This is a trip report done from Friday morning March 23rd to Sunday afternoon 3/25 from Sam’s Gap hiking south on the AT to Allen Gap by two of us in our mid thirties in decent shape for our age.
We parked our cars at Hemlock Hollow Hostel and had set up a shuttle with them. We parked there last year too for our section hike and they are very helpful. Parking is limited though so call ahead. The shuttle was $50 split 2 ways.
We were on the trail around 10:15 and set out hiking. It was cold but sunny out and the trail was slightly snow covered to start. As we gained elevation though we encountered knee high snow but a path had been cut through so we had footprints to follow. We stopped for an early lunch at Hogback Ridge Shelter. Had the place to ourselves but encountered Nobo through hikers pretty much all day. As we continued the snow came and went and it slowed us down at times but the sun was out and all in all it was a really good day.
We rolled into Flint Mountain Shelter right about 5:45 after hiking a little more than 11 miles. The shelter was packed and had at least 25 people staying in or around it. We found some placed to hang hammocks but the prime spots were all taken but we did just fine. The good thing was that there was already a fire going and the temp was dropping pretty quick as the sun went down. We cooked dinner and enjoyed talking with all the through hikers as well as few other section hikers. It was good to see were weren’t the only people out there on a cold weekend with rain and snow in the forecast. I hit the sack around 1030 and slept pretty well in my first night in my new dutch half zip and hammock gear cuben fiber tarp.
It started sleeting/snowing/raining overnight and we woke up to a wet morning. We packed pretty leisurely and got on the trail around 10 with around 14 miles ahead of us. It was colder and there as freezing rain falling pretty good. As we hiked and gained elevation it turned to snow and at lower elevation it was rain with a classic wintry mix at different times. Not a pretty day but not horrible. We made it to Jerry Cabin around 1 and had lunch. It was snowing pretty hard there and the wind was blowing. The shelter was a cold place to stop but it was good to have a dry place to sit down.
A few other section hikers caught up to us while we were eating and there were several through hikers stopping as well. We heard that the next section was tough and that the snow was making the peaks very hard to navigate. We ate our tuna and lara bars quickly and pressed on for Little Laurel shelter. The other sectioners decided to camp at Jerry Cabin and hoped for better weather the next day.
The snow continued but did let up a bit and after crossing fire scald mountain we descended a good bit and the precipitation stopped. This is about where the good news ended for me as this turned into maybe the most trying few hours of backpacking I’ve had since getting blown off Mount Madison a few years ago.
On the last mile to the shelter my right knee decided to stop working. It did this a few years ago and I wear a brace but it could not take any weight going downhill. It was find uphill and on flat ground but downhill was painful and slow. Luckily there was only a mile to go so not too big of a deal. When we got to the shelter around 6:15 there were about 5 through hikers there and they were all in sleeping bags and settled in.
Knowing that the rain would start again I picked 2 trees and hung my tarp. Then I got out my hammock and hung it up. With a new hammock and suspension I found out I picked 2 trees that were too close together and could not make it work. The one downside I’ve found to whoopee slings is the fact that if you are too close you are just screwed. That is one area where cinch buckles are superior. Murpheys law was now about to be in full effect. Right then the wind picked up to what can only be described as viscous and the rain came back with a vengeance. It was about 35 degrees and my miscalculation was going to cost me. I took my hammock down and rehung my tarp between 2 new trees. Got my hammock back out and realized somehow I pulled my loop through on my suspension and couldn’t pull it back out. My hands were numb so I went up to the shelter to work on it. 20 minutes later I had the loop back, went back to my site and while putting my hammock up the wind blew my stakes out and now my tarp was flapping in the wind and all my guy lines were tangled. So hammock came back down while I fixed my tarp. It is safe to say I am not a happy individual at this point. If my knee hadn’t stopped working I probably would have packed up and hiked the 5 miles back to my car and the hostel but it was so that wasn’t a realistic option. My fingers were numb and my hiking partner was now helping me untangle all the lines. Got my tarp back up and anchored with rocks on top of my stakes. Hung my hammock for a 3rd time. Wind is blowing rain into the shelter and any gear left out is now wet plus all dry spots to sit are gone.
For the first time that I can remember I did not cook a hot dinner and said f*#% it and ate a pro bar and called that dinner. It was now dark and cold and windy and rainy. Just a miserable night and I was ready to get in my hammock and call it a night. Lows were called for to be around 25. I took my quilt and sleeping back down and did my very best not to get either wet but I am dripping water everywhere because it is pouring and that is all I can do. Quilts got on and then I went back up to change. I hung my pack, bear bag, and wet clothes. Changed into my sleeping gear and then ran down to the hammock trying to stay as dry as possible. I closed the doors on my tarp and was glad to have them to shield the wind all night. Then much to my relief, sore legs, and heavy eyes I sat down in my hammock and… it slipped all the way to the ground. I had not pulled the whoopies tight in my hurry so now me, my hammock and quilt and pretty much on the wet cold ground. At that point I showered the forest with a barrage of expletives and in that moment I missed my claytor hammock and cinch buckles. But I got up quickly, ducked under my tarp doors and back out into the wind, rain and sleet. I pulled up my hammock as quick as I could on both sides, then slid under my doors again and brushed all water I could off of me. I sat down gingerly in my hammock and thank god it held this time. I put on my down booties and FINALLY settled into a comfortable warm hammock. I cracked some more hand warmers, 2 for my butt and two for my hands put on my toboggan and started to relax and reflect on my follies.
As I laid there and started relax listening to some music I started to drift of to sleep. But as that happened I woke up to that all too distinct feeling of a drop of water landing right on your face. I assumed it was an isolated incident and ignored it but I was pretty awake again and the stress was coming back. I’m surrounded in down and I know that moisture like this on a cold night could be pretty bad. Then another drop. I unzipped my bag to see if I could tell what was going on. On my right the tarp was blowing into me and the right side of my bug net from foot to head was wet. Drips were coming in and I do not know why. I did not get wet the night before in the rain so this was confusing. I have 2 theories. Either the underside of the tarp got wet in all the commotion and it was dripping on me or that constant contact between the tarp and bug net was causing some kind of condensation issue. Whatever it was I determined there was nothing I could really do but hope for the best so I went to sleep and hoped the dripping would stop.
The rain stopped around 4:00 which was great but I had already determined I was not even going to think about getting up until the rain was good and done. Luckily my hiking partner completely agreed with this assessment. It did drizzle a little bit again at some point but it seemed done. We got out of bed around 8, ate breakfast and packed up. We only had about 5 miles back to the car. The through hikers were mostly gone when we got up but we talked with the 2 that were still there. From there we got started south again and passed hiker after hiker going north. They all stayed at the hostel and skipped the storm.
We made to the hostel by noon and paid $5 for hot showers and clean towels. From there we drove into hot springs for lunch at Iron Horse Station and then parted ways to drive home.
All in all a good trip minus about 2 hours Saturday night. This ties together sections for me and I was determined to finish it. I had scheduled this hike for last fall but a hurricane kept me off the trail. I hiked Spivey to Sams gap on presidents day as a day hike and you can find pretty much all my section reports minus day hikes on here. I’ve got Tricorner knob shelter in the smokies to Partnership Shelter done and hope to finish the smokies this summer and cover another 50 miles into Virginia. This hike was just over 30 miles. Water was readily available and there were hammock sites at every shelter.
I am a veteran hammock camper going back to 2007 and have set up in the cold, rain, snow, and heat but this was a good reminder that I need to spend some more time with this new gear and set it up and take down to get some more practice. I set everything up 3 times but need to practice more on different trees. I am also going to do some more testing on the tarp and see what was going on there. All and all I am happy with my new gear that since my section last year includes, new tarp, hammock, suspension, pack, stuff sacks, quilts, headlamp, and a few small items. I needed to get lighter and made that a real priority last year. I haven’t upgraded my gear in a long time so I was due.
I’ll attempt to upload a few pics as well this week.
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Originally Posted by TallPaul
) something else to consider in such a situation is where you elect to camp. In my experience the conditions you encountered — cold plus wet plus windy — are hands-down the most dangerous of all, and yours was definitely a survival situation because you were this close to hypothermia. In this case, IMO it is okay to say screw the rules and find a camping spot somewhere out of the wind, because that is one factor you can control to to a large extent with site selection. A lot of the AT shelters are situated in high spots that offer nice vistas, but in bad weather they are often times the absolute last place you want to be, and going a very short distance downhill will often reveal some far better options.
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