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We should meet at the trail head at NOON. Here are the directions:

DIRECTIONS:

Take 75 North into Tennessee to exit 4 (153N). Take 153N for 12 miles (over the dam). It will turn into Dayton Pike. Take this another 3.5 miles. You will go over a small bridge. Keep a lookout for a Sonic on your right. You will take a left on Montlake Road just before the Sonic (there is a bank on the left hand corner as well). You go about 1 mile, and you will see the big sign for the State Park area on the left (Upper Chickamauga Pocket Wilderness). This is the entrance and parking area.

I posted my apartment complex as the meetup place because it is supposed to be an actual address, so I can not post a trail head as a meetup place. I hope my place will work at least for some people to carpool from. I guess if we leave Lawrenceville at 9 AM, we should easily make it to the spot by noon.

Otherwise everyone is welcome to suggest a better place to meet and carpool. Please post your comments in the field titled "Talk About this Meeting".

Description:

Amy came up with a cool trip idea. I am into it, as it sounds like something new to me! This is what she has to say about it:

Hey, Dmitry, could we possible do a backpacking trip up in the Chattanooga area April 12th weekend? There's some amazing hiking spots up here; I'm thinking specifically of the pocket wilderness behind Bowater up in Soddy Daisy, TN. I like the area better than North GA mtns, and with spring, it should be gorgeous. Water and rocks everywhere.

Here is a site I found with information:

http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/nchic.html

I'm not so good at reading maps, so I couldn't say which trail (or if the trail is even on here) we take. I have always parked at a spot right off the road and hiked in from there, but there is not enough parking there for more than 2-3 cars, so we would need to park in the designated area. I will be sure to spend a day this coming week parking at that spot and see about how much trail that adds to the hike (my guess is maybe 1/2 a mile or so). It's about a 2-3 mile hike in to my favorite site, which is up above the gorge. Or, you can hike another 1/2 mile or so down to the bottom of the gorge to another campsite (Stevenson Branch), which is a little more technical of a hike, but that campspot is larger and would accommodate more people (it is right next to a beautiful waterfall). It is not a loop trail hike, but it is a moderate hike, with rolling up and down inclines, one cable crossing across a waterfall, gorgeous views of the gorge, and just a really varied hike. You do have to climb up and down a few "boyscout ladders," as they are called. It's my favorite hiking I've done outside of backpacking in the Grand Canyon, which obviously cannot be beat. There is water along the trail, although none right at the top campspot (it is close, however), and a waterfall at the lower site.
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I went out and hiked the trail today, and I would guess it is between 5-6 miles each way, so 10-12 miles roundtrip (probably right in the middle at 11 miles). It is a little technical in some spots; the trail is pretty steady up and down for the first 2 miles, then flat for the next mile, there are a lot of waterfalls and wet spots to cross, but no river or creek crossings or anything like that, just mountain streams you hop across rocks.

The last 1 1/2 miles is down a steep trail (well marked, but steep), then the trail disappears for about 1/2 a football field (apparently they built the trail too close to the creek, and the water was high one year and wiped out the trail), and you have to just hop from rock to rock, sometimes push thru some bushes, etc.

You hike about another 1/2 a football field walking up a dry riverbed (easy), and then the marked trail begins again for the final 3/4 miles through some gorgeous rhodendendron areas. I met a 60something and a 70 something gentleman who hike the trail often, so it is not too terribly difficult, but it is not a big, clear trail at the end there. I had no trouble getting to the camp spot (took me about 2 hours, and I lagged a bit), and it is beautiful, right next to a waterfall that looks like it's out of a movie. On that link that is posted above, you can see the trail we follow from the parking area to Stephenson's Branch Campsite.

I posting this trip for David. This is his plan:

I've given it some though: If you don't reach me by phone, plan to meet me at the parking lot below springer. I'll leave my car at 3 forks and hike toward the parking lot Firday to be at the parking lot by mid morning on Saturday. We can hike up to the springer summit, down past the parking lot (and people) from the summit to 3 forks via Benton McKaye and campt Saturday night at 3Forks or Long Creek Falls or wherever you like.

This is an overnight backpacking trip recommended by the book "The Best of Appalachian Trail overnight Hikes". It's given a difficulty rating of strenous, so please come only if you're up for somewhat of a challenge. This is going to be a 19.4 mile loop combining portions of the AT, Slaughter Creek Trail, Coosa Backcountry Trail, Jarrard Gap Trail, and Duncan Ridge Trail through the north Georgia mountains. We'll be climbing Coosa Bald, Blood Mountain, and Slaughter Mountain (4140 ft).

Let's try to cover about half the distance the first day, so around mile 10 we can find a nice spot to camp. Some possibilities include areas around: Burnett gap at 7.1 mi, Wolf Creek at 9.4 mi, or Locust Stake gap at 10.7 mi.

Also, be prepared for cool weather. We're expecting an overnight low of around 31 degrees. Both days look like a high of mid to upper 50's.

Please join me if you can! By the way, this trip is a warmup for the trip I'm planning to post for the very next weekend. (It'll be at least 25 miles in 2 days! Details TBA).
Robin