Appalachian Trail: Winding Stair Gap and Siler Bald
It may not seem that impressive from a photograph taken inside a moving vehicle, with a snapshot camera.
However, the dense layers of fog rolling through the blue ridge mountains is certainly not something I see every morning as I drive to work!
One of the best perks of being out in the “middle of nowhere” was that this middle of nowhere happened to contain a large portion of the Applachian Trail.
Bite of History:
In 1921, Benton Mackaye proposed a trail connecting camps along the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains. Benton promoted the idea through his social network in several larger cities but hiking advocates actually set wildfire to the plan. By 1937, after adding in national parks and local clubs from Pennsylvania to Georgia, the “AT” finally turned into a 2,000 mile footpath of wilderness.
Here is a scale of difficulty for hikers (source)
1 = Flat and smooth
2 = Flat terrain but uneven treadway, or slight elevation change
3 = Moderate elevation change, but well graded trail, or flat trail with very rough treadway
4 = Strenuous climbs, but of moderate duration, or short but steep climbs
5 = Lengthy graded climbs, alternating with easier sections
6 = Extended climbs that may last hours or shorter climbs with difficult footing
7 = Includes rock scrambling that is relatively easy and of short duration
8 = Includes rock scrambling that is somewhat challenging
9 = Rock scrambling that is difficult and extended
10 = Use of hands required for extended periods of climbing, footing precarious, and leaping may be required — not recommended for those with fear of heights and not in good physical condition.
The North Carolina portion is about 96 miles with a difficulty rating of 3-6 overall. This week I had the chance to hike ~ 10 miles of the North Carolina portion on the Winding Stair Gap Trail. My coworker and I actually decided to run instead of hike! After having been back for a few days, I researched more information for this post and found ratings for this trail of 5. I would agree with that and its’ name since it was winding and twisting, with gazillions of natural “stairs” but it did have several flat & smooth portions my feet were gracious for!
I’m so glad my coworker and I were on the same page with running this trail and finding the summit because the top of Siler Bald offers a 180-degree view of the Smokies, a clear shot of Mount Le Conte to the east and Thunderhead Mountain to the west. We ended up hiking/running for 2.5 hours! Since this is a food blog- I must share that immediately following the 2.5 hours- we both downed bananas and peanut butter like it was our job.
Here are some of the photos that I took along the trail. We had fun and I hope you have fun viewing them!
The clearing up to the summit…which we ran past by accident!
Not even at the top yet…
It was odd running this trail because most of the time, the trail looked like this:
Several times my heart and feet stopped because I feared there was a bear!
It actually ended up being a tree stump each time (Thank Goodness!)
Happy Fourth of July Weekend!
Who is planning to catch some Fireworks?
