Post 900 Hike #97: Snake Den Ridge—5.3, AT—4.7, & Low Gap—2.5

Last week after our Mt. Cammerer hike Bob Bolinger suggested to John Hutsenpiller that he contact me after he had figured out a hike that he needed; he subsequently came up with Snake Den Ridge—4.6, Madron Bald—0.7, AT—4.7, and Low Gap—2.5. I put it out as an Alternate Hike and we had four takers: BZ Lane, Debra Barton, Doug Jerger, and myself. I picked up Doug at Lakeside Market and Debra and John at Cracker Barrel; we met BZ at Cosby Campground ~09:25.

Snake Den Ridge has ~3,400 ft. of gain; it is not easy. Shortly after we started I realized that John was having a tough time; I dropped back with him and it was then that I learned that he had pneumonia in the fall. I knew nothing bout this and had assumed that his not hiking related to a low back problem that he had. Except for cruising ahead to tell the others at Madron Bald what his condition was (got my HR up to 153 for this), for the rest of the hike I stayed with him; he was having one tough time particularly on the ups. As one might expect, the amount of snow on the trail was proportional to our elevation. The 0.7 mi section remaining after Madron Bald was particularly difficult; here the snow was at least one foot deep. (Deep snow means short steps; about this time my pedometer indicated that I had gone ~one more mile than I had actually covered.)



The next three pictures were taken between Inadu Knob and Camel Gap on the AT. The first one is a "Rhododendrun Tunnel. On the next one the AT is on the North side of the ridge so it gets plenty of sun; in the background is some "smoke" in a distant valley in NC. We saw some very unique displays of rime frost; it is particularly seen on ridges where wind dictates how the water vapor from a low-lying cloud can form when it freezes.







The next section of the AT from Camel Gap to Low Gap became progressively easier and was mostly down; Low Gap Trail was also down. We arrived at my vehicle at 16:55.