Trail Section: Dickey Gap to State Road 601 Crossing
Distance: 11.5 miles
This will be a day hike as will several of the next hikes. We drop Richard’s car off at SR 601 crossing, a very narrow rough gravel mountain road. Ellen does not like ascending or descending on this road, too narrow. After a short drive on a winding mountain road, Ellen drops us off at Dickey Gap.
When we start the hike it is overcast and looks like it could start raining at any time. It soon clears up and the hiking weather is great. It is a good trail with a good grade. We start by climbing about 600 feet in 2-½ miles to high point trail; descend about 1400 feet in 4-½ miles to the South Fork of the Holston River; and finally an 800 foot climb for about 2-½ miles.
As I said earlier it was a good hike therefore not a lot of excitement. We saw deer, wild turkey, a snake, bear scat, great vistas and managed to pick a few blackberries along the way. We saw several deer, the turkey startled us, the snake acted as though it was invisible and the bear scat was fresh (that morning). We also stopped at Trimpi Shelter which was built in memory of a 18 year old boy in 1975; he died in 1969. I could not find out any more about the young man other than what was at the shelter.
Overall it was a good day for the hike.
Bet You Can't See Me
Quite a View
I Know That You Can't See Me
Richard Picking Some Blackberries
Date: 8/15/11
Trail Section: USFS86 to VA601
Distance: 8.2 miles
We decide to hit the trail again after a two day lay off due to weather. Today is another uneventful day of great hiking with the exception of the following event. Richard parks his car at VA601; we then take my truck to USFS86. There is a small problem with getting to the trail on USFS86. An individual has posted the road as being a private road. It appears that when USFS86 was built in the 30’s the forest service failed to get the right of way for about 500 ft. of the road. This was never a problem until recently…the owners have declared it a private road. Not knowing the history at the time and being the law abiding people that we are, Richard and I decide it is a USFS road and we are going to use it, which we did. We found out the history when we stopped by Mt. Rogers Headquarters on the way back to the truck. Knowing this, created some concerns especially with me. It is my truck parked five miles up the road. We got it without any confrontations.
The weather today does not look that good. It appears that it is going to rain at any moment for the entire hike. The hike is a lot of up and downs with a slight downhill for the entire day. It is very rocky the first four miles and pretty good trail the last four miles. We even get back into a green tunnel on the last four miles.
At the midway point we stop for lunch at Partnership Shelter. This shelter was built in 1998. This is the first shelter that I have seen that has a warm water shower, definitely a plus for a through hiker. In addition, no alcoholic beverages are allowed at the shelter. The shelter is on the grounds of the Mt. Rogers National Recreational Area Headquarters, so everything around it is pretty much by the rules.
It didn’t rain on us but at times it was cool which was good.
Show Me The Trail
Shelter With Shower
Back Into The Green Tunnel
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