Sat, Jan 17 2009 - Dayhike the GA AT - Section 2: Hightower Gap to Woody Gap (View Original Event Details) Trip Leader(s): Jennifer Rush, Tony C Participants: Tony C, Jennifer Rush, Scott Looper, Ed Doran, cliff j, Caroline, Tony Theriault, patricia, Suzanne, Noreen

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Write Up:
Part 2 of the dayhike the GA At series turned out to be a good one...definitely a challenging hike at around 12 miles and taking about 5 1/2 hrs to complete. We started out with the drive to Hightower Gap...down FS42 and that fun, neverending gravel road...we passed some beautiful ice formations on the way in and geared up and hit the trail.

We started out with a 275 foot climb that got us warmed up rather effectively. Then a lot of short ups and downs and finally way down into Horse Gap. We stopped for a break here and powered up for our biggest climb of the day...Sassafras Mtn. This was a tough little climb but far from brutal, compared to some of those ahead on the upcoming sections. We enjoyed the winter views along the trail and after passing through Cooper Gap, we stopped at Justus Creek for lunch, at about the midpoint in the hike.

After passing through Gooch Gap, we made our final major ascent of the day up Ramrock mtn...first with a bit of a "false summit", but then cresting the actual peak. The latter part of the trail was icier and we enjoyed some nice overlooks near Ramrock and Black mtns. We also hiked through an area that looked like it had been ravaged by a forest fire recently (see pics). After enjoying the views, we headed mostly downhill to Woody Gap to end Section 2...

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