We had the chance to get out this weekend and decided to complete Section 4 of the Pinhoti from Bulls Gap to Porter's Gap. We hit the trail at Porter's around 6:00pm Friday night 03.01.13, and hiked under headlamps about 5 miles in and set up camp. Later that night we got a steady fall of snow and frozen rain. This was a great sound to fall asleep to. We managed to stay warm, and had a great night’s rest. The next morning the frozen rain continued to fall, off and on for most of the day. I consider us lucky that it was frozen, and not liquid. We were off the trail by 3:00pm at Porter Gap. I did have Verizon Cell service on most of this section. Not the best, but enough to send text and place a call here and there if needed. Bring water- I took 4 Liters and had plenty. The first reliable water is at Scott’s lake.

The trail was in good condition, well blazed, the evidence of trail maintenance and chainsaw work was frequent on downed trees blocking the trail. –Thanks to those that maintain this section. Trail signage was limited, but I suspect that they had been removed in a couple of areas around Horn Mtn. Watch for what I believe was Horse Manure coming out of Bulls Gap. There were mile markers in this section, which is a first for me on the Pinhoti. The trail stays close to 600 for many miles. I expected more trash, but didn’t really see any other than at Heath Cliffs, Wormy’s Pulpit and a few of the other more car accessible areas. Around and past Scott’s lake there were ATVs using the Pinhoti, but no damage to the trail. Past Scott’s cascade it seemed like a tractor had been working in the area near the Bamboo patch. The Porta Toilets you see at Porter’s are not usually there, but still remain from another recent trail event.

This section came at high recommendation from a friend of mine, and rightly so. This was definitely one of the more scenic sections that I have seen. If you haven’t completed this section you should. Below are a few links that I used to prepare for this section that you may find helpful as well:

http://pinhotitrailalliance.org/004-tg.html
Porter’s Gap Trail Head: http://goo.gl/maps/iuLlf
Bulls Gap Trail Head. http://goo.gl/maps/xr46H

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka3cecDe30I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksmqgklLB68


Pictures from the trip. The quality wasn't the greatest. I believe my camera lens was fogging.








































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