I've been planning a hike with others to hike from one end of Holston to the other since last fall. I've always hiked on the Western end but not the Eastern much. So on the fly last Friday DBird and I set off on the AT from Hwy. 91 to Double Springs Shelter at 5:00PM after work and hiked the 3 miles to the Shelter. There were a couple of hikers at the shelter (Hikes with Bunions and Terry) who showed us where the blue blaze trail was that is the end of the Holston Mn Trail. It's at the top of the hill on the left going SOBO from the shelter. After we got water at the shelter we hiked in about 1/2 mile on the HMT and found a really nice area to hang.
DBird had a whole new rig. And brand new WBBB, Summer Incubator, and Macat Deluxe tarp. We dialed it in just before dark and then fixed our supper. She had not even hung her new Blackbird and after watching me set up my ENO saw how convenient Whoopie Slings are as a replacement for the original suspension and plans to make some.
Two good rain storms had rolled through earlier that day but waiting until late afternoon to start our hike turned out to be lucky. We saw no more rain but a very nice cool and refreshing breeze and fog later that night.
The trail is very wild and unmaintained on that end. Briers, blackberry bushes and tall grass on the trail. Wearing Gators or long pants is recommended. The blue blazes were our only assurance we were still on the trail. We lost it twice though because of downfall and areas of nothing but wilderness. But we kept to the top of the ridge and found it with some diligence.
I want to go back up to that section and repaint some new blazes on the trail to mark it clearly. DBird has offered to help me do that! It's totally worth it because I can't explain just how beautiful it is up there!
It was slow going because of so many downfalls. The recent storms have really done a number on one particular knob near the Josiah trail. Fresh trees snapped off and twisted. I think the tornado from Thursday night did that because it went right over the Mn and towards the lake exactly in that area!
Needless to say we made it to Flint Mill Gap as planned but later than we expected. Toothpick was to pick us up at the Fire Tower but we debated to just hike down Flint Mill and have him pick us up there.
We got to stop at the overlook and DBird was overwhelmed with the view! I encouraged her to climb up to the edge of the rock with me for us to lie on our bellies and look at the valley below. Something I've done many times and it's just breathtaking.
The hike down on Flint Mill was tedious & though and I fell on my back side once.The rains have washed a lot of that access trail out and pushed over more trees so it took us a long time to get to the bottom. It's a hard trail anyway because it is rocky and craggy but it was grueling that day. Toothpick was waiting for us with a big smile and DBird said he was our Knight in Shining Armor because we were hot tired and out of water! We were handed cold drinks and he loaded our packs in his van. He's offering to do it anytime we need him. Our own Trail Angel for sure!
I have one more section from Flint Mill to the Fire Tower now to do and I will have the trail completed. Guess I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks with the gang!!! Any of you who like exploring blue blazes PM me and I can give you details of our upcoming trip.
Here's a few pics in a slide show.
Cakes
Reply With Quote
... LoL 
Originally Posted by Catavarie
Bookmarks