Date: 5/4/16
Distance: 25 miles
Today I was fortunate enough to get a ride in Sharon's car from the Cosby Campground to Newfound Gap. The bad news is that we met at 5:40, so I rolled out of bed about 3:50 and headed for the park. Sharon and her group were hiking from Cosby to Newfound Gap, so Kathy drove Sharon's car from Cosby to NFG and hiked the same hike in the opposite direction. I started hiking about 6:50.
A cloud was parked right on top of the mountain, so much of the hike was shrouded in fog, but from time to time the sun peeked out.
At Charlies Bunion (about 4 miles into the hike), the clouds were moving so fast that from second to second the visibility went from 0 to a great distance.
There weren't many wildflowers on the trail today, but I did spot this beauty.
And a nice patch of Witch Hobble.
As the day went along, the clouds finally lifted a bit until the sun was beating down on me on Snake Den Ridge Trail.
The AT is really nice along this section with areas of thick fir trees and more open areas as well.
About 0.25 miles before Snake Den is the site of a jet crash. There are a few artifacts off the side of the trail.
After 19.4 miles on the AT, I turned left on Snake Den and hiked the 5.3 miles down to the car. Snakeden is quite steep and rocky. It loses more than 3400' as it makes its way down the mountain.
The trail ends at the campground requiring another 0.25 miles of walking to get to the car. This hike is one of the longest I've ever taken, but it is the best way to get to those remote sections of the AT between Pecks Corner and Tricorner Knob. I made good time today exiting the trail about 3:20 after 8.5 hours of hiking.
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