Hardy Hiking

For the 6th hike of the year, the usual gathering happened at Poteet Park at 9 am while others met at the Wayah Gap trailhead. This trip was planned as a shuttle or one-way hike. The route from Wayah Gap up to Siler's Bald  and then on to Winding Stair Gap is shown in the dotted line in the Google Earth view below. Once shuttle cars were in place, we began the hike from Wayah Gap at around 4,150 feet, going up around 1,000 feet thru some 1.8 miles of terrain to Siler's Bald at 5,216. Some returned to the Wayah Gap picnic parking area from there. Others headed gradually downhill some 1,500 feet over a 4.2 mile route to Winding Stairs Gap at about 3,652 feet. Wind forecast for Sylva on hike day was for gusts to 18 mph, but though breezy the animated image above shows that it was not that strong. The Wayah Crest Trailhead parking lot just off Wayah Rd. handled our several cars nicely. Several cement picnic tables make a great place for locals and through-hikers on the AT that some...

(Updated 2/26) The screenshot below from Google Earth shows our route. According to the AllTrails app data, the Thomas Divide Trailhead begins off Hwy 441 at 4,652 feet and follows the ridges to the Kanati Trail intersection at around 4,697 feet, a climb of just some 45 feet over 1.8. So nice! From there the trail descends to 2,851 feet, a drop of 1,846 feet over 2.8 miles. It traverses the slopes and sounds of the small babbling brooks (example above) of 6 small watersheds, all feeding the Kanati Fork stream below. Though normally meeting at Poteet Park at 9 am, the time was pushed back an hour to let a rainy weather-front clear the area. A car shuttle was arranged to make the one way hike possible. Winter hiking has its advantages. This great view will be gone when the leaves come out. This hike contained a rich collection of green winter flora. If I have mis-identified anything, please comment below. There is much to learn and I will continue to make changes to this post in the days...