Appalachian Trail - Neels Gap to Unicoi Gap
Apr 10th, 2009 by Admin 1
I set out recently for a quick backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. I wanted to cover the next leg along the A.T. that I haven’t blogged about which is the section from Neels Gap to Unicoi Gap.
Starting at the trailhead at Neels Gap there is a covered opening, a good symbolic start to the adventure. ( Pictured: left) I didn’t expect to make it the entire way to Unicoi Gap in the first day but since I have been hiking so much lately I thought I would try to get as far as I could in one day. After a long day of hiking I ended up camping at an indiscriminate location along the trail somewhere about a mile and a half short of Blue Mtn. in the Spaniards Knob area. 
Since I got a late start and didn’t get hiking until around 11:30am I was happy to make it that far. In retrospect I should have stopped way before I did. I was worked over the next day. I ran into another hiker heading southbound around 4pm who told me there was a nice spot to stop about 20 minutes down the trail, and I probably should have listened to him and stopped at that point, but instead pushed on until I couldn’t go any further.
I ate really quick, bear bagged my stuff up in a tree well away from my tent, set my tent up in the dark and fell asleep. I woke up about every hour on the hour (for some reason) to a new noise outside the tent. One of the times I woke up am sure what I heard was a bear!
It was about 30 feet from my tent and the depth of the noises it made in the woods sounded too loud to be much else. I clapped a few times made some deep sounding noises and squeezed an empty spring water bottle I happened to have in the tent to try and deter it from getting any closer. I didn’t have any more trouble after that and quickly fell back asleep until the next hour. After two or three more times I finally woke up for good. I packed up at about 4:30am with my Petzl headlamp to finish the stretch to Unicoi Gap only to turn right around and head all the way back to Neels Gap. If you know the trail you know my feet were pretty much spent when I got back to the car at Neels Gap. For some dumb reason I didn’t stop at the Low Gap shelter when I started to run low on water on the way back and regret it completely. I passed by the Whitley Shelter as well on some weird self deprivation kick and during the last 5.5 mile stretch I ran out of water and was so thirsty but was too stubborn and stupid to stop for anything.
At that point I just wanted to get back as soon as possible and start hydrating. I lost some serious momentum after the switchbacks at the Raven Cliffs Area which was at least more forgiving going Southbound down Wildcat Mtn. (Note: The switchbacks leading up to Raven Cliffs from Tesnatee Gap heading Northbound are some of the more difficult switchbacks on this section of the A.T. in my opinion) while heading back up the other side after Tesnatee Gap on Cowrock Mtn. My only stop all day was at the crest of Cowrock Mtn. staring backwards at where I had just come from over at the Raven Cliffs area. I ended up making it back to the car and luckily had an extra bottle to get by until I bought like 5 large bottles of both water and Gatorade at a nearby gas station.
I have plans to do the next section on an upcoming weekend trip with a friend and on this trip I will not be pushing it near as much. Oh , and I will be stopping for water or whatever else I freakin’ feel like!
If I was thru-hiking I wouldn’t go more than 12-15 miles in a day. My pack’s weight is only about 20-21 pounds for these short trips. I don’t bring stoves, pots or any extras. Just the basics. Shelter, bag, pad, bear bag with high carb food, water, a camera, small pocket knife, headlamp, lighter, and some lightweight string to toss the bear bag.
Nearest Town: Blairsville, Georgia
Trailhead Location: 129 at Neels Gap
Trail Length: Approximately 20 miles one-way.
Difficulty: Difficult
Trail Marker: White Blaze
Parking Fee: No Fee
Directions: From Blairsville, head south on 19/129 to Neels Gap. Parking Lot on the left.
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