Everybody Was AT Hiking: Chestoa to Spivey Gap, TN/NC - February 22, 2020

First, let me just say how amazing it was to be on the AT yesterday.  I haven't been on a trail in almost two months due to weather and various obligations we've had in January and February.  Ben was headed out of town to a conference this weekend, and I told him I was very sorry to go without him but that I needed some trail time and was going to hike this weekend.  Thinking I would be going by myself, I planned a 14-ish mile hike with some killer climbs, because I knew Ben would hate doing that section and I could go ahead and knock it out on my own.  

When my friend Latisha decided she wanted to join me, I picked a slightly shorter and (I thought) less strenuous section because I wanted her to have fun and maybe want to hike with me again (ha!).  So that's how we ended up heading to Spivey Gap near the TN/NC border early on a Saturday morning to drop a car for an 11.1-mile hike from Chestoa back to Spivey.  Unfortunately, we didn't get there as early as I had planned.  The logistics part of hiking (locating the trailheads and parking areas, which are often small and unmarked) is always the most stressful part for me, but I've been lucky and had no real trouble until now.

Spivey Gap was a bit of a different story.  My Mom and aunt Pat were kind enough to get up early and follow us up there so they could shuttle us back to Chestoa to begin our hike.  I had directions to both ends neatly (or as neat as I can be, anyway) written out, as GPS is often unreliable on these mountainous backroads.  To come up with my directions, I use parking info on various AT forums, my AT maps, and the old standard Google Maps.  Each of these sources mentioned that the Spivey Gap parking area/trailhead was just past "Spivey Campground Road" off 19W.  The forums even mentioned that, if the 4-5 car pull-off at the trailhead was full, there was plenty of parking at the campground.  Well, we never saw Spivey Campground Road or any signs that there may be a campground (and we drove through there three times yesterday).  So we drove, and drove, and drove down 19W before I finally pulled up my AllTrails app to see if maybe we could get some GPS assistance.  The GPS finally found us, and Latisha noted that "we appear to be moving away from the red dot" (the red dot was the trailhead location).  We had gone 8 miles past it, and those 8 miles were not quick interstate miles.  They were more like 20-MPH switchback curve miles, so that was a big bummer and caused us to get started on our hike more than an hour after I had planned.  I felt terrible, but my three amigos were good sports about it, so I'm grateful for that.

ANYWAY, we finally found the parking area (I actually asked when we drove past it the first time, "I wonder if that was it?," but then dismissed the thought because CAMPGROUND), dropped my car, and then rode with Mom and Pat to Chestoa, where they dropped us off.

I love that Pat always takes a "before" pic when she shuttles with us.

Chestoa is right on the Nolichucky River, and this bridge was the start of our hike.  The flowers scared Tigger.

The hike started off with a big, long climb.  Within just over a mile, we were high above the Nolichucky (and then we climbed steadily for about three and a half more miles).  

Looking back over my left shoulder were views of Erwin, Tennessee.

It was a cold day on the trail.  I had been checking the weather forecast for the past 10 days, so I knew that the lows were in the 20s and the high was supposed to be 50.  I also knew that it was supposed to be a 100% sunny day, which would in theory make it feel a little warmer while we were hiking.  What I didn't know, however, was that most of this hike would be on the side of the mountain that doesn't get much sunlight, so the sun wasn't available to warm us (or the ground) for much of the day.  

These frost formations were just sprouting up out of the mud all over the place.

There was snow on most of the trail, 5-6 inches in some places.  I don't know why it didn't occur to me that there might be snow on the trail, but it didn't.  Chalk it up to inexperience with winter hiking, or just blind exuberance to be on the trail again, but I felt pretty dumb.  Latisha and I were fine because we both dressed appropriately for 20-degree weather and had good, warm, waterproof boots (thankfully, I didn't wear a pair of my mid-height hiking shoes).  I wish I would've brought some crampons, though, because some of the steep uphill sections were a little bit slick.  Nothing too terrible; just added a degree of difficulty to our already-strenuous hike.  

Anyway, the hike was pretty much all uphill (with a huge climb at the beginning, some "up and down" ridge running in the middle, and another shorter climb before a short descent at the end), so our efforts also helped keep us warm.  We were both glad that we weren't doing the hike as a downhill, because that could've been a little more treacherous.  Latisha was actually smart enough to bring some crampons, but she asked me before we left the car if I thought she would need them, and I told her I didn't think so.  Ha!  Sorry, Latisha!    

Tigger wants to know what's under all the snow.

Although the snow adds some difficulty, it also amps up the beauty of the trail.  The one great view we had on this hike was the one of the Nolichucky at the beginning, but I never felt like we were starved for great scenery because the snow made everything so pretty.

This probably won't be dangerous at all...with Tigger.  Thankfully, the local hiking club had put down some metal mesh on the bridge for some traction.

Every once in a while, when we were making our switchbacks around the side of the mountain, we'd break out into the sunny side, and the difference in trail conditions was striking!  It was like we were hiking on two different mountains, or in two different seasons.  We really felt like we were switching back and forth between deep winter and late spring.  I was happy because it gave Tigger some time to thaw his feet out.  I kept checking them to make sure he wasn't getting frostbite or anything from hiking in the snow so much, but he seemed to love it.

The trail was not only snow-free here, but was actually almost dry.

No snow here, but this water was bubbling up out of a hole in the ground and creating a little stream.  Pretty cool.

Overall, this was a good, challenging hike, which allowed me to eat some well-earned pizza when I got home.  I loved having Latisha's company all day.  I know a long hike up a steep hill isn't for everyone, but she was all in, even though I don't think the hike turned out to be much less strenuous (except for the shorter length) than the one I originally planned.  I think we both enjoyed it.  She complained less than I did, anyway (I love the rewards that climbing brings, but sometimes you just have to embrace the suck of the climb itself).  Having friends who hike, and hike well, is pretty awesome. 

~153.5 down; ~2036.5 to go.