Brief Description:
This moderate hike will take us from
the Wolf-Laurel Trailhead up the Stratton Bald
Trail to
Stratton Bald, then over to Haoe and the Hangover where we will eat lunch. Then we
will exit via Bob Bald and the Fodderstack/Benton MacKaye Trail to Beech
Gap. We will
then finish our shuttle and go to the Harris's log home in the mountains
for dinner for all.
Length:
about 10 miles
Difficulty Rating:
moderate due to the elevation rise
Elevation Gain:
about 800 feet from the Wolf Laurel
Trailhead at 4550' to Stratton Bald at 5336'
Hike Leader:
Rick Harris, 423-253-6358,
harrisri@aol.com
Directions to the Trailhead:
We will meet at the Tellico Plains Hardee's at 9A
M, then do our shuttle,
leaving cars at Beech Gap then taking the Santeelah Creek Road to the
Wolf-Laurel Road up to the Wolf-Laurel Trailhead. After the hike, we
will have to retrieve our cars at the Wolf-Laurel Trailhead,
Trail Description:
This trail is one of the most scenic to be found anywhere. From the
Wolf-Laurel Trailhead, we will climb up Stratton Bald Ridge to the top
of the mountain at 5336 feet. We will then hike on the Haoe Lead trail
out to Naked Ground, then out to the top of Haoe and on out to the
Hangover. From the Naked Ground campsite, it is almost a sheer drop off
for thousands of feet with grand vistas looking into NC. The Hangover is
what its name implies, a rocky outcropping with full 360 degree views of
the surrounding mountains. At the very end of the trail, there is a
sheer drop off of several hundred feet, which is hanging over the bluffs
a little bit. It makes you dizzy and it is a little scary. The trail dr
ops
about 500 feet to Naked Ground (elevation 4860') on a ridgeline trail,
then climbs back up about 500 feet to Haoe, then down
a
couple hundred feet to the Hangover. From the Hangover, we will return
the way we came but continue on the Stratton Bald Trail to Stratton Bald,
then we will go on down to the little bit lower Bob Bald
at 5294 feet which is a big open field with 360 degree views of the
surrounding Tennessee and NC mountains. Will will then continue
on down the Stratton Bald Trail west to its intersection with the Benton
MacKaye/Fodderstack Trail, then head north to Beech Gap on the Cherohala
Skyway at the state line. These trails in places are steep and in other
places are in a rhododendrum thicket which as its name implies is "thick"...
Though the total elevation gain is not all that much, about 800 f
eet,
you will know at the end that you have been challenged. But the
challenge is well worth it.
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