The Perils Of Winter Hiking or How Snow Miser Kicked My Ass!

Trail sign at Neel Gap.

Well, this blog was supposed to be on how I finished my first section of the Appalachian Trail (AT)

I got to see Snow Miser's work 1st hand.

from Neel Gap to Tesnatee Gap. Hell, if things would have gone as planned I would have finished the AT from Bird Gap all of the way to Hogpen Gap, a stretch of 10.5 miles one way. However, Snow Miser & Old Man Winter
conspired to prevent this.

How did this happen you might ask? I knew it was going to be cold it was in the low 20’s in Dawsonville, GA that morning. Still, I have been out in the cold a number of times hiking this winter.  It was close to single digits when I went out one morning back in early January in
Tennessee and I handled it with ease. I think maybe I had gotten a little cocky. On this morning there was something that I didn’t account for and that was the wind.

Frozen Sill Branch Falls.

None of the weather reports that I got leading up to Thursday said anything about it being windy. I guess I could lay all the blame on the weather

The windiest place in the SE.

forecasters, but I have to assume some of the responsibility. I mean there has never been a time when I have been to Neel Gap, near Blood Mountain, that it wasn’t windy. Back in October the difference between this area and Brasstown Bald was more than noticeable. It is why I have come to call Neel Gap the windiest place in the southeast.

So, I would say it was about 14 degrees at the start of my hike, but with winds of 15+ the wind chill (as the NOAA wind chill calculator showed) was about zero. Since the winds were coming from the north east, if I was on a south face it wasn’t as bad, so for the first 1.7 miles it was bad at times,

An example of the wind.

alright at others, but when I stepped out to Neel Gap...holy crap! None of the hikes that I have done this winter even came close to preparing me for this, trust me it was COLD!

AT Thru-Hiking book.

Funny thing was I had the idea to step inside Mountain Crossing to warm-up, but the guy running it that morning had stepped out for a second so I was out of luck. Anyway, I pressed on walking the trail through the building like so
many thru-hikers on their way north toward Maine. Speaking of thru-hikers let me stop for a second for an observation that would later cross my mind. If you don’t know the thru-hiking season has already started, I see the photos on the Mountain Crossing Facebook page daily and they have the book for them to sign at the front door of the store.

On this day however I didn’t see any at the store or on the trail. Matter of fact I didn’t cross paths with anybody all day on the AT which rarely ever happens. I know this if I was thru-hiking I think I would wait at least until March to start my adventure north. A day on the trail like that might make me do what I almost did this day…quit! (view video & listen to that wind!)

Yes as I passed that sign for the Raven Cliffs Wilderness that I had walked up to on numerous occasions, but had yet to pass and on this day that changed because I finally step past that barrier. However, as I switched backed up the trail toward Levelland Mountain, all of my plans of hiking on out to Wolf Laurel Top and finishing this section just blew away in the fierce wind. So, as I was decided whether to just pack it in for the day, because heading up that mountain was not fun, I remembered I had brought my AT Emergency Bandana with me.

That is my emergency bandana & yes it was COLD!

So, I dug it out and tied it around my face, and it worked the wind was now just bad, but it was enough to allow me to press on. I at least wanted to make it to the summit of Levelland Mountain. Once the trail moved more to the southside of the mountain the wind died down some. But, I kept hearing strange noises and realized it was the sounds of creaking trees. Deb said later they were talking to me, but at the time I thought one might just fall on my head.

Levelland Mountain from Brasstown Bald.

Still, I finally did make it to Levelland Mountain, and it was here I had to make a decision to either go the two miles (four miles round-trip) to Wolf Laurel Top or except my victory, play it safe and head back south to Neel Gap. I will say that little voice in my head that tells me it is not that far, told

Tennent Mtn. to the right.

it is not that far. This is the same one that told me it was not that far

Near the summit of Levelland Mtn.

of a hike from Black Balsam Knob to Tennent Mountain, back in October, which turned out to be well over a mile both ways.

It was this voice that was telling me to go for it, however I got hit by another big gust of wind and a second voice said hell no! For once that was the voice I listened to, so back to Neel Gap I went. Once again the wind was bad but it had warmed slightly. Anyway I made it back to the store crossed back to the AT and then linked up again with the Byron Reese Trail and down to the parking lot. Right before I got to the parking area I finally ran into the first people all day

Start of Byron Reese Trail.

Upper DeSoto Falls.

on the trail, these guys said they waited until mid-day because it was too cold that morning, I told them I wasn’t that smart. Because my day was cut short I went to a place I have been wanting to visit,
DeSoto Falls which is about four miles south of Neel Gap, I will write a separate blog in the coming days about it.

So, soon I will attempt a hike from Tesnatee or Hogpen Gap to finish the two miles of this section I haven’t completed. When that happens I will write my first AT Section Hike blog. I know one thing when I do this hike in the coming weeks it will be on a much warmer day. Because on this day I got a good old fashion Georgia jaw jacking from Snow Miser, I guess his half-brother was on vacation.