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April
6th - Shannon and I summited Unaka Mountain
for the second time this year by using the Iron
Mountain Gap approach. This also completed the
section of the A.T. for us between Indian Grave Gap
and Iron Mountain Gap.
We
began our hike at about 12:30 with unusually cold
temperatures for this time of year. Shannon
and I both carried full packs for the exercise...
mine weighing in at around 36 lbs. and Shannon's
around 30 lbs. This was a tough climb... we both
felt it was much harder than our previous Unaka
summit from the Indian Grave Gap side of the
mountain because this approach consisted of three
major summits while the previous Unaka climb only
consisted of two.
Our
beginning elevation at Iron Mountain Gap was about
3723 feet and we quickly ascended up to the top of
Little Bald Knob (elevation 4459). The trail
was very muddy, slick, and sometimes icy, making our
progress slow at times. From there we
descended back to 4000 feet, and then climbed up to
Piney Ball (elevation 4430). Cherry Gap was
our next stop where we passed by the Cherry Gap
Shelter that already had some thru-hikers settling
in for the upcoming cold night. After
approximately 4 miles of hiking we reached Low Gap
(elevation 3900), which is at the eastern base of
Unaka Mountain. At that point we knew the
toughest part was yet to come as we had to climb
about 1200 feet in the final 1.5 miles to the top of
Unaka Mountain.
This
was a very pretty section of the hike (Shannon says
it was one of her favorites of the year) as it was
very vertical as if climbing a series of steps while
in dense Rhododendrons. It was a workout to
say the least especially as the trail got closer to
the summit. The sun finally came out on this
section as we climbed, and the wind was blocked by
the forest, but the more I ascended the colder my
hands got (even while wearing gloves). It was
strange, and I'm not sure if it was because of the
elevation change, but by the time we reached the
summit (5180 feet) my hands were completely
numb. We had intentions of taking photos, and
using my GPS unit to find the true summit of the
mountain, but I couldn't even tie my bootlaces
because my hands were so cold so we soon turned
around and began our descent. Shannon
experienced the same coldness in her hands coming
down, but we both felt better after we stopped for
lunch about halfway down the mountain.
After
we got down to Low Gap it began to snow on us, and
by the time we made it back to Cherry Gap it was
snowing hard and sideways from the very strong
winds. We reached the Jeep at around 7:00
p.m. My GPS unit registered that we hiked a
total of 11.1 miles. The trail was crowded on
this day with numerous thru-hikers, day-hikers, and
even two guys on horses. I think we passed
about 8 or 9 people.
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