Dicks Creek Gap to Bly Gap and Beyond

It's been a while since I've seen a D7 hike posted so I thought I'd fix that.

What better New Year's resolution is there then to hike more and complete a D7 hike for your AOC profile. This hike meets the requirements for a D7 at over 25 miles and 6500 ft elevation gain.  It will be a marathon through the woods.

The hike will be the culmination of a series of 3 or 4 tough D6 hikes I'll post every couple weeks throughout the winter to get you ready and weed out the pretenders 😉.  After you sign up you'll remain on the wait list until you complete at least 2 of these prep hikes (including 1 of the 20 milers) before you're moved onto the hike roster at the discretion of the trip leader.

Hike dates TBD.

• •Chunky Gal Trail Boteler Peak to AT (16 miles, 4000 ft gain)
• •Osage Overlootk to Whiterock Mountain (16 miles, 4500 ft gain)
• •Standing Indian/Albert Mountain Loop (22 miles, 4200 ft gain)
• •Unicoi Gap to Brasstown Bald (20 miles, 5600 ft gain)

This long trek on the AT starts from Dicks Creek Gap in Georgia and crosses into North Carolina at Bly Gap then continues to the southern terminus of the Chunky Gal Trail before turning around and doing it all again in the opposite direction.  While most climbs are relatively short they just keep coming in typical AT roller coaster style.  Check out the route profile to see what you're in for.

From Dicks Creek Gap we pass Plumborchard Gap Shelter and cross over Little Bald Knob, As Knob and Wheeler Knob on the way to the state line at Bly Gap with its gnarly tree- mile 9. Water is available here to filter on the way out and back. Moving into North Carolina we get a double dose of tough climbs over Sharp Top and Courthouse Bald before reaching Muskrat Creek Shelter and eventually the intersection of the Chunky Gal Trail (always a favorite photo op) - mile 12.5.  There are no paved road crossings in this section and only a couple of unpaved roads so beware that there's really no place to bail out along the way.

In order to complete the hike in daylight we'll need to keep a quick pace between 2.6-3.0 mph so you should be ready for a long day with at least 10 hours of hiking.  A carpool is tentatively set at the Windward Parkway Park & Ride but you may want to consider staying the night before and/or after in the Hiawassee area to shorten the drive and give you a couple extra hours of sleep.

Kudos to Leigh and Gary for originally posting this hike 4 years ago.

Dicks Creek Gap trailhead parking  

Directions to the trailhead