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July
25th - I took off work for a half a day to
tackle the Rattlesnake Ridge trail in the Unaka Mountain
Wilderness. I began my hike at 1:00 p.m. at
the Rock Creek Campground on the short graveled
trail that follows lower Rock Creek, and I soon ran
into Rattlesnake Ridge which is CNF trail #26.
This was a tough climb traversing up the northwest
side of Unaka Mountain with about 2600 feet of
elevation gain. My beginning elevation was
around 2200 feet at the park, and after 4 miles of
climbing I reached the Unaka Mountain overlook which
is about 4800 feet. The trail was good except
for a couple of larger blown down trees near the
upper sections of the trail, and some areas of
walking through underbrush that had grown into the
trail.
It was
a very rainy day so the views at the overlook
weren't as good as normal, but I stopped for a snack
and to take some photos. Since it was
only 3:15 p.m (with plenty of daylight left), I
explored a little more and
considered climbing on to the Unaka summit (only .7
mile further), but I
would have to go off-trail, and I couldn't find any
approach on the northwest side that wasn't covered
in dense underbrush, so I turned around.
My
descent off the mountain was pleasant as the rain
let up, and I jogged much of the way down. I
reached my car at 4:45, completing this hike in 3
hours and 45 minutes. My GPS showed I traveled
a total of 8.5 miles.
(Click
all images for larger photos)
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