it and thus have trekked it quite a bit. There are numerous beautiful overlooks and lots of arches. Water is plentiful and mostly potable, although some of the northern streams are somewhat contaminated from mining runoff...so be a bit careful. I'm actually headed there Nov 5,6,7 to get in a bit of fall hiking before it gets too cold. Hope you enjoy yourself. Pack your longjohns. It's cold and plenty wet. Not like out west where it's just cold. The snow here in TN is really wet and will soak right through anything not completely waterproof.”

“If I can get a ride I may be able to go.”

“This will be the last week of hunting season. I would forego wearing earthtones and bring the brightest, gaudiest fleece you own. Getting plugged with .30-06 will put a damper on anyone's weekend.
last edited: 10/29/05 2:59:49 PM”

“I dont have any bright gaudy fleece....infact all my hiking gear has leaves and twigs glued to it so I blend in with the scenery. also makes it easier for me when I decide to go Rambo.”

“Okay, just don't attach any deer antlers to your ghillie suit and be sure to wear kevlar.”

“just got map in the mail. route to follow soon. anybody got any favorte trails? jmt? sheltowee?”

“so uh....how much snow is typically there? Im really considering this.”

“Spirit, in Tenn it could be 15° or 70°, you never know what it will do. At TC2 there was a little snow on the ground and night time temps of 5° to 10°. During the day it was nice, still cool but comfortable”

“night time temps of 5° to 10

degrees?!?! fahrenheit?!?!?”

“The Kentucky Trail and JMT are the only two individual trails of significant length in BSF. Unfortunately there would be a loooong shuttle between entry and exit.

The Bandy Creek and Leatherwood Ford THs are close to each other. Station Camp and the Double Arch THs are close. Blue Heron isn't really close to anything else. I would think about combining trails to form a loop. I'll have to dig out my BSF book and think on it.
last edited: 10/31/05 7:37:59 PM”

“CB, it did get that cold at TC2”

“I remember checking the ol' thermo before daylight at 17 degrees during TCII.
Pretty dang cold.”

“why does it get that cold that far south?”

“My wife wants me to take her to some ballet thing (I think) New Year's Eve so I can't go anywhere for New Year's. Oh well.”

““why does it get that cold that far south?”
Crash Bang
9:35:02 PM

KY isn't a Southern State.”

“the coldest I can remember in Tn was -17°. It stayed below 0 for over 2 weeks.

SS, BSF straddles the Tn/Ky border. It is usually colder on the plateau (Tn side) than in Nashville

CB, SS is right Ky is not a southern state”

“Elevation is key to temp. BSF averages around 1700 feet asl. That may not sound like much, but it's enough to chill yer balls at night. Plus it's really wet, and a wet cold is much worse than a dry cold, much like a dry heat pales in comparison to a humid heat. Here in Nashville our winters consist of 33 degree days and drizzle. Lousy most of the time, but then winter only lasts 3 months tops. By March it's back up into the 70's again...as it is right now. It was 75 here today. It beats living in Buffalo or Fargo.”

“KY isn't a Southern State

its in tennesee and kentucky, and theyre both southern states to me.”

“It has been in the 70's here this week. Strange fall we are having so far.

TCII was pretty frosty at night. The day I got there, snow was about 5 inches. It melted over the next two days during the day (seems like high's were in the low 40's).

The weather in East TN changes so fast, I wouldn't trust any forecast more than three days out.”

“May not affect you.. but found this post on the other side..

"Never dreamed a furry critter would close a trail, but that is what happened this weekend on the Laurel Fork Creek trail in BSF. Starting where the West Entrance trail meets LFC trail, go about 3 miles west and the little creatures have damned a creek or creeks flooding the trail and maybe half an acre or so. I went off trail for a bit trying to locate the other side of the trail, but the brush was so thick it would have been too easy to loose my starting point. I was trying to make the 15 or so mile loop, but got beaver blocked instead. The ranger mentioned a couple of options of trapping the beaver(s) and moving them or moving the trail. Either way it is pretty impassable for now."

http://forums.backpacker.com/thread.jspa?threadID=72837&tstart=0”

“Blast the little #&%!$ers out!”

“"Beaver blocked"....nah, too easy.”

“When beavers go bad....”

“Good beaver gone bad.. Are you talking about Pat Godwin's song??

Gone Bad
I went to a place that served exotic dishes
Like Elk and Wild Boar, I heard it was delicious
But the one thing I ate made me sick, it’s so sad to see
Good Beaver, gone bad
Good Beaver, gone bad
It was tough and dry; I took a whiff and almost fainted
The pink had turned brown; it tasted kind of tainted
You take your chances eating out; I should’ve had the Trout,
Good Beaver, gone bad
Good Beaver, gone bad
You want it fresh, don’t let it spoil rotten
Or leave it hanging around, where it’s forgotten
Better eat it while it’s hot “cause it’s forgotten
Or good Beaver, goes bad
Her love has dried up; it once was so delicious
She’s cruel and cold now, vile and vicious
She was up to no good, while she gnawed on the wood
Good Beaver, gone bad
Good Beaver, good Beaver
Good Beaver, gone bad”

“i loved the honeycreek loop. it's a little short to backpack though. i think it's 6 miles. there were a couple of pimp campsites down on the river though. problem is, it's not near anything else to combine it with. if you get there early or are staying late i'd definitely try to hit it up.
i went on a slave falls/double arch loop with binks the first time i went down there. i wouldn't recommend the route we took. there were about 200 2-4 foot creek crossings. at first i tried to stay dry but then i jsut said screw it and got real wet. double arch was way cool though. the climb up to it was a workout if i remember correctly.”

“Here's a cool link with pics and GPS data for many of the waterfalls and arches in the BSF.
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/bsf/

enjoy”

“One of the purtyest loops IMHO is what is called the rock creek loop in the guides. You can park either at Blevins Cemetary, off divide road, or 3 forks road. If there is a lot of cars Blevins has more space. There is a sweet little spot to camp where Thompson Creek enters Rock Creek. I like to park on Divide road and walk down the old RR grade and look at all the gymsum on the walls and in the trail, then foiiow the Sheltowee up Rock Creek, camp at the spot I mentioned then it is a short hike out last day.”

“how many miles is that?”

“go gettem sticks/ Sticks knows the area well.
iffin anyone knows the area, HE DOES!”

“was that a cheer, or what?”

“Where it at??”

“For those of you with a map or one of the Hiking the Big South Fork books by any of the authors look for Divide Rd and find Peters Mt trailhead. Go south on divide rd and you will come to a spot where the John Muir trail crosses. The loop I speak of is on the west side of the road. It is short only about 2.5-3 miles total.
I can tell by longlosthiker's posts that he probably knows of the loop I am talking about.
There are numerous options. The Charit Creek area has a spot called Jake's Place that has a wonderful spot that is great for a large group, this is in a no hunting area and there is a large parking lot at the trailhead. Or for pure ease of meeting up there is the Bandy Creek Campground at the headquarters that has some great hiking closeby and they keep one shower house open for those that want a warm place to $^&!. There are a couple of NF primitive campgrounds on Rock Creek that have the Sheltowee Trace on the othe side of the creek. I like the Hemlock Grove site because of the Gobblers Arch/Mark Branch loop that is a stone throw away.

I could go on but hey this is not my trip, I am just throwing out ideas. CB you just name the spot and I will be there.”

“Crash, I'm still a solid maybe, but whats the itinerary? I need to make plans soon.”