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Feature article
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Cold, crisp day yields perfect hike
By Doug Janz
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It’s been said many times before, often by me, but it’s always true — anytime can be a good time to go hiking in the mountains. Low temperatures, chilly winds, short days, potential precipitation: Those aren’t reasons to kill the hike but instead to embrace it.
This I recently did on a cold but brilliant day. The fat was sitting heavy on my stomach and the sun was beaming in through the window, calling for a day outdoors. I chose a short but rewarding hike on the Appalachian Trail in Unicoi County.
This is one I’d done before, but in warmer and wetter weather. I remember taking this route on what I’d hoped was a nice day, but as I’d gotten closer to my trailhead the weather had worsened.
Most hikers have experienced this phenomenon. Start out with best intentions and highest optimism, follow the route to your trail, and see the skies grow progressively nastier. By the time the hike is in full bloom, you find yourself squinting up at the clouds, pelted by rain and wondering why you ever ventured out in the first place.
So that’s what I encountered my first time on this section of the AT, two or three years ago. It’s a steep hike from a hostel called Uncle Johnny’s, at a paved crossroads next to the Nolichucky River. I had envisioned long-range views of the river and the Nolichucky Gorge farther upriver.
I got some of the views and a rewarding experience, but I did not get the full panorama. Fog set in at the higher elevations, darkness loomed, and before I knew it, hiking time was over. I camped on the trail. My dog slept with his head on my chest, looking into the campfire with a worried expression as he listened to the various and mysterious sounds of the dark forest.
This latest trip was different. Uncle Johnny’s sat under clear and extremely blue skies. It was cold above the Nolichucky. But the old hiker’s adage is that if it’s cold to begin the hike, it will be fine a half-mile down the trail. You never want to start a hike in complete comfort.
The trail climbs steeply up a ridge overlooking the Nolichucky, zigzagging through multiple switchbacks, until a view emerges on the left showing the river. It’s a terrific view, and within the next 10 or 15 minutes, three or four more excellent vistas appear.
The sky was cold enough to allow a long-range view, as far as the horizon would allow. It’s hard to find a day and a view like this anymore. Southeastern mountains are always covered by a dim haze.
But I was lucky. From a rock outcropping, the river was visible down below, running low and cold and rather peacefully, and the towns of Erwin and Unicoi were off to the north. Just out of sight, around a mountain at the end of the horizon, was Johnson City.
This first overlook boasted a couple of good vantage points, with another even more revealing spot about a 25-foot scramble down the rocks, jutting out far enough to allow a true panorama of 180 degrees.
There’s another excellent overlook a little ways up the trail. The AT eventually levels off and follows the ridgeline, leading to Sams Gap and eventually to Georgia.
There are some good spots along the trail if you want to keep going. But it’s hard to beat sitting on large, sharp rocks overlooking a gorge, with unfiltered sunlight casting a glow on the mountains. It makes you stop and gaze a while.
Up in these parts, it’s easy to fall into deep thought. And you smile with satisfaction because, as usual, it’s a good day to be out, on a cold and crisp afternoon with the rapids below and a pair of hawks circling against the clear blue sky above.
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Doug Janz writes about outdoor adventures in the Tri-Cities and beyond for GoTriCities. E-mail him at DouglasJanz@aol.com.
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