Woody Gap and the AT, Part II

There is something about the AT that draws me back frequently. I always get a feeling of continuity when hiking it, given that it runs continuously for 2,200 miles. With the prediction of good and warm weather for the day, I decided to return to Woody Gap, and hike South at least to Gooch Gap.

During my normal obsessive pre-hike research, I had found a blog with a recent bear sighting on this very section of the AT. Now, the only thing a really fear about hiking is running into a bear. That being said, I pressed on with my plans. When I included the bear sighting in my pre-hike message to my family about where I was going, my sister-in-law quite appropriately recommended that I skip the bacon-scented cologne.

Some people would consider this section somewhat mundane, but after all, it is about the hike. There were good views to the South, including an interesting house in a large clearing, which I suspect was in the R Ranch development. I also had to cross a waterfall, with the water running along a large curved rock outcrop.

I had one minor unexpected adventure during the hike. I was about half way to Gooch Gap, with the trail approaching a house (there are a few close to the trail in this area), when it suddenly took a 90 degree turn. I continued to follow it without giving it much thought, but soon realized that it seemed really different. The AT normally runs along or close to the ridge, but this section was well off the ridge. I also realized that I had not seen a blaze in some time. Finally, I pulled out my GPS to take a look. I have the area topo maps loaded, which include the AT. According to the GPS, I was fairly close to, but off of the AT. I zoomed out and looked back, and could see where my path had diverged from the AT. I decided to backtrack to that point, a distance of around a quarter of a mile.

When I got back to the point I appeared to get off the trail, I could not find an alternative route, and the only blaze in the area indicated that I had gone the right way. I decided that a trail was a trail, even if it was not the right one, so I turned around and covered the distance again. Finally, I came to the blaze as the AT crossed a small stream. I suppose the confusion was the result of one of the many AT reroutings.

I had only run into three other hikers at this point, but business began to pick up as it got later in the day. A small dirt road crosses the AT at Gooch Gap, and a family had parked there and was just beginning their hike. Shortly thereafter, I ran into two backpackers who had decided to cook their lunch right in the middle of the trail.

I had hoped to reach the Gooch Gap shelter, but ran out of time and turned around about 1 mile South of Gooch Gap.

Now that I have discovered the small road crossing the AT, I plan to drive back to that point in the near future and continue South from there.