Sat, Jun 16 2007 - Hiking: Dally Gap & Jacks River Trail (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Paula Schubert Participants: Jason Kotz, Tracey Steiner, Gary Babiarz, Emily Boness, Ala David, John Weatherman, Anja Krusel, Melanie Heard, Rama, Michelle Bolling, Barry, Kinette, Dana, Paula Schubert

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Write Up:
This was a great hike with a great group of hikers. Everyone who met at the carpool arrived on time and we hit the road promptly at 7:20 am. The carpoolers made it to the McDonald's in Blue Ridge by 8:30, where we took a restroom break, loaded up on a quick breakfast to go and met up with one of our hikers before we made another 45 min. ride to the Dally Gap trailhead. Once we got to the trailhead and took our group picture, we were off on our hiking adventure around 9:45 am. Of course, the weather was hot and muggy, but thank goodness we were mostly shaded by the beautiful hardwoods in the Cohutta Wilderness. Lunch was early, but no one seemed to mind. We ate on the banks of Jacks River before we made the first river crossing at Penitentiary Branch and Jacks River (5.9 mile mark). Honestly, we didn't take a very long lunch and I apologized to a few, but it seemed everyone was ready to go by 11:45, so we were off to enjoy the cool waters of Jacks River. Over the next 4.8 miles we crossed Jacks river 18 times without very little elevation change except between number 16 and 17. The trail ascends away from Jacks creating a great view of Jacks River Gorge. The river was low and most of the time the water level was below the knee. It felt great though and everyone did an awesome job by plowing right through each and every one. By the time we reached the 18th crossing, we only had 2.3 easy miles left to hike back to Dally Gap and would you believe we finished this 13 mile hike by 3:15 pm. Yep, a total of 5 1/2 hours including lunch and breaks... Woohoo. This group kicked butt and thanks to everyone who attended. It was awesome day!

Please take time to check out the photos that Tracey took for us.

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