5-day trip pending: where should I go?

[Skyeward]

Hi all!

Well, spring break is rolling around again so my feet are itchin' for the trail, and there's gear strewn all over my room. I'm planning to do a 5 or 6-day hike over the break. I'd like some suggestions for really good locations and/or routes here in the Southeast (i.e. NC, VA, and TN) that would be good for this length of trip. I'll probably need it to be a loop since I'll be driving by myself (haven't found anyone to go with!)

The areas I've already been in a lot are Pisgah and SRW, and around the Mt. Rogers and Grayson Highlands area. So any suggestion besides these would be great!

Thanks a bunch.

Daniel

[brad nicholson]

you could you always go to the smokies, the potential to get dumped on at spring break is incredible...i was there in a snowstorm on one of my springbreaks...this time of year there would not be too many crowds and there are so many miles of trails you can make many good loops.

you could also two shorter trips. you could do two-three days in harper creek wilderness, incredible waterfalls and great campsites if you like to hear streams at night. then you could drive over to linville gorge. one of the best trips there is to hike down to the gorge from the spence ridge trail, cross the river, pick up the linville gorge trail, head south towards shortoff mountain and then pick up the short-off mountain trail/mtns to the sea trail pack up over shortoff past table and back down to spence ridge trail. this would probably be a good three-four day trip depending on what sort of shape you are in...and there are usually no crowds there in summer so winter is great. especially down in the gorge.

let us know what you decide so we can be jealous of your spring break!

[DefJef]

Look into Shining Rock Wilderness in NC. Amazing

[EdK]

Daniel....Get yourself a plane ticket and come on out to the Sierras....you'll be amazed! Ed

[Skyeward]

Ya know Ed, i've been longing for a trip to the Sierras for a long time. I know I would just love being up in the High country. Rocks, grass, evergreens, wind and sunny skies. That's my kinda place. I've actually got it in my head that I'm going to get out west somehow during the summer, though I've been so busy I haven't been able to plan anything. Plus I don't know where to go or who to go with! But hopefully it will happen. A friend was talking about a trip to the Wind River Range, which looks positively awsome, but that sorta petered out. What mountains are you near Ed?

thanks for the info from everyone else too. I will check out Harper creek and Linville gorge. I've heard good things about the gorge from others as well.

rest assured there'll be a trip report where ever I end up.

[EdK]

Daniel...I am very near the San Gorgonio Wilderness in the San Bernardino N.F. About as close as a person can get to the Sierras without the drive. The Sierras, however, is a place that everyone who loves the outdoors has to see....it's unbelievable! As or the Wind River Range......myself and four or five of my Georgia buddies,(very close to you), are planning a trip for the week of Labor Day or the Wind River Range...can you possibly make it? Ed

[Skyeward]

Sent you a private message regarding the trip!

[brad nicholson]

Sent you a private message regarding the trip!
sky, edk,
if you have never been to the winds go! don't believe the hype you hear about crowds either. in 97 i was lucky enough to spend 16 days there, climbing in the cirque big sandy lake basin. my dream now is to make there in the winter. i would love to see the cirque in winter.

that being said, after the 1.5 hour drive down the dirt road from wyoming hwy 181 to the big sandy lake trailhead we parked and to our horror there were a good number of cars there. probably 20-25. however, we passed one couple camped along a stream on the hike to big sandy and we saw some folks camping near big sandy lake itself. seems that lots of flyfisherman go there as well.

when we hiked up over jackass pass into the cirque we stayed up near warbonnet. we camped in a large boulder field high on the mountainside and literally saw no-one for next 11 days until we hiked back into big sandy lake basin. we encountered no climbers either on pingora, warbonnet, or wolf's head. we did meet some other climbers on the eastern shore of lonesome lake on one of our bad weather days when we were just exploring the cirque.

i am trying to find some of my photos from the cirque. maybe we were just lucky but i would go back in a minute.

brad